Chi Haotian
General Chi Haotian (simplified Chinese: 迟浩田; traditional Chinese: 遲浩田; pinyin: Chí Hàotián; born July 1929) is a general of the People's Liberation Army.
Biography
Chi was born July 1929 in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, China. In October 1946 he joined the CPC (Communist Party of China). He was recruited to the army in July 1945, and graduated from the synthesis department of Military Academy of PLA.
In 1973, he became the vice political commissar of Beijing Military Region, and vice editor in chief of a prominent newspaper "People's Daily". He later became vice director of the general staff department of PLA and the director of political department under it, the political commissar of Jinan Military Region, and the head of the general staff department of PLA as well as the secretary of CPC's committee there. He was elected as a member of central military commission in 1988.
In May–June, 1989, Chi played an important role in directing the military's enforcement of martial law in Beijing to suppress the Tiananmen Square Protests in the national capital. As chief of staff he instructed the commanding officers of the Beijing, Shenyang, and Jinan Military Districts to "finalize the name list of every group army division scheduled to advance into Beijing and their exact times of departure and arrival, as well as details regarding primary duties", according to the "Daily report" (Meiri yibao) from the Central Military Commission Office, dated 19 May 1989. This military buildup resulted in the so-called Beijing massacre, which took place on 4 June that year.