Bao Tong

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Bao Tong

Bao Tong

Date(s) of Arrest:
1989
Prison Terms:
7 years
Charges:
Leaking state secrets, spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda and agitation
Crime:
Showing sympathy for the students of the pro-democracy movement, supporting political reform

Bao Tong was a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee (CCPCC), Director of the CCPCC Office of Political Reform and secretary to the CCPCC's Secretary General, Zhao Ziyang. Shortly before the Tiananmen massacre, Bao accompanied Zhao Ziyang to Tiananmen Square to visit the students on hunger strike. On May 28, 1989, Bao was arrested and sentenced to seven years, having been charged with leaking state secrets and spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda. He was the highest-ranking official punished for involvement in the Tiananmen Democracy Movement. Released in 1996 but kept under house arrest and close watch of the government at his Beijing residence for many years, Bao has nevertheless continued to promote democracy in China.