'Diary' of former China premier sheds new light on Tiananmen

Former Chinese premier Li Peng acted on orders from late leader Deng Xiaoping to "shed some blood" when he sent in troops to end the Tiananmen protests, the publisher of Li's purported diary said Monday.

Excerpts from the diary have been an Internet sensation, shedding rare light on the decisions leading up to the violence on the square on the night of June 3-4, 1989.

They claim to show Li, known as the "Butcher of Beijing", followed Deng's orders in clearing Tiananmen Square after six weeks of unprecedented pro-democracy protests.

"To turn around the situation of unrest, I propose martial law," Deng is quoted as saying in a May 19 meeting of top Communist Party leaders.

"We must implement martial law in a stable manner, we must do all we can to limit losses, but we should be prepared to shed some blood."

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed in central Beijing when the military violently crushed the student-led protests.

"The diary clearly indicates that Deng Xiaoping had a major role... and that he wanted to use the military from the very beginning," Bao Pu, whose Hong Kong-based New Century Press will publish the diary June 22, told AFP.

"The diary doesn't support the popular view that Deng came to a painful decision, that Deng was somehow misled," Bao said.

Bao and several scholars vouch for the authenticity of the diary but he declined to say how he came across them. Li reportedly hoped to publish the diary in China in 2004 but was blocked by the ruling Communist Party.

In the diary, Li, who is 81 and reportedly in poor health, argues the protests had to be extinguished to save the country from chaos.

"The unrest now in Beijing is the biggest chaos since the nation was established," Li writes in a June 1 entry.

"The loss of control in this situation has gone beyond the 'Great Cultural Revolution'," he said, referring to the 1966-1976 radical political campaigns of late leader Mao Zedong.

In the diary, Li seeks to mediate a political solution to end the protests, while overseeing the covert massing of 25,000 troops in buildings around the square -- "a force surrounding Tiananmen on all four sides".

He also offers regular reports to Deng, seeking approval for his moves.

"Li participated in the decision-making throughout the process and he was also the one who carried out these decisions. This all came out very, very clear in details that we previously did not know," Bao said.

The diary echoed an account by Zhao Ziyang -- ousted by Deng as Communist Party head for opposing the use of force -- published posthumously last year, he said.

Bao, who is the son of Bao Tong, a former top aide to Zhao who was purged along with him, also published Zhao's memoir.

The Li diary, covering April 15 to June 24 of 1989, was also consistent with the Tiananmen Papers, a set of leaked documents covering secretive Communist Party meetings, often led by Deng, ahead of June 4.

Li was vilified for announcing the imposition of martial law in May 1989 and outmanoeuvring the dovish Zhao.

These latest memoirs looked unlikely to help Li shed his "Butcher of Beijing" nickname, said Bao.

"I'm not sure this will help his image," he said.