Footage of a Chinese general’s secret court trial from over 30 years ago is going viral, racking up millions of views.
The clip was recently leaked out of China. It’s extremely rare for such footage to go public.
The clip revealed the divide within China's military before they were deployed to open fire on student protesters in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
The bloody crackdown is one of the most censored topics inside China. To this day, many Chinese people remain unaware of the full scale of the situation.
The general who was tried is called Xu Qin Xian. He famously refused an order from the regime.
The directive would have sent tens of thousands of his troops to Tiananmen Square to suppress student protesters calling for democracy, using machine guns and live ammunition.
At the time, Xu led one of the most elite forces stationed near Beijing, the 38th Army.
For Xu, it was a decision that could cost him his life. At the trial, he didn’t appear afraid, just laying out his concerns before the judges.