
The third photo installment in the "History is Real" series. This photo is of the last official appearance of Zhao Ziyang before he disappeared into house arrest.
PEK22: PEKING;MAY 16 - Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev shares a laugh with Chinese Communist Party Chief Zhao Ziyang during their meeting at the Diayutai State Guest House.
The story of what happened to him is in today's (2009's) New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/world/asia/15zhao.html?ref=global-home
The following day at least 500,000 people appeared on Tiananmen Square as hardliners behind the scenes were setting the stage for a crackdown. By far the biggest crowd up until then, people from all walks of life began to join the students.
The flags of the Soviet Union and China adorned all the lightpoles around the square for Gorbachev's visit. The summit was supposed to mark the big story of 1989 - the end of the Sino-Soviet split.



Salon.com
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