BEIJING (AFP) ― The former Mayor of Beijing who was believed to have played a prominent role in the Tiananmen crackdown died at the weekend, it was reported Tuesday, 24 years after the military repression.

Chen Xitong died in Beijing on Sunday at 9.54 a.m., according to Hong Kong China News Agency, an outlet which is linked to the state run China News Service.

Chen fell from grace in one of China’s biggest political scandals and was widely seen as the official who pushed for the use of military force against the student-led protests in the heart of the capital.

<YONHAP PHOTO-0450> FILE - This March 7, 1990 file photo shows former Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong in Beijing, China. Chen, who backed the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democratic movement during his term but later expressed regret, died Sunday, June 2, 2013 at the age of 82, two days before the 24th anniversary of the bloody quelling of the student-led movement, according to media reports and a family friend. At the height of his career, Chen was one of China's most powerful men, but an anticorruption campaign brought about his spectacular downfall. (AP Photo/Mark Avery, File)/2013-06-05 09:24:51/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2013 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> Chen Xitong
FILE - This March 7, 1990 file photo shows former Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong in Beijing, China. Chen, who backed the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democratic movement during his term but later expressed regret, died Sunday, June 2, 2013 at the age of 82, two days before the 24th anniversary of the bloody quelling of the student-led movement, according to media reports and a family friend. At the height of his career, Chen was one of China's most powerful men, but an anticorruption campaign brought about his spectacular downfall. (AP Photo/Mark Avery, File)/2013-06-05 09:24:51/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2013 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> Chen Xitong

He was sentenced to 16 years in jail on corruption charges in 1998, but won medical parole in 2006, according to the HKCNA report.

He died aged 84, the report said, shortly before his jail sentence would have ended had it been fully served.

His political downfall came after he was promoted to Communist Party secretary of Beijing and made a member on the all-powerful Politburo, China’s de facto ruling body.

His rise in the party was widely seen as a reward for his role in the Tiananmen episode.

Chen said he was “sorry” for the tragedy and that the deaths could have been avoided in an interview contained in a book released last year titled “Conversations with Chen Xitong.”

He also attempted to shift the blame, saying he was merely acting on orders from the top leadership.

But Zhao Ziyang, the former communist party secretary who was purged and held under house arrest following the protests after he sympathized with students, blamed Chen for the tragedy in his memoir.

Other senior figures within the Communist Party also said Chen was one of the masterminds of the crackdown.


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com