Tiananmen Square Document 22: Cable, TFCH01--SITREP No. 38: June 7, 1900 Hours, 1989

This intriguing cable describes a sequence of events that occurred as a large convoy of troops from the 27th Army passed near the Jianguomenwai diplomatic compound and U.S. embassy residences on their way out of the city as part of a major troop rotation. In what was later explained as a search for a sniper, the troops sprayed the compound with automatic weapons fire. One witness, the document notes, "said the unit was from Shenyang and that they had been on the square on the night of June 3-4." The soldiers appeared to be aiming "at or above rooftops, but soldiers lowered their sights (but did not fire) at any spectators who did not cower immediately behind nearby protective cover." The cable explains that the military had apparently chosen to replace "the much-hated 27th Group Army unit" with the 20th in a move "apparently intended to improve relations between the military and the residents of the city." The incident has provoked speculation that the shootings may have been staged as a response to the package of sanctions against China announced by President Bush in June 5, or the decision to grant refuge to dissident Fang Lizhi, an outspoken critic of the Chinese regime, in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

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Original source: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/index.html#d22