Pu Zhiqiang, who was a graduate student at China University of Political Science and Law in 1989, was one of the backbones of the 1989 democracy movement. On May 10, he took part in the bicycle procession, wearing a sign that said "Freedom of the press, freedom of association, supporting 'World Economic Herald'." On the 13th, he and 12 other classmates became the first China University of Political Science and Law students to go on hunger strike in Tian'anmen Square.

From the night of June 3 to the early morning of June 4, during the violent "clearance" of the Square by martial law troops, Pu sat on the top step at the base of the Monument to the People's Heroes. There, he swore to his classmates: "So long as I am alive, I will return to the Square at this time every year to mourn the dead". Since then, every June 3rd, Pu Zhiqiang has gone to Tian'anmen Square in person, and personally called Professor Ding Zilin, one of the Tian'anmen Mothers who lost children at Tian'anmen.

In 1991, Pu Zhiqiang obtained a master's degree in law; in 1995, he became qualified to practice law, and has been practicing since 1997. Since 2009, he has represented Tan Zuoren (who documented deaths resulting from poor construction in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake), Ren Jianyu (who was sentenced to re-education through labor for speech critical of the authorities), Ai Weiwei (who was accused of tax evasion), Tang Hui (who was sentenced to re-education through labor for protesting official abuse of her daughter), as well as many other Weiquan (human rights protection) cases that have had huge social impacts in China. This makes him one of the most famous Weiquan lawyers in China.

References: [端傳媒("Initium Media")(Chinese)] (https://theinitium.com/article/20151214-dailynews-puzhiqiang/); "[八九天安門事件大事記("Timeline of the 1989 Tian'anmen Square Incident")(Chinese)]" (https://blog.bnn.co/hero/201106/wurenhua/4_1.shtml)