On May 28, the original Global Solidarity Day, Chinese students and overseas Chinese held different-sized demonstrations to show solidarity with the students in Beijing. But in Beijing, the atmosphere was somber that day; the students held small-scale marches on several different streets in the city, which were no longer as lively as they used to be.
After the decision to "retreat from Tian'anmen Square" was rejected, the headquarters on the Square changed; even the commander-in-chief, Chai Ling, fell into a depression. According to Feng Congde's "A Tiananmen Journal", Chai decided to resign from the post of commander-in-chief; she even had the idea of going south to work on autonomy activism. She felt that "Only a few economically powerful provinces that are independent from the Central Government could serve as the strongest support for the democratic movement in the capital."
On the 28th, Chai Ling was interviewed by American journalist Philip Cunningham. With his assistance, she recorded a video for the interview of "Final Words", describing her experiences and thoughts during the student movement. In the video, Chai says, tearfully, "The next step is for me, I am willing to survive. As for the students in the Square, I think they can only hold on to the end and wait for the bloodbath when the government loses its patience. But I believe that a great revolution will come soon — if it takes the next step. Even if it doesn't take the next step, we should reserve some firepower and strength; we will definitely stand up when the next movement comes." Video of this interview was used in the documentary "The Gate of Heavenly Peace", and has been quoted in other media. In the interview, Chai Ling is shown saying at the time, they "期待" (qidai) bloodshed; the translation of "qidai" has been subject to much controversy, ranging from "foreseeing" to "anticipating" to "looking forward to". Some have argued that Chai "looked forward to" others' blood being shed, but was unwilling to shed her own along with the martyrs.
On the 25th anniversary of the June 4th crackdown in 2014, Chai Ling published an "Open Letter to Tian'anmen Mother Ding Zilin". In this letter, Chai clarified the remarks she made in 1989, saying, "It was not my idea to 'look forward to' bloodshed in Tian'anmen Square, nor was it our strategy. It was something that I had heard repeatedly from Li Lu (another student movement leader)." She also emphasized that she had no intention of "letting others bleed and surviving on her own."
References: Feng Congde, "A Tiananmen Journal"; [《天安門對峙》("Standoff at Tiananmen")(Chinese)] (http://www.tiananmenduizhi.com/2012/05/blog-post_28.html), BBC
