Yan Xuerong was a worker at a Shanghai radio factory. Following the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, Shanghai citizens protested widespread state violence. On the night of June 6, train No. 161 from Beijing crashed into peaceful protesters at the Guangxin Road intersection, killing several people and causing outrage among thousands of bystanders who set fire to the train. Yan was arrested during the ensuing clampdown. In a rapid political trial aimed at terrorizing the public, the Shanghai Intermediate Court condemned him to death on June 15. On June 21, 1989, Yan Xuerong was executed by the tyrannical CCP regime alongside Xu Guoming and Bian Hanwu. Human rights observers note that ordinary workers like Yan were used as scapegoats and executed to instill fear after the 1989 democracy movement.
On June 21, 1989, Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu, and Yan Xuerong, who had been sentenced to death in the Guangxin Road crossing incident in Shanghai, were executed. They had been sentenced to death in the first instance on June 15, and the West German ambassador to China had called for the three not to be put to death.
In June 1989, the Shanghai High People's Court rejected the appeals of Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu, and Yan Xuerong, upholding the death sentences; the three were executed on June 21. The specific date of the second instance was reported to be around June 20.
On June 16, 1989, after three people in Shanghai were sentenced to death, the West German ambassador to China expressed hope that the authorities would not carry out the executions, but the three were still executed on June 21.
On June 15, 1989, the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu, and Yan Xuerong to death in the first instance, to be executed immediately, with political rights stripped for life; only 9 days elapsed from the case on June 6 to the verdict.
The Shanghai Intermediate Court heard the Guangxin Road level crossing case, which was broadcast live on television. The defendant, Yan Xuerong, is reportedly intellectually disabled from birth, and her unusual behavior in court sparked discussion; the trial date could not be verified, and she was sentenced to death at first instance on June 15.
After the Guangxin Road crossing incident, Shanghai police arrested those involved, including Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu, and Yan Xuerong. English-language materials say 11 people were arrested at the scene; the claim of dozens of arrests and nighttime raids from June 7 to 9 could not be verified.
At 20:43 on the evening of June 6, 1989, Train No. 161 traveling from Beijing to Shanghai entered the Guangxin Road railway crossing in Putuo District and plowed into a crowd gathered to mourn the victims of June Fourth and protest the massacre, killing 6 people and seriously injuring 6 others. The tragedy enraged the people at the scene; tens of thousands gathered in protest, train carriages were set on fire, and Beijing–Shanghai railway traffic was cut off. The incident is known as the "Guangxin Road Crossing Incident" or the "Shanghai June 6 Incident."
On June 15, 1989, Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu, and Yan Xuerong were sentenced to death in the first instance by the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court for June Fourth, and were executed by firing squad on June 20, faster than in Beijing.
To remember is to refuse to give in.