BEIJING (AP) — Fang Lizhi, one of China's best-known dissidents who spent 13 months in hiding in the U.S. Embassy, has died in the United States where he fled after China's 1989 military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. He was 76.
Fang's friend and fellow U.S.-based exiled dissident Wang Dan wrote on his Facebook page and Twitter feed that Fang's death in Tucson, Arizona, was sudden and that he learned of it from Fang's wife.
Wang confirmed his Facebook posts when contacted by email but declined an interview.
Fang's speeches on democracy inspired student protesters throughout the 1980s. He and his wife sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy after the June 4, 1989, military crackdown.
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