The book is presented as a compilation of selected secret Chinese official documents relating to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
[1] The documents used in both books are said to have been made available by a Chinese compiler under the pseudonym Zhang Liang, whose identity is hidden to protect the individual from potential persecution.
[2] The English version of the book was edited and translated by Andrew J. Nathan, Perry Link, and Orville Schell, who claim to place full trust in the compiler.
[4] The Tiananmen Papers combines various government documents with editors' notes and footnotes to illustrate the situation within the Chinese Communist Party surrounding the time of the protests.
Li had more of a hardline approach, and attempted to convince paramount leader Deng Xiaoping that the protests were causing "turmoil" and that the students were "networking."
[11] The editors have acknowledged this fact and identified it as arising from the compiler's wish to "spark a reevaluation of what transpired in 1989 and accelerate political liberalization in China.