Lee Feigon states "women [during the Tiananmen Square Protests] were relegated for the most part to traditional support roles.
"[1] Chai Ling and Wang Chaohua, however, were female student leaders taking part in leadership activities during the pro-democracy movement.
Chai Ling was a leader in the hunger strike movement and the commander-in-chief of Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters.
She assumed her role as a leader because she was seen as a candidate who could get men to put aside their arguments, and she became the liaison between the general student population at Beida and the Preparatory Committee.
"[7] Chai also attended the May 13 meeting with Yan Mingfu, the head of the CCP Central Committee's United Front Work Department.
Chai Ling, Zhang Boli, and Li Lu asked the students to vote on the proposal, and many favoured ending the strike.
"[16] Wang also participated in the May 13 meeting with Yan Mingfu to publicly discuss the students' views on the hunger strike and the movement itself.
[17] Along with Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi, she also attended the May 14 meeting that concluded that the Communist Party Central Committee would not hold the welcome ceremony for Gorbachev's state visit at Tiananmen Square, regardless of whether the students withdrew.
Wang reportedly cried and asked the intellectuals to use their influence to persuade the hunger strikers to leave the square.
[21] Dai made speeches at People's University and "welcomed the pro-democracy movement as marking a new stage in China's search for democracy".