A France-based rights activist who was at the heart of the 1989 student-led democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square has died suddenly at the age of 48. Zhang Jian, who was injured during the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crackdown on unarmed civilians in 1989, lost consciousness en route between Thailand and Paris after going incommunicado on April 15, his friends and fellow activists said. He was sent to hospital in Munich, Germany, for emergency treatment, but later died.
