An activist pointed to by China as one of the the masterminds behind the 1989  student protests in Tiananmen Square has died from pancreatic cancer at a Beijing Hospital.

Chen Ziming, 62, was arrested and was thrown in jail after Chinese police crushed the protests in 1989.

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Chinese officials said Chen was the " black hand" behind the protests and despite his plea of innocence, he was arrested and was punished with a 13-year jail term.

Reports said Chinese authorities had put him under strict house arrest until 2002 after being released from prison.

Chen was allowed to travel to the US to seek medical treatment for his cancer last January.

Even when he was in jail, Chen remained a critic of China's ruling Communist Party for decades.

Reports said the government had blamed Chen and another activist, Wang Juntao, of orchestrating the student protests for democracy in Tiananmen.

The demonstrations were crushed by the Chinese Army on June 4, 1989, leaving a high number of students dead.

Fellow activist Dai Quing said that if Chen were in a normal society, he would have made great contributions to science or business or the academe.

Unfortunately, Dai said Chen was born in China and suffered a lot. Dai added that Chen was wise and brave

After China ended its Cultural Revolution in 1976, Chen  went back to university school earning his Master's Degree in Biophysics in the University of Science and Technology in China.

He became the Sudent Council President and editor of the school paper.

In 1991, he was jailed for his participation in the protests and was sentenced to the first several years of his 13-year jail term.

In 1994, Chen was released from prison after he was given a medical parole, but went back in after one year. In 1996 he was given a new medical parole and thereafter was put under house arrest for six years.

Chen is survived by his wife, Wang Zhihong.

TagsTiananmen, Activist, protests, chinese army