June 4, 2023 marks the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, a pro-democracy occupation that ended in bloodshed.
, marks the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, which saw a weekslong, student-led protest for democracy and liberalization end in hundreds of brutal deaths.
In the early hours of June 4, 1989, the Chinese Communist Party sent a column of tanks and armed troops into central Beijing, instructing them to „use any means“ to clear out protesters who had been occupying it for the past few weeks.
It turned into a night of bloodshed that continued into the next morning, where thousands of soldiers fired into the crowd, killing and injuring hundreds of people. The exact toll remains unclear to this day.
Scroll down to learn about the history of the Tiananmen Square incident — through 31 photos the Chinese government doesn’t want you to see.The protests began in April 1989, after the death of ousted Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang.During his tenure Hu tried to push the country toward a more open political and pro-market economic system, which won the support of many students from the country’s elite universities.Tens of thousands of students and workers gathered in Tiananmen Square in downtown Beijing as a result.
Tiananmen Square is a significant location because the mausoleum of China’s founding father, Mao Zedong, and the Great Hall of the People — home to the country’s main legislature — are both located there.The protesters came with a long list of grievances, asking for greater freedom of speech, higher salaries, and controls on inflation. Following Hu’s memorial on April 22, the students presented a list of demands for the government. They were rejected.On April 26, the state-run People’s Daily published an editorial calling the rallies „disturbances,“ and accusing the protesters of working against the Communist Party. This enraged the protesters even more.By May 13, the crowd in Tiananmen Square had grown to about 300,000 people, with many spending their nights there. Here, two unidentified Beijing University students take a nap amid boxes of soft drinks.More than a hundred students also started a hunger strike at this point.Many also staged a sit-in in anticipation of a high-level visit by Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union.On May 19, Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang — who advocated negotiating with the students — appeared at the protest and asked them for a compromise. This failed.
According to the BBC, Zhao told the crowd: „We have come too late.“Zhao’s rival, Chinese Premier Li Peng, declared martial law shortly after.
