TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE IN BEIJING CHINA

Tiananmen Square Massacre began in Beijing on 3 June 1989. Chinese troops opened fire on the pro-democratic protesters. Shopping bags, in his hands an unknown protester stood in front of the line of Army Tanks.

Hu Yaobang became Chairman of the Communist Party of China on June 29, 1981. Hu Yaobang was a Chinese reformist Communist leader and an ally of party leader Deng Xiaoping, who helped liberalize China from its strict Marxist past under Mao Zedong. Hu wanted to pursue social and economic reforms. He was inevitably opposed by the hardliners. Despite being appointed to the more powerful position of Party General Secretary in 1982, he was eventually forced out of office and made to state humiliating “self-criticisms” of his ideas in public. Amongst other things, Hu refused in 1986 to crack down on protesting students, saying that they should be allowed to vent their frustrations. Hu died of a heart attack, aged 73, in April 1989. His death was not mentioned officially. There was no suggestion of a state funeral. “We’ll see about that,” the collective student body responded. University students from across Beijing marched on Tiananmen Square, calling for the rehabilitation of Hu's reputation. The slogans they shouted were officially approved by the Party. A delegation of student petitioners waited in vain for three days at the Great Hall of the People. The Party leadership took note of the protest and decided that Hu should be given a muted state funeral. It took place on April 22, 1989. It turned out to be the focus of massive demonstrations by thousands of students. They were angry that the Government refused to receive their petition. A concerned Party leadership responded by publishing an editorial in the People’s Daily. It described the protests as “dongluan” (turmoil or rioting) and said they were carried out by a "tiny minority.” This further enraged the students who feared arrest. They demanded the retraction of the editorial. It remained a major point of contention throughout the protests. Students from other cities poured into Beijing to join the protests. Worryingly for the Government, workers, housewives, doctors, and even sailors from the Chinese Navy joined in the protests. On May 13, the students announced a hunger strike. Over one thousand of them took part, gaining widespread sympathy. Hardline student leaders then called for the protests to continue until June 20 – the date of the next National People's Congress meeting. Alarmed at the prolonged protests, the Government decided to bring in the People's Liberation Army and force the protesters out of Tiananmen Square. On foot and in tanks, firing tear gas, the army moved into the square on the morning of June 3, 1989. But the horror would not take a firm grip until nightfall. Throughout the early hours of June 4, soldiers beat, bayoneted, and shot protesters. Many were crushed to death as tanks drove over them. By 6 AM, the square was cleared. Doctors and ambulance drivers who tried to enter the area, and parents looking for their missing sons or daughters, were shot. Amid all the shock and grief, the next day brought an astonishing event. As foreign journalists and photographers watched spellbound from their hotel balconies, a young man carrying shopping bags stepped in front of a line of tanks. The lead tank changed direction. The man jumped back in front of it. He climbed onto the tank and reportedly asked the crew: "Why are you here? You caused nothing but misery.” The tanks tried to manoeuvre around him. He repeatedly moved to block their path. As he continued to defy the tanks, he was overpowered by security men and taken away. His identity and his fate are unknown. Nobody knows how many people died in the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The official figure is 241. Estimates range from 800 to 4,000 deaths. It is a taboo subject in China. Young Chinese know nothing about it.