18th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre June 4, 2007
Filed Under Human Rights, China | Posted on May 29, 2007
Lest we forget …
June 4 marks the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China, in which Chinese troops opened fire on a peaceful democracy protest. Along with millions of others around the world, I watched the events unfold through the Spring of 1989. Initial feelings of hope and optimism, as it appeared that freedom and democracy was gaining support in China, gave way to horror as the tanks rolled into Beijing and People’s Liberation Army troops opened fire on innocent and unarmed civilians.
“The total number of dead, wounded, imprisoned and executed remains unknown, because the Chinese government has 
consistantly refused to carry out a thorough investigation or accounting of the events of June 1989. [link]” Estimates of the death toll vary wildly, ranging from a few hundred to 10,000. The U.S. Secretary of State’s Morning Summary for June 5, 1989, titled China: After the Bloodbath, noted “the severity of the assault on Tiananmen Square is clear. Troops shot indiscriminately into crowds of unarmed civilians, women and children, often with automatic weapons. In one case students attempting to parlay with troops were gunned down. Foreign journalists report seeing fleeing protestors shot in the back.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message commemorating the 6th anniversary of the tragedy, is worthy of repeating today:
Today, as our Chinese brothers and sisters commemorate the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 massacre at the Tiananmen Square, I wish to pay my respect to those who died for freedom, democracy and human rights of your great nation. I also pray for those of your compatriots who are imprisoned because of their courageous advocacy of those universal and inherent human values and for the success of your democracy movement.
[On a June night in 1989, Tiananmen Square becomes a war zone as 300,000 troops use tanks and semi-automatic weapons to crush China’s pro-democracy demonstrators. Then, just as all of Beijing seems silenced, a lone, unarmed man makes an incredible stand. View the full FrontLine documentary, “The Tank Man” online.]
Timeline*
April 17, 1989
Tens of thousands of university students begin gathering spontaneously in Tiananmen Square to mourn the death of Hu Yoabang, a symbol of anti-corruption and political reform.
April 18-21
Demonstrations escalate,,,
April 25
Party members antagonistic to the students convince Party elder Deng Xiaoping, the de facto head of state, that the students aim to overthrow him and the Communist Party.
April 28 - May 3
The World Is Watching: Party leaders are aware of the growing foreign press coverage of the demonstrations, but remain split over how to stop the protests and get the students to return to classes.
May 13
Anticipating Soviet Party Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit, about 160 students begin a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, citing the government’s failure to respond to their requests for dialogue.
May 15
“Loss of Face”: Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Beijing for the first Sino-Soviet summit since 1959, but the hunger strike forces the government to cancel plans to welcome him in Tiananmen Square.
May 16
More than 3,000 people are now participating in the hunger strike. The embarrassing protests during Gorbachev’s visit further polarizes the Politburo.
May 19
Martial Law declared. Student leaders stage a mass sit-in in Tiananmen Square that draws about 1.2 million supporters, including members of the police and military and industrial workers.
May 20
PLA troops attempt to occupy Beijing. A huge number of civilian protestors block their convoys on the streets. Beijingers begin a dialogue with the soldiers, trying to explain to them why they shouldn’t be there. The soldiers have been ordered not to fire on civilians, even if provoked. They are stuck — unable to reach the protestors in Tiananmen Square and unable to withdraw from the city — for almost three days.
May 25 - June 1
The demonstrations continue, and Beijing operates with no real police presence and with a virtually free press. In Tiananmen Square, the atmosphere is jubilant, but at government headquarters, Deng Xiaoping is devising a new offensive to end the protest. Armed troops will be sent in from every military district in the country.
June 2
Party elders approve the decision to put down the “counterrevolutionary riot” and clear the square with military force.
June 3
As word spreads that hundreds of thousands of troops are approaching from all four corners of the city, Beijingers flood the streets to block them. The soldiers start firing on the unarmed civilians with AK-47s loaded with battlefield ammunition. An untold number of people are killed.
June 4
The students vacate the square under the gaze of thousands of soldiers. Later that morning, some people try to re-enter Tiananmen Square. The soldiers open fire, taking down dozens of people at a time.
No one knows for certain how many people died over the two days. The Chinese Red Cross initially reported 2,600, then quickly retracted that figure under intense pressure from the government. The official Chinese government figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded.
June 5
By the morning of June 5, the army is in complete control of Beijing. But when all protest in the city seems silenced, the world witnessed one final act of defiance.
About midday, as a column of tanks slowly moves along Chang’an Boulevard toward Tiananmen Square, an unarmed young man carrying shopping bags suddenly steps out in front of the tanks. Instead of running over him, the first tank tries to go around, but the young man steps in front of it again. They repeat this maneuver several more times before the tank stops and turns off its motor.
*excerpted from FRONTLINE: The Memory of Tianmen 1989
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I love China but I hate CPC It’s mean Cruel Party of China