April 17, 1989, tens of thousands of students gather in Tiananmen square to mourn the death of Hu Yaobang. He was the former general secretary of the communist party. To the students, he was a symbol of anti-corruption and political reform. More than 100,000 university students assemble outside the Great Hall of the People. Over the next days, the students boycott classes and organize into unofficial student unions — an illegal act in China.
Politician Li Peng calls a meeting of the Politburo, a meeting dominated by Party members antagonistic to the students. They convince the de facto head of state, Deng Xiaoping, that the students aim to overthrow the government. Deng decides the Party has thus far been “tolerant and restrained,” but the time has come for action. He says “We must explain to the whole Party and nation that we are facing a most serious political struggle. … We’ve got to be explicit and clear in opposing this turmoil.”
The protests continue to grow. 1 in 10 people are attending. You could find people from every walk of life; doctors, nurses, army, scientists, even the navy was demonstrating. Jan Wong, a foreign journalist, says ‘This is extraordinary because who’s left? It’s just the top leaders who aren’t out there.'” the protests evolve into a hunger strike, and the government declares martial law.
The students hear about the declaration of martial law and end the hunger strike, instead staging a mass sit-in in Tiananmen Square which draws in about 1.2 million supporters. the PLA troops attempt to occupy Beijing. The soldiers have been ordered not to fire on civilians, even if provoked. They are stuck, they can’t reach Tiananmen Square and are unable to withdraw from the city for about 3 days. The government decides that this was a failure and a humiliation, they decide to take more forceful measures. People start setting up barriers on main roads and become aggressive towards the army. The soldiers begin firing on the civilians. The soldiers arrive in Tiananmen square at 1:00 am and must clear the square by 6:00 am. The students put it to a vote and vacated the square. Later that morning protesters attempt to reenter the square, the soldiers tell them to leave and when they don't, the soldiers open fire.
No one really knows how many people died. The Chinese red cross initially reported 2,600 but quickly retracted that number under intense government pressure. The official Chinese government figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded.
A final act of defiance was “tank man”. He stood in the way of 4 tanks and blocked their path. He began to climb on one and jumped down. He was very quickly taken away by an unknown group of people and has never been seen again.
This event showed the world just how controlling China is. The fact that most young people in China have no idea that people were gunned down in the streets just for protesting freedom of speech and the press is baffling. But this event also shows just how much of an effect a well-organized protest can have.