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Source 1:

Perlman, Merrill. “1989 TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE” New York Times Upfront (found on eLibrary). Published Jan 12, 2009, Accessed April 15, 2018. https://explore.proquest.com/document/207587698?searchid=1523884642&accountid=140036 .

Brief summary:

This New York Times article highlights the struggle of citizens who longed for freedom under communist China. The article pinpoints the cruel persecution of protesters by China’s authoritarian rule, alongside the protester’s relentless yet non-violent pursuit of democracy. Something of significance mentioned in the article is that even members of the military who were sent to shut down protesters ended up joining them because they, too, understood that their government was tyrannical. This illustrates the audacity that the protesters had, they didn’t back down from threats or murder, they simply kept protesting.

Source 2:

Sommer, Jeff. “China’s Leaders Rebuked Meet with students no deals” Newsday (found on eLibrary). Published May 19, 1989, Accessed April 16, 2018. https://explore.proquest.com/document/278180238?searchid=1523898051&accountid=140036

Brief summary:

This article, written within the year of the protests, explains the attempts to resolve the citizen versus state conflict. Meetings were held, but the student protester’s voices weren’t allowed to surface in the media- the students impored to be able to have open dialogues with state officials whilst the government-controlled media tried it’s best to cover up the protests. This highlights the Chinese government’s disdain for opposition and its mission to maintain its iron grip its people.

Source 3:

Robert, Benjamin. “China fails to heal Tiananmen wounds” The Sun (found on eLibrary). Published June 2, 1994, Accessed April 16, 2018.

https://explore.proquest.com/document/406869453?searchid=1523899892&accountid=140036

Brief summary:

This article, written five years after the initial protests, mentions the Chinese Government’s attempts to disrupt documentation of the Tiananmen massacre, and do not even acknowledge the innocent people who perished in the name of their lust for power. This shows that China’s officials did not only want to have vocal opposition, they also did not want anyone to know of their crimes against their own people.

Source 4:

Kristof, Nicholas. “Beijing Seals Off Square; Protest Fizzles” New York TImes (found on eLibrary). Published Apr 2, 1990, Accessed April 16, 2018.

https://explore.proquest.com/document/427636944?searchid=1523914609&accountid=140036

Brief summary:

This article, written one year after the initial protest, describes the Chinese government’s desperate attempts to silence protesters. Unlike the the violence carried out by Chinese soldiers in 1989, protesters were kept quiet via blocked rodes and a public singing event to distract the general public. This shows that even without violence, the Chinese government was using all of its resources to keep the voices of the protesters from being heard

Source 5:

Factsanddetails.com. “TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE: VICTIMS, SOLDIERS, AND EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS” (First paragraph under the subtitle “Eyewitness Accounts of the Tiananmen Square Massacre”) Facts and Details. Unknown publish date, Accessed April 16, 2018. http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub7/item77.html

Brief summary:

Zheng Yi’s witness account of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre provides details of the physical conflict between the protesters and soldiers. Yi’s personal story shows an example of the bloodbath that the Chinese people endured on the road to freedom.

Source 6:

Economist.com / Global Agenda. “The man who came too late” (found on eLibrary) Economist.com / Global Agenda. Published Jan 20, 2005, Accessed April 16, 2018. https://explore.proquest.com/document/208741628?searchid=1523914609&accountid=140036

Brief summary:

“The man who came too late” provides a slightly different take on the massacre- whilst most publications only focused on the violence incited by China’s authoritarian communist government, this article mentions that Zhao Ziyang, former leader of the communist party, warned the protesters of oncoming state violence. Of course, the protesters did not listen, for they valued liberty for generations to come over their own lives. The protesters’ persistence demonstrates how devoted they were to reforming their country.

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Zheng Yi, a Chinese author described the Massacre from what he saw himself.  Yi said he saw protesters creating a human boundary by holding onto each other whilst being attacked by Chinese tanks.  The protesters eventually dispersed and threw rocks at the tanks at took cover behind street cars, so that the tanks could not advance.  Yi went on to mention that before the tanks were close, when protesters in their massive human-shield were shot to death, more protesters came to replace their fallen comrades.
What Yi saw during the massacre was more than enough to truly encapsulate the severity of the Chinese Government’s relentless, violent attack on its own people.  The fact that the Tanks only stopped advancing because  of the cars being used as a physical baraccade demonstrates that otherwise, the Chinese Army would have mercilessly mowed down virtually every protester in sight, in the name of communism.  The Chinese Government would not stand for political dissonance, even if it meant killing their own people.

An unidentified witness expanded on Yi’s account by mentioning that one tank, in fact, did not back away from the barrier of cars, but rather charged into it.  Luckily for the protesters, the tank was unable to penetrate the vehicles- and as protesters cheered, the tanks were still unable to breach the wall after several attempts.  After the military’s failure to destroy the streetcars to reach the protesters, they then fired tear gas behind the barrier and onto protesters, who then scattered in fear for their lives.  The Chinese Army then decided to make a final attempt to breach the barrier created by the protesters- and managed to crush a few cars- creating a gap in the wall- only to be overturned by protesters to be used to fill the newly created cavity in their metal barrier.  Not only, then, did the Chinese Army only previously hold back because of the barrier, but they tried to penetrate it, over, and over, until they could finally reach civilians.  This witness’ account is yet another example of the extensive effort the Chinese government made to slaughter its own people like cattle in a slaughterhouse.

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The Tiananmen Protests - A Brief Summary of a Chinese Tragedy

In the spring of 1989, a homemade replica of the Statue of Liberty was erected in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  Within the past months, Chinese youth had been using Tiananmen Square as their main base of operation for protesting their national government.  The statue, known as the “Goddess Of Democracy”, was said to represent the Chinese people’s yearning for freedom- China was ruled by an authoritarian communist regime at the time.  Chinese officials saw the statue as an act of defiance against the state, and deployed tanks to neutralize a clearly peaceful protest.  Hundreds, if not more, protesters had their lives taken in the name of communist sovereignty.

The protests started as a reaction to the death of a Chinese communist leader who supported reform.  With the knowledge that China may never see a leader who favors democracy again, chinese citizens began protesting in the streets of Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.  The protesters’ goal was to reach out to their government and convince them that they should turn China into a democracy.  The reason that demonstrators felt the need to attempt to completely reshape China’s political system was because at the time China was a Communist dictatorship which punished political dissidents and kept a communist economic system in practice, which restricted free trade and spread poverty.  The protesters, who later evolved into hunger strikers, marched along the streets of China, with Tiananmen Square as central platform.  Students carried signs with pro-democracy slogans- most of the slogans were really all flavored with the same idea- the Chinese government needs to stop acting against the interest of its own people and holding the population in an iron grip.  Demonstrators wanted their government to act as an aid for the people, rather than a separate entity that reaps them of their resources and freedoms.

Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev visited Tiananmen Square to meet with Chinese officials, and because of his appearance, the media therefore also caught a glimpse of the protests taking place amongst Tiananmen Square.  Student protesters praised Gorbachev for his attempts to reduce government restrictions on the economy and freedom of speech within Russia; because of this, protesters found new motivation to continue their struggle, now re-assured that freedom can be brought into a currently communist country.  During some of the initial military crackdowns on the protests, protesters begged not to be killed and eventually convinced some soldiers to unite with them in their crusade against tyranny.  However, China’s government would not stand down against the protests that they found to be treasonous- additional troops were tasked with interrupting the protests and were beaten, shot, and attacked with tear gas.  Within the fourth day of the massacre, Chinese troops had fully taken control of Tiananmen Square and had destroyed the statue.  George H. W. Bush spoke out against the atrocities committed by the Chinese government- but did not make any attempt to get the United States involved in the state-citizen conflict in China.

During the Chinese Army’s storm of Tiananmen Square, there were brave demonstrations of resistance against the government by both citizens and former officials. Zhao Ziyang, former leader of China’s Communist Party came to the Square and announced he arrived “too late”, meaning that he knew he could not persuade the protesters to leave the square for their own safety- for they had already been prepared to chase their liberty until their deaths.  The Communist Party sentenced Ziyang to house arrest and he passed away shortly after.  Whilst tanks were treading into the midst of the crowd, an unidentified youth, described to be carrying grocery bags, blocked a tank’s way, and motioned it, using his bags, to leave.  He stood off with the tank and moved to where the tank began to move, until he was removed from the tank’s range by protesters for his own safety.  The young protester was never identified, and is to this day, only known as “The Tank Man”.  The Tank Man was an inspiration to Chinese freedom fighters across the country- his immense bravery kept them on the streets despite the threat of being attacked by their own statesmen.  During the government’s siege on the Square, two hunger strikers by the names of Zhuo Duo and Hou Dejian managed to convince Chinese officers to allow some demonstrators to leave the square.  Because of them, many students were able to safely escape the crackdown.

The protests finally came to halt when the Chinese Government closed off Tiananmen Square and distracted the general populace from attempts to protests by having children perform in the Square.  When word spread to officials that protesters were planning to walk around the square during the commotion to subtly protest, the Chinese Government placed police along the square to keep the public away from the protestors.  The square was reopened for the public during the following day, although the authorities advised the public to avoid the square.  With hundreds, or possibly thousands of Chinese civilians killed by their own leadership, the remaining protesters did not receive the liberty that they had risked their own lives for.

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Here protesters carried a sign with the slogan "free minds, free press". This slogan was a response to the Chinese governments' crackdown on political dissidents and journalism.

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As shown the photograph, demonstrators burnt empty troop carriers in order to stop soldiers from advancing. Although the protesters could have retaliated with violence, they chose to attempt to keep the soldiers back this way.

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A journalist has his wounds mended after being caught up in an encounter between protesters and soldiers. Yet another example of unjust violence perpetrated by the Chinese government.

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Here, Chinese soldiers are leaping over a barrier in order to get close to protesters. The next day, they killed thousands of peaceful demonstrators.

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Here, workers joined among the youth to protest the iron fist of their state. The growth of the protesters shows how successful they have been in demonstrating their cause.

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A girl who was ruthlessly wounded by the Chinese military is being carried by fellow protesters. The military showed no restraint for the innocent.

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Here, a student is asking soldiers to go home. Yet another peaceful demonstration of protest, only to be later met with violence.

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This photo shows the unknown individual only identified as the "tank man". He stood off against Chinese military tanks with nothing but a grocery bag, telling them to leave. The "tank man" is a perfect example of the bravery that the protesters had- they were ready to die for the benefit of everybody else.

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Here, protesting youth are holding another one of their own slogans. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is in response to China's authoritarian communist government at the time, who could essentially legislate whatever they wanted, because of their absolute power.

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This image shows student protesters in Tienanmen square. "All power belongs to the people" is a pro-democracy slogan, intended to state that the government should not act as a separate entity and therefore act against the interest of the populace .