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How the Tiananmen Square Massacre Changed China Forever

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The Chinese government survived a crisis of legitimacy the only way it knew how: by accelerating the economy at the expense of freedoms

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Tiananmen Square incident, also called June Fourth incident or 6/4, series of protests and demonstrations in China in the spring of 1989 that culminated on the night of June 3-4 with a government crackdown on the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Although the demonstrations and their subsequent repression occurred in cities throughout the country, the events in Beijing-especially in Tiananmen Square, historically linked to such other protests as the May Fourth Movement (1919)-came to symbolize the entire incident.

Emergence and spread of unrest

By the spring of 1989 there was growing sentiment among university students and others in China for political and economic reform. The country had experienced a decade of remarkable economic growth and liberalization, and many Chinese had been exposed to foreign ideas and standards of living. In addition, although the economic advances in China had brought new prosperity to many citizens, it was accompanied by price inflation and opportunities for corruption by government officials. In the mid-1980s the central government had encouraged some people (notably scientists and intellectuals) to assume a more active political role, but student-led demonstrations calling for more individual rights and freedoms in late 1986 and early 1987 caused hard-liners in the government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to suppress what they termed "bourgeois liberalism." One casualty of this tougher stance was Hu Yaobang, who had been the CCP general secretary since 1980 and who had encouraged democratic reforms; in January 1987 he was forced to resign his post.

The catalyst for the chain of events in the spring of 1989 was the death of Hu in mid-April; Hu was transformed into a martyr for the cause of political liberalization. On the day of his funeral (April 22), tens of thousands of students gathered in Tiananmen Square demanding democratic and other reforms. For the next several weeks, students in crowds of varying sizes-eventually joined by a wide variety of individuals seeking political, social, and economic reforms-gathered in the square. The initial government response was to issue stern warnings but take no action against the mounting crowds in the square. Similar demonstrations rose up in a number of other Chinese cities, notably Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, Changsha, and Chengdu. However, the principal outside media coverage was in Beijing, in part because a large number of Western journalists had gathered there to report on the visit to China by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in mid-May. Shortly after his arrival, a demonstration in Tiananmen Square drew some one million participants and was widely broadcast overseas.

Meanwhile, an intense debate ensued among government and party officials on how to handle the mounting protests. Moderates, such as Zhao Ziyang (Hu Yaobang's successor as party general secretary), advocated negotiating with the demonstrators and offering concessions. However, they were overruled by hard-liners led by Chinese premier Li Peng and supported by paramount elder statesman Deng Xiaoping, who, fearing anarchy, insisted on forcibly suppressing the protests.

During the last two weeks of May, martial law was declared in Beijing, and army troops were stationed around the city. However, an attempt by the troops to reach Tiananmen Square was thwarted when Beijing citizens flooded the streets and blocked their way. Protesters remained in large numbers in Tiananmen Square, centring themselves around a plaster statue called "Goddess of Democracy," near the northern end of the square. Western journalists also maintained a presence there, often providing live coverage of the events.

Crackdown and aftermath

By the beginning of June, the government was ready to act again. On the night of June 3-4, tanks and heavily armed troops advanced toward Tiananmen Square, opening fire on or crushing those who again tried to block their way. Once the soldiers reached the square, a number of the few thousand remaining demonstrators there chose to leave rather than face a continuation of the confrontation. By morning the area had been cleared of protesters, though sporadic shootings occurred throughout the day. The military also moved in forcibly against protesters in several other Chinese cities, including Chengdu, but in Shanghai the mayor, Zhu Rongji (later to become the premier of China), was able to negotiate a peaceful settlement. By June 5 the military had secured complete control, though during the day there was a notable, widely reported incident involving a lone protester momentarily facing down a column of tanks as it advanced on him near the square.

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In the aftermath of the crackdown, the United States instituted economic and diplomatic sanctions for a time, and many other foreign governments criticized China's handling of the protesters. The Western media quickly labeled the events of June 3-4 a "massacre." The Chinese government arrested thousands of suspected dissidents; many of them received prison sentences of varying lengths of time, and a number were executed. However, several dissident leaders managed to escape from China and sought refuge in the West, notably Wu'er Kaixi. The disgraced Zhao Ziyang was soon replaced as party general secretary by Jiang Zemin and put under house arrest.

From the outset of the incident, the Chinese government's official stance was to downplay its significance, labeling the protesters "counterrevolutionaries" and minimizing the extent of the military's actions on June 3-4. The government's count of those killed was 241 (including soldiers), with some 7,000 wounded; most other estimates have put the death toll much higher. In the years since the incident, the government generally has attempted to suppress references to it. Public commemoration of the incident is officially banned. However, the residents of Hong Kong have held an annual vigil on the anniversary of the crackdown, even after Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Amy McKenna.

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Tiananmen Square incident | Summary, Details, & Facts

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Tiananmen Square incident, also called June Fourth incident or 6/4, series of protests and demonstrations in China in the spring of 1989 that culminated on the night of June 3-4 with a government crackdown on the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

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Its name means "gate of heavenly peace," but in 1989 the iconic gate at Beijing's Tiananmen Square overlooked a scene that was anything but peaceful. Earlier that year, the square had been the site of non-violent pro-democracy protests. But on June 3 and 4, it became a scene of chaos and devastation as the Chinese military mowed down an unknown number of civilians. In the 30 years since the historic protests, China has rarely acknowledged them-and has never apologized for the massacre.

The protest movement began after the death of Hu Yaobang, a Communist Party leader who worked to liberalize Chinese politics, but was ousted from the party in part for his sympathy with pro-democracy students. In the wake of his death from a heart attack, mourning students poured into Tiananmen Square in late April. They began to demand democratic reforms, including an end to press censorship and restrictions on freedom of assembly.

Over the next few weeks, the square drew millions of protestors. In response to their ballooning numbers, China imposed martial law in late May and ousted Western reporters. Then, on the night of June 3, the People's Liberation Army moved in with orders to clear the square.

The next day, 200,000 troops and more than 100 tanks converged on Tiananmen Square and opened fire. Soldiers used bayonets, clubs, and rifles loaded with expanding bullets. Although students and residents resisted, they were overwhelmed. ( Hear from two photojournalists who are still haunted by the massacre.)

The Western world learned of the massacre from smuggled images and secret reports. Among them were videos and photos of Tank Man, an unidentified Chinese man who managed momentarily to stop a convoy of tanks leaving the square on June 5. He is thought to be one of multiple people who attempted to block the tanks. Although his image has become a symbol of resistance, his fate remains unknown.

The extent of the massacre is also unknown. The Chinese government stated that 200 civilians were killed; student leaders claim up to 3,400 deaths. In 2017, the United Kingdom released a secret diplomatic cable in which a U.K. diplomat relayed a leaked death count-of at least 10,000- from China's main administrative body. Some 1,600 people were arrested; it would take 27 years for Miao Deshun, thought to be the final prisoner, to walk free in 2016.

An accurate death toll may never come to light. The Chinese government has rarely acknowledged the events; when it does, it is only to defend its actions. Although Tiananmen Square's Great Hall was added to a list of Chinese architectural sites slated for official preservation, the historic events that took place there are not widely known in China.

A Hong Kong museum devoted to the massacre has been repeatedly closed and sabotaged; many of its Chinese visitors arrive knowing nothing about the protests. Those who do sometimes refuse to believe the truth, writes The Atlantic's Ryan Krull. "Beijing's refusal to acknowledge the events of June 4, 1989, has created a vacuum into which misinformation, ignorance, and revisionism have been allowed to flow." Meanwhile, China actively censors most online mentions of the incident, and only Hong Kong and Macau have been allowed to commemorate it publicly.

The pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square presented a brief window of hope that China might embrace a more democratic system. "There was a euphoric sense that after decades of tyranny, the Chinese people had found the courage to take full control of their lives and attempt to change the fate of their nation," recalled London-based Chinese novelist Ma Jian, who attended the protests. "Every person in that crowd was later a victim of the massacre, whether they lost their life on June 4 or survived-their ideals shattered and their soul scarred by fear."

Now, 31 years after the protests and massacre, China has banned a commemoration vigil in Hong Kong that has taken place since the 1990s. Although the official reason for the ban was to quell the further spread of COVID-19, pro-democracy activists see it as another attempt to quash peaceful protest as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong. Thousands attended the vigil anyway, as the BBC reports. Three decades after Tiananmen Square, commemorating what happened there has become its own form of protest.

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How a peaceful protest at Tiananmen Square turned into a massacre

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Its name means "gate of heavenly peace," but in 1989 the iconic gate at Beijing's Tiananmen Square overlooked a scene that was anything but peaceful. Earlier that year, the square had been the site of non-violent pro-democracy protests.

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Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist Her debut book, The Heroine's Bookshelf (Harper), won a Colorado Book ...