The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, commonly known in mainland China as the June Fourth Incident (Chinese: 六四事件, liùsì shìjiàn), were student-led demonstrations in Beijing (the capital of the People’s Republic of China) for the establishment of basic human and press rights and against the Communist-led Chinese government in mid-1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes called the ‘89 Democracy Movement (Chinese: 八九民运, bājiǔ mínyùn). The protests were forcibly suppressed after Chinese Premier Li Peng declared martial law. In what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks fired at the demonstrators trying to block the military’s advance towards Tiananmen Square. The crowds were stunned that the army was using live ammunition and reacted by hurling insults and projectiles. The troops used expanding bullets, prohibited by international law for use in warfare, which expand upon entering the body and create larger wounds. The number of civilian deaths was internally estimated by the Chinese government to be near or above 10,000.
The Communist Party of China forbids discussion of the Tiananmen Square protests and has taken measures to block or censor related information. Textbooks have little, if any, information about the protests. After the protests, officials banned controversial films and books, and shut down many newspapers. Within a year, 12% of all newspapers, 8% of publishing companies, 13% of social science periodicals and more than 150 films were banned or shut down. The government also announced it had seized 32 million contraband books and 2.4 million video and audio cassettes. Access to media and Internet resources on the subject are restricted or blocked by censors.
June 4, 1989-2020
We Hongkongers have commemorated Tiananmen Square Massacre for 31 years. This year we defy a police ban to gather, we stand up against CCP’s oppression in Hong Kong.
Tori