Tiananmen Square
By: Jack Randle
Before the event
- Most common people couldn't enter the square
- Accessible to public after 1911 revolution
- Hu Yaobang, a respected Chinese communist died on April 15,1989
- Honored his death at Tiananmen Square
- Gathering later turned into a protest
- The protest called for more democracy and an end to government corruption
- Started after the 40-year cold war ended
Hu Yaobang
http://www.chinatoday.com/who/whophoto/hu.yaobang.jpg
They later decided to start a protest because they didn't like that their government was corrupted and later turned the gathering into a protest and the protest would later attract millions of people would come to join them. This protest would end up starting a massacre in Tiananmen Square by the army so that they could try to gain control.
During the Protest
- Students started to call for free press, freedom of speech, and government accountability
- Army Tanks were sent in to break up the protest
- Army stayed outside Beijing until June 2nd while unarmed
- Protesters piled vehicles in streets to block advancement
- Within a week 100,000 people demanded openness and political freedom
- Students went on for hunger strike to gain more attention
http://previews.123rf.com/images/radiantskies/radiantskies1212/radiantskies121200131/16629149-Abstract-word-cloud-for-Political-freedom-with-related-tags-and-terms-Stock-Photo.jpg
Aftermath of the Protest
- Military had fought back into Beijing and crushed the movement, killing hundreds
- Hundreds to thousands of protesters were killed
- Had to add extra security at the square
- Countries put pressure to make changes to human rights policies
- 10,000 were arrested and some of the people were later executed
- China refuses to say that it ever happened
- Concerned that the anniversary will inspire people to protest again
1989 Raw Video: Man vs. Chinese tank Tiananmen square