Today marks the anniversary of the bloody massacre of hundreds of unarmed peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Beijing and
the arrest of tens of thousands of demonstrators in cities across China.
The Chinese government has never released a death toll of the June 4, 1989
crackdown, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range
from several hundred to several thousand.
China had slid into economic chaos in 1988 with panic buying triggered by
rising inflation peaking at more than 30 per cent in cities. Public
discontent, coupled with the death of purged reform-minded Communist
Party leader Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989, set the stage for the
demonstrations.
More than one million people flooded into central Beijing, keen to vent their anger against corruption, economic mismanagement, nepotism and poor career prospects for students. Gathering in Tiananmen Square, the students erected their own 'Goddess of Democracy' statue opposite the official portrait of the Communist revolutionary leader Chairman Mao Zedong.
More than one million people flooded into central Beijing, keen to vent their anger against corruption, economic mismanagement, nepotism and poor career prospects for students. Gathering in Tiananmen Square, the students erected their own 'Goddess of Democracy' statue opposite the official portrait of the Communist revolutionary leader Chairman Mao Zedong.
The Tiananmen Massacre was precipitated by the peaceful gatherings of
students, workers, and others in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and other
Chinese cities in April 1989, driven by the hope for a better future,
they were
simply calling for freedom of the press and for some government
accountability, and the imminent problems of corruption, and began the
largest political protest in the history
of Communist China. #
The government responded to
the intensifying protests in late May 1989 by declaring martial
law.Overnight on 3 to 4 June, the government sent tens of thousands of
armed troops and hundreds of armoured military vehicles into the city
centre to enforce martial law and forcibly clear the streets of
demonstrators. The government wanted to 'restore order' in the capital.
As
they approached the demonstrations, troops opened fire on crowds of
protesters and onlookers. They gave no warning before they started
shooting.A
night of bloodshed on
June 3rd resulted with over 2,000 of protestors being
killed.As the troops kept firing into the crowds, some of those running
away
were shot in the back. Others were crushed to death by military
vehicles. Brave, innocent, the Chinese government has never accepted
responsibility for the massacre or held
any officials legally accountable for the killings. despite individual
souls, shotdown and massacred triggering shock and outrage across the
world.
The Tiananmen protests were immortalised in Western media on 5 June
through the image of a lone man in a white shirt carrying shopping bags,
facing an imposing column of military tanks sent by the government to
disperse protesters. The man is known simply as Tank Man: his identity
has never been confirmed.
Tank Man would not let the military vehicles pass. He succeeded. Eventually, he was pulled out of the way of danger by onlookers. But the image of unarmed man versus tank quickly came to symbolise the struggle of the Tiananmen protesters - peaceful protest met with military might.
'It demonstrates one man's extraordinary courage, standing up in front of a row of tanks, being prepared to sacrifice his own life for the sake of social justice' Stuart Franklin, Tank Man photographer
Stuart Franklin took the Tank Man photograph.
Tank Man would not let the military vehicles pass. He succeeded. Eventually, he was pulled out of the way of danger by onlookers. But the image of unarmed man versus tank quickly came to symbolise the struggle of the Tiananmen protesters - peaceful protest met with military might.
'It demonstrates one man's extraordinary courage, standing up in front of a row of tanks, being prepared to sacrifice his own life for the sake of social justice' Stuart Franklin, Tank Man photographer
Stuart Franklin took the Tank Man photograph.
Tank Man
In the following short film below he talks
about how he came to capture what would become one of the most iconic
images of the twentieth century.
In the aftermath long prison sentences were given out, one of which was
for 17 years for simply throwing paint at a portrait of Mao Zedong. We should take a minute and think about those
sacrifices and all those who died, so that their actions have not been
in vain. Sadly brutal suppression and censorship has continued to this
day, that condemns the Chinese nation and its people to a future
without freedom.
Today many activists are still being ruthlessly persecuted by the
Chinese Authorities, and the climate of free expression remains
stifling, with scores of writers still being silenced, also many social
media sites are still banned, and three decades later, China, under President Xi Jinping, is undergoing
the worst crackdown on human rights since the Tiananmen massacre. Hopes
that China would gradually liberalize politically as it opened up
economically have been dashed.
The Chinese regime to this day continues to bury the truth of
what happened in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Tiananmen remains one of the most censored issues in an internet and social media environment that has become
increasingly restrictive since Xi Jinping became president in
2012.Young Chinese
below the age of 35 today either know nothing about it or believe that
it was the protesters who were the criminals. A regime that sent tanks
and guns to slaughter its people now seeks to
hide the evidence, threaten its critics, eliminate alternative ideas and
impose absolute control. Seeking to suppress every form of freedom,
with Pro-democracy activists being jailed, and in every corner of
China's territory, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong, that has also seen
critics abroad being intimidated, threatened and, in the worst cases,
kidnapped.The Chinese government has never accepted responsibility for
the massacre or
held any officials legally accountable for the killings. It has been
unwilling to conduct an investigation into the events or release data on
those who were killed, injured, forcibly disappeared, or imprisoned.
For
those who participated or observed the events of 1989, however, the
search for truth goes on. Memories have not faded. The hard facts of the massacre
are etched into history.No one can erase it; no power, however mighty,
can alter it; and no words or tongues, however clever, can deny it.
Since this day a candlelight vigil has been held in Hong Kong to remember the victims, but the authorities banned the event in 2020. In 2021, union leader Lee Cheuk Yan, along with seven others, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for “inciting, organising and participating” in the candlelight vigil on the 4th of June 2020.
The Chinese government has long ignored domestic and international calls
for justice for the Tiananmen Massacre, and some of the sanctions that
the European Union and US imposed in response have over the years been
weakened or evaded. The lack of a sustained, coordinated, international
response to the massacre and ensuing crackdown is one factor in
Beijing’s increasingly brazen human rights violations.
Chinese authorities have over the past year stepped up the harassment and
persecution of activists for commemorating the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen
Massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. The Chinese
government should acknowledge and take responsibility for the massacre
of pro-democracy protesters in June 1989, and should immediately release activists held for commemorating
the occasion, and cease censoring discussions of the bloody crackdown.
As a party to a number of international human rights treaties and as a
current member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which
obligates China to “uphold the highest standards of human rights,” the
Chinese government should urgently take the following steps with respect
to the Tiananmen Massacre:
Respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, and
peaceful assembly, and cease the harassment and arbitrary detention of
individuals who challenge the official account of the Tiananmen
Massacre;
Meet with and apologize to members of the Tiananmen Mothers,
publish the names of all who died, and appropriately compensate the
victims’ families;
Permit an independent public inquiry into Tiananmen and its aftermath, and promptly publish the findings and conclusions;
Allow the unimpeded return of Chinese citizens, exiled due to their connections to the events of 1989; and investigate all government and military officials who planned or
ordered the unlawful use of lethal force against demonstrators, and
appropriately prosecute them.
Permit an independent public inquiry into June 4, and promptly release its findings and conclusions to the public;and allow the unimpeded return of Chinese citizens, exiled due to their
connections to the events of 1989; and investigate all government and
military officials who planned or
ordered the unlawful use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators,
and appropriately prosecute them.
The spirit of the Tiananmen movement continues to burn in the
hearts of veterans of 1989 and younger generations of activists who
fight for a more just China.We must continue to support all those that fight against state
oppression and censorship and never forget the tragic legacy of
Tinanamen Square that continues to haunt us as the memory of those that bravely died for democracy at Tiananmen lives on, remind ourselves that their light will never go out.
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