 |
|---|
|
|
Tiananmen Square, Beijing
Daily Beast
May 35.The date is (censored) code for June 4, when the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 are commemorated. It’s a painful, complex episode in modern China’s history, one that has come to define the country’s trajectory in unanticipated ways.
That year, beginning in mid-April, Chinese citizens—mostly students, workers, and young people—gathered in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square and around 400 other cities across the country to send several messages to the Communist Party: terminate corruption within the government, give the press freedom, and implement democratic reforms. At its height, up to a million people assembled in Beijing.
They quickly learned that hunger strikes, the occupation of public space, and lofty ideals had no place in China under Communist rule. Martial law was declared on June 3. The subsequent crackdown was harsh and fast. There were widespread arrests. The Chinese government says about 1,000 civilians were killed, though estimates by other sources reach 10 times that figure.
Today, this marathon protest is one of the most sensitive topics in China.
Share your thoughts in the Forum
