Tiananmen Square, 1989
Tiananmen Square, 1989
· June 3-4, 1989
· Democracy movements had grown in strength since the arrival of Deng
· May 4, 1989, they have mass rallies in honor of the 70th anniversary of the major democratic uprising (under Sun Yat Sen)
· Many students remain and start a hunger strike.
· Li Peng took a harsh stance on this and ordered the PLA to take whatever action necessary.
· Army arrives and is reluctant to fire on their own people, but on June 3 they broke into the square and finally opened fire.
· 400 – 800 people killed, many were not students and many killed on streets outside the square.
· Official Chinese stance on the deaths of the Square massacre: 0 deaths.
· This symbolized that the economic changes in China did NOT imply political changes.
· But the economic changes were irreversible, and in 1992 Deng ended price controls.
Tank Man
· Never in World history has a single image captured a struggle quite so well.
· Rumored to have been named Wang Weilin, a 19-year-old student.
· He has been rumored also to have been shot, imprisoned and never found and still free in hiding.
· In a 1992 interview with Barara Walters then General Secretary Jiang Zemin said: “I think never killed.”
· June 3-4, 1989
· Democracy movements had grown in strength since the arrival of Deng
· May 4, 1989, they have mass rallies in honor of the 70th anniversary of the major democratic uprising (under Sun Yat Sen)
· Many students remain and start a hunger strike.
· Li Peng took a harsh stance on this and ordered the PLA to take whatever action necessary.
· Army arrives and is reluctant to fire on their own people, but on June 3 they broke into the square and finally opened fire.
· 400 – 800 people killed, many were not students and many killed on streets outside the square.
· Official Chinese stance on the deaths of the Square massacre: 0 deaths.
· This symbolized that the economic changes in China did NOT imply political changes.
· But the economic changes were irreversible, and in 1992 Deng ended price controls.
Tank Man
· Never in World history has a single image captured a struggle quite so well.
· Rumored to have been named Wang Weilin, a 19-year-old student.
· He has been rumored also to have been shot, imprisoned and never found and still free in hiding.
· In a 1992 interview with Barara Walters then General Secretary Jiang Zemin said: “I think never killed.”
Tiananmen Square can hold thousands of people.
The Tiananmen Square Massacre
"The unity of China was more important than those people on Tiananmen Square."
-Muammar Gaddafi
-Muammar Gaddafi