Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Part of Chinese Democracy Movement in 1989, Revolutions of 1989 and the Cold War
Tiananmen Square in 1988
Date	April 15, 1989 – June 4, 1989 (1 month, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location	Beijing 400 cities nationwide
Causes	Death of Hu Yaobang Economic reform Inflation Political corruption Nepotism Career prospects Social unrest in Eastern Europe
Goals	A Communist Party Without Corruption, democratic reforms, freedom of the press, freedom of speech
Methods	Hunger strike, sit-in, occupation of public square
Result	Enforcement of martial law in certain areas of Beijing executed by force from June 3, 1989 (declared from May 20, 1989 (1989-05-20) – January 10, 1990 (1990-01-10), 7 months and 3 weeks) Protesters (mainly workers) and rioters barricading the PLA troops and nearby civilians shot by PLA on multiple sites in Beijing and around Tiananmen Square, hundreds to thousands killed, thousands wounded Uncertain reports of few and isolated deaths of protestors inside Tiananmen Square Dozens of soldiers killed by rioters in June 4th after civilians being killed in June 3rd and June 4th Protest leaders and pro-democracy activists later exiled or imprisoned Some rioters charged with violent crimes were executed in the following months Zhao Ziyang was purged from General Secretary and Politburo Jiang Zemin was promoted to General Secretary and paramount leader Western economic sanctions and arms embargoes on the PRC Market reforms delayed Media control tightened Political reform halted
Parties to the civil conflict
Communist Party of China Government of China PLA Ground Force People's Armed Police Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation University students Factory workers Beijing residents Intellectuals Pro-democracy protesters Reformists
Lead figures
"hardliners" Deng Xiaoping Li Peng Yang Shangkun Yao Yilin Li Ximing Chen Xitong Chi Haotian Liu Huaqing "moderates" Zhao Ziyang Hu Qili Yan Mingfu Bao Tong Deng Liqun Wan Li Xi Zhongxun Xu Qinxian student leaders Wu'erkaixi Chai Ling Kong Qingdong Wang Dan Shen Tong Liu Gang Feng Congde Wang Hui Li Lu intellectuals Liu Xiaobo Wang Juntao Dai Qing Hou Dejian Cui Jian Zhang Boli
Casualties
Death(s)	218 civilians; 10 PLA soldiers; 13 Peoples' Armed Police (official government figures) 180-2600 civilians; ~50 soldiers and policemen (estimates and retracted Chinese Red Cross statement)

"hardliners"

"moderates"

student leaders

intellectuals

218 civilians; 10 PLA soldiers; 13 Peoples' Armed Police (official government figures)

The Tiananmen Square protests, commonly known in China as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件) were student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes referred to as the '89 Democracy Movement (八九民运). The protests were forcibly suppressed after the government declared martial law. In what became widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks killed at least several hundred demonstrators trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere between the hundreds to the thousands.

Set against a backdrop of rapid economic development and social changes in post Mao-era China, the protests reflected anxieties about the country's future in the popular consciousness and among the political elite. The reforms of the 1980s had led a nascent market economy which benefited some groups but seriously disaffected others; the one-party political system also faced a challenge of legitimacy. Common grievances at the time included inflation, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and restrictions on political participation. The students called for democracy, greater accountability, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech, though they were loosely organized and their goals varied. At the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square.

As the protests developed, the authorities veered back and forth between conciliatory and hardline tactics, exposing deep divisions within the party leadership. By May, a student-led hunger strike galvanized support for the demonstrators around the country and the protests spread to some 400 cities. Ultimately, China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and other party elders believed the protests to be a political threat, and resolved to use force. Party authorities declared martial law on May 20, and mobilized as many as 300,000 troops to Beijing.

The Chinese government was widely condemned internationally for the use of force. Western countries imposed economic sanctions and arms embargoes. The Chinese government initially condemned the protests as a counter-revolutionary riot. In the aftermath of the crackdown, the government conducted widespread arrests of protesters and their supporters, suppressed other protests around China, expelled foreign journalists and strictly controlled coverage of the events in the domestic press. The police and internal security forces were strengthened. Officials deemed sympathetic to the protests were demoted or purged. More broadly, the suppression temporarily halted the policies of liberalization in the 1980s. Considered a watershed event, the protests also set the limits on political expression in China well into the 21st century. Its memory is widely associated with questioning the legitimacy of Communist Party rule, and remains one of the most sensitive and most widely censored political topics on mainland China.