2013 Tiananmen Square
Massacre Powerpoint
Background Info
• China operates under a “Communist”
government: meaning that people have
limited rights and freedoms.
• The government controls all
information, including: books, radio,
media, news, television, etc.
• The government also controls people’s
jobs and how much they are paid.
Background Information
• By 1980 Deng Xiaoping emerged as the powerful
communist leader in China
• He implemented the Four Modernizations which
called for progress in agriculture, industry, defense,
and science and technology
• Deng’s economic reforms increased food production,
gave more freedom to industry managers, increased
incomes, increased consumption, and opened doors
for Western technology and style
Causes of the Protest
• However, the gap between the rich and poor
widened
• Chinese officials began accepting bribes and
enjoying privileges others did not have
• The new policies also opened doors for
Western political ideas
• Chinese students began studying the West
and began questioning China’s lack of political
freedom
Causes of Protest
• Deng Xiaoping, China’s ruler sent many
Chinese students to foreign universities
to improve China’s economy and to gain
capitalist values.
• Instead of gaining a sense of capitalist
values, the students picked up
democracy ideals and other western
ideologies.
Cause of Protest: Inflation
• There were many university students and others in
China who wanted political and economic reform.
• There was a lot of price inflation and corruption by
government officials.
• Inflation was at an astounding 18.5 percent in
1988 because of panic withdrawing and buying on
rumors of what relaxing price controls would
mean
• Student-led demonstrations calling for more
individual rights and freedoms.
Causes of Protest: Bank System
• Banking System Cracks.
• In the late 80's Chinese banks flooded the
market with loans.
• As could be expected, a great deal of them went
bad and an estimated 1/3 of factories were
unprofitable.
• The government brought this to an abrupt halt
in 1988 by cutting the cash flow -- a kind of
austerity measure many didn't take too kindly
to.
Causes of Protest: Corruption
• There was always corruption in the PRC, but Reform & Opening Up
made it much easier and much more visible.
• In the 80's, many price controls were lifted, but not all.
• The shortages of some goods allowed people with the right
connections to buy at the artificially low prices and sell at market
rates for huge windfalls.
• So naturally, the already-powerful became even more powerful.
• The inequality of opportunity and obvious abuse of power were
two things immediately visible to those affected and were direct
causes the Tiananmen protests.
Cause of Protest: The Media
• The Chinese media of the 1980's covered issues that
had never been touched in the PRC previously; even
dabbling in corruption cases.
• Single essays or TV programs could stir up fiery
political discussion on college campuses.
• A documentary called River Elegy played on CCTV in
1988, which subtly criticized Chinese culture and
sparked nationwide debate.
• When the protests themselves started, the press
covered them extensively and even portrayed the
student protestors sympathetically.
• These factors shined a light on many issues
intellectuals were concerned about and brought
together like-minded activists
Causes of Protest: Education Failure
• After the Cultural Revolution, universities re-opened
and were a sure ticket to a better life.
• However, with further reform and opening of the
markets in the mid-to-late 80's, many college
students graduated to find their education gave them
no real advantage in the new business landscape.
• In 1988, the system that assigned college graduates
jobs was also amended
• To where private companies could reject those top
students assigned to them in favor of those who had
connections inside the company.
Causes of Protest Competing
Communist Party Members
• In the lead up to Tiananmen there was an
obvious rift in the party between
progressives like Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang
and hardliners like Li Peng.
• This rift was absolutely apparent in the days
leading up to the crackdown.
• The protestors saw this split and sniffed
weakness; which emboldened them further
Cause of Protest: Competing
Communist Members
• Hu Yaobang is a government official
who called for more freedom and
“Democratic Reforms.”
• Other Chinese officials are outraged and
force him to resign from his job.
• Students in China are influenced by
Yaobang’s calls for freedom, and follow
his cause.
Hu Yaobang
Causes of Protest: Hu Yaobang Dies
• On April 15th, 1989 – Hu Yaobang dies
• Students begin a rally in Tiananmen Square
to mourn his death.
• The government tries to disperse the crowd –
only fueling more anger and unrest.
• Students begin to protest the harsh rules of
the government, and call for democratic
reforms.
Cause of Protest: Hu’s Death
• The death of Hu in the spring of 1989 started the chain
of events.
• After he died, many Dazibaos, which are big character
newspapers or wall posters with political messages
were placed throughout college campuses.
• These posters called for more economic and
democratic reforms.
• Hu became a martyr for the cause of political
liberalization.
• On April 22, which was the day of Hu’s funeral, tens of
thousands of students gathered in Tiananmen Square.
• The students demanded democratic and other reforms.
• It began on April 15, 1989. Hu Yaobing, a
Chinese leader who had been fairly tolerant
of student demonstrations in 1986, died.
• Students in Beijing mourned his passing by
meeting in Tiananmen Square and voicing
their grievances.
The Protest Begins
• For seven weeks in the spring and
early June 1989, Chinese students
and citizens took over Tiananmen
Square in Beijing, calling for reforms
and greater freedom.
• It seemed for a while that
revolution was coming to China.
The Protest Begins
• Workers and other Chinese join the protest
with the students.
The Protest Begins
• The students gathered at Tiananmen
Square in Beijing, China to take part in
pro- democracy demonstrations.
• Then there was a large military
crackdown because Deng Xiaoping didn’t
want the communist government to be
threatened or influenced by democratic
ideals.
The Protest Begins
• Over the next several weeks:
• Crowds of students gathered in Tiananmen
Square.
• They were seeking political, social, and economic
reform.
• Initially the government issued warnings without
taking any action against the crowds.
Tiananmen Square, 1989
More democracy!
Tiananmen Square, 1989
Student activist, Wang Dan, Beijing University
Tiananmen Square, 1989
Democracy—Our Common Ideal!
Chinese Government’s Initial
Responses to Protest
• Zhao Ziyang addressed the demonstrators
offering concessions.
• Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping both feared anarchy,
so they insisted on forcibly suppressing the
protests.
• Martial law was declared in Beijing, and army
troops started going around the city. Beijing
citizens flooded the streets to block the soldiers.
• The protesters remained in large numbers in
Tiananmen Square.
Government’s Initial Responses
• On April 26, The Communist Party newspaper
People's Daily accused “an extremely small
number of people with ulterior purposes” of
inciting the students to unrest in order to
overthrow the Communist government.
• There were warnings to students that force
might be used.
• This file photo taken on
June 3, 1989 shows a
dissident student asking
soldiers to go back
home as crowds flood
into central Beijing
Tiananmen Square, 1989
Student Leaders Are Arrested
Martial Law Declared
• The next day students from more than 40 universities
demonstrated in Tiananmen Square to protest the editorial.
• They were joined by thousands of citizens.
• The square was occupied by pro-democracy demonstrators until
June 4.
• On May 13, 3,000 students began a hunger strike.
• On May 17 more than a million citizens and students were
demonstrating in Beijing.
• On May 20 martial law was declared.
• The army came to Beijing and was stopped by citizens who blocked
their path with barcaroles.
• Initial attempts of the People's Liberation Army to remove the
demonstrators failed.
The Military Beating The Protestors
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The Army Looks for Dissidents
• In this file photo from May
30, 1989, a student from
an art institute plasters the
neck of a replica of New
York's Statue of Liberty
dubbed the Goddess of
Democracy in front of the
Great Hall of the People
(right) and the monument
to the People's Heroes
(center) to promote the
pro-democracy protests
against the Chinese
government at Tiananmen
Square in Beijing
Students Respond
By:
• On May 30, demonstrators
erected the Goddess of
Democracy in the square,
made in 4 days out of plaster.
It was inspired in part by the
Statue of Liberty.
• On June 1 the government cut
off access to foreign
journalists.
• On June 2, 6 convoys of tanks
and soldiers moved toward
central Beijing.
• All were stopped by citizens,
often physically blocking the
path of the tanks.
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The
“Goddess
of
Democracy”
• On June 2, 2009, three Chinese
dissidents, from left to right, Yu
Zhijian, Yu Dongyue and Lu Decheng
pose beside a photograph of the
defaced Chairman Mao portrait,
which they had pelted with dyefilled eggs during the 1989
Tiananmen Square democracy
movement, in Washington, June 2,
2009.
• The three men spent much of the
past 20 years behind bars for
marring the massive portrait at
Tiananmen Square, and today say
that the students who led that
movement have failed to continue
the struggle.
• A file photograph from
June 3, 1989 shows a
dissident student (left)
shouting to soldiers,
asking them to go back
home as crowds flood
into central Beijing
ahead of the army's
crackdown on prodemocracy protests.
Government’s Actions Prior To
Massacre
• June 3-4:
• The Chinese government arrested thousands
of suspected dissidents.
• Many received prison sentences of different
lengths of time, and many were executed.
The Massacre
• It happened on June 4, 1989.
• There was a large number of
military soldiers, vehicles, and
tanks that were brought in to
stop the protests.
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The Government Clamps Down
• An armoured
personnel carrier
crushes one of the
tents set up on
Tiananmen Square by
pro-democracy
protestors early
Sunday morning in
this June 4, 1989 file
photo
• This file photo taken
on June 4, 1989
shows an armoured
personnel carrier in
flames as students
set it on fire near
Tiananmen Square in
Beijing.
• A captured tank driver
is helped to safety by
students as some in the
crowd beat him in this
June 4, 1989 photo in
Beijing
The Massacre Begins
• Tanks and armored
personnel carriers moved
toward the square.
• Demonstrators were
attacked with tear gas,
rubber bullets and
electric truncheons.
• Soldiers opened fire on
those attempting to
block their progress.
• By midnight the tanks
had reached the square.
• This June 4, 1989
photograph shows
a girl, wounded
during the clash
between the army
and students near
Tiananmen Square
in Beijing being
carried out by a
cart.
• This file photo taken on
June 4, 1989 shows
Beijing residents
inspecting some of over
20 armoured personnel
carriers and other
vehicles burnt by
demonstrators to
prevent the troops from
moving into Tiananmen
Square in Beijing.
• This file photo taken
on June 4, 1989
shows Beijing
residents inspecting
the interior of one of
the armoured
personnel carriers
burnt by
demonstrators to
prevent the troops
from moving into
Tiananmen Square in
Beijing
• On June 4, troops opened fire on the crowd.
2,600 were estimated dead and 10,000 injured.
• 500 tanks and 300,000 soldiers occupied Beijing.
• In this photo taken on June 5, 1989
and made available for the first time
by the AP on Thursday June 4, 2009,
three unidentified men flee the
scene, as another man (background
left) stands alone to block a line of
approaching tanks (background right)
in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
• This previously unseen photograph
was taken by then-AP reporter Terril
Jones and came to light after online
discussions of the incident on The
New York Times' Lens Blog on the
20th anniversary of the Tiananmen
Square crackdown.
• This photo from June 6,
1989 shows People's
Liberation Army (PLA)
tanks and soldiers
guarding the strategic
Chang'an Avenue
leading to Tiananmen
Square in Beijing two
days after their
crackdown on prodemocracy students
Tank Man
• His identity is unknown.
• He stood in front of a line of tanks to stop
them from moving forward.
• The convoy tried, to move around him, but
the Tank Man kept moving in front of them.
• It was said that he climbed up on the leading
tank and talked to the driver.
• He was believed to have asked why the tanks
were there, and that they were harming the
city.
Tiananmen Square, 1989
One Lone Man’s Protest
The Symbolism of “Tank Man”
He was a normal & brave man
He fought for what he believed in
Tank Man shows that anyone can
stand up to injustice
Incredibly bold
No one knows what happened to him
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The Massacre: The People’s Army Moves In
The Massacre
It was being filmed in
a hotel
People on bicycles
were begin shot
People were crying
and soldiers struck
them with batons
Women were holding
their bloody heads
Everywhere people
were running &
fleeting
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The Massacre: A Human Body Crushed by
an Army Tank
The Massacre and Aftermath
• Wang Dan in 1989 Tiananmen
Square was followed by a
period of repression marked
by mass arrests and
executions.
• Thousands were jailed,
harassed and threatened.
• Some were executed, shot in
the back of the neck, and
photographs of the bodies
were posted all over the
country as warnings.
• One girl leapt from a 12th
story window because she
was "depressed in the
atmosphere of
recrimination."
Casualties
o There were many different ranges of tolls
o 200- 300 (Chinese Government)
o 400- 800 (The New York Times)
o 2,000- 3,000 (Chinese student associations
and The Red Cross)
o No exact statistics for death tolls were given
o There can be different biases seen here.
Aftermath of Massacre
• Deng ordered 250,000 thousand troops to surround
Beijing
• On June 4, 1989 the standoff ended with thousands of
armed soldiers and tanks storming Tiananmen Square
• The assault killed hundreds and wounded thousands
• Tiananmen Square began a campaign to detain
protesters
• Police arrested about 10,000 people and used media to
cover up the assault in Tiananmen Square
• Campaign left Deng firmly in control of China, however in
1997 Deng died and Jiang Zemin became the Communist
Party leader
• After the massacre, a student leader said, "The
government has won the battle here today. But they
have lost the people's hearts."
Aftermath of Massacre
George Bush said, “I
deeply deplored the
use of force.”
The ferocity of the
attack took many by
surprise
This did not result in
a radical change in
the Chinese
government
After China had
tightened their
government
This event became
more conservative
around the world
Tiananmen Square, 1989
Chinese Students Mourn the Dead
Tiananmen Square, 1989
The Reestablishment of Order
Poetry on Tiananmen Square Massacre
• James Fenton, journalist, poet and university
professor, wrote Tiananmen in China 10 days after
the 4 June Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.
• Tiananmen is Beijing’s main square, and is
surrounded by key civic buildings.
• Tiananmen literally means ‘Heaven’s Gate’.
Tiananmen by James Fenton, 15 June 1989
Tiananmen
Is broad and clean
And you can’t tell
Where the dead have been
And you can’t tell
What happened then
And you can’t speak
Of Tiananmen.
You must not speak
You must not think.
You must not dip
Your brush in ink.
You must not say
What happened then,
What happened there
In Tiananmen.
The cruel men
Are old and deaf
Ready to kill
But short of breath
And they will die
Like other men
And they’ll lie in state
In Tiananmen.
They lie in state.
They lie in style.
Another lie’s
Thrown on the pile,
Thrown on the pile
By the cruel men
To cleanse the blood
From Tiananmen.
Truth is a secret.
Keep it dark.
Keep it dark
In your heart of hearts.
Keep it dark
Till you know when
Truth may return
To Tiananmen.
Tiananmen
Is broad and clean
And you can’t tell
Where the dead have been
And you can’t tell
When they’ll come again
They’ll come again
To Tiananmen.
How Did The United States Respond
• In the United States, President Bush cancelled all
shipments of military ports to China and extended
all visas of Chinese student studies in the United
States.
• Bush extended all visas because he knew that no
student who entered back into China would be able
to continue their studies because of the protests.
• He also cancelled shipments of military equipment
because he wanted to end the fighting between the
Chinese soldiers and the protestors.
How The World Responded
• Many countries gave China the cold shoulder and
the United States granted asylum to anyone who
claimed involvement in the Tiananmen Square
incident.
• Richard Baum of the Center of Chinese Studies at
UCLA told the Los Angeles Times, “The whole
incident was a public relations disaster for Beijing,
the effects of which continue to this day. It has cost
the Chinese government enormously, not just in
terms of sanctions and abuse accusations
abroad...but in the government’s reputation as
being the Butchers of Beijing. “
Dalai Lama’s Response
• The Dalai Lama of Tibet, advocate for nonviolence, winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize, and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, spoke
on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of Tiananmen Square:
• “One of the most encouraging, moving and hopeful events in the
recent Chinese history has been the democracy movement of 1989.
The world had a rare opportunity to see the human face and spirit
of China. Millions of Chinese brothers and sisters displayed openly
and peacefully their yearning for freedom, democracy and human
dignity. Although they had been born and raised under the slogan
that "power grows out of the barrels of guns", they embraced
nonviolence in a most impressive way reflecting the values for
which the movement stood. “
Denials By Chinese Government
• The Chinese authorities still refuse to
recognise the 1989 pro-democracy protests
as a legitimate exercise of the rights to
freedom of expression and assembly.
• Dozens of protestors arrested in June 1989
remain in prison.
• Conversely, the people who committed
human rights abuses against the protestors
have never been held accountable.
Hiding The Truth
• After Tiananmen Square, freshman at several
universities in Beijing and Shanghai were sent
away for Cultural-Revolution-like reeducation and universities offered ideology
classes that taught the governments version
of the events.
• Eulogies for senior party members usually
included a praise for their "clear stand" on
Tiananmen.
Hiding The Truth
• The Chinese authorities have done everything possible to
• erase the events of 1989 from history:
• If you type “Tiananmen Square” into a search engine in
China, you are unlikely to find any information relating to
the pro-democracy protests of 1989
• You’ll find no mention of the demonstrations in official
Chinese magazines, newspapers or school text books
• Many young Chinese people are unaware that the
crackdown took place
• Anyone who tries to draw attention to it puts themselves,
their families and their friends at risk
Hiding The Truth
• In China, discussion of
the event is
considered
inappropriate
• The government
blocks all information
on the internet such as
Google or Wikipedia
• There are no news
reports on the subject
China After Deng
• Jiang had questions surrounding him about what kind of
leader he would be
• Jiang faced challenges from rivals who wanted to divert
away from Deng’s economic policies
• During 1990’s the U.S. pressure China to release political
prisoners and ensure basic human rights
• China resisted the pro-democracy movement but the
desire for freedom still ran through Chinese society
• In 1997, Jiang paid a visit to the U.S. and protesters
demanded democracy in freedom
• Jiang admitted that China made mistakes but refused to
promise a change in China’s political policies
• To this day China still remains a communist government
What’s the Message Here?
Memorial in Warsaw, Poland