June 4 - Tiananmen Square Massacre

This Day in History: 4 June 2020

 

4 June 1989

 

31 years ago, today, the Tiananmen Square Massacre occurred when Chinese troops killed and arrested thousands of pro-democracy protestors. This act of brutality from the Chinese government shocked the West and lead to the United States imposing sanctions and denunciations onto China. Prior to this, nearly a million Chinese had crowded into central Beijing to protest for greater democracy and call for the resignations of the Chinese Communist Party leaders. These protesters maintained this daily, marching and chanting through the streets. However, they were eventually met with Chinese troops that fired indiscriminately into the crowds. Some protestors tried to escape, but others fought back. Reporters estimated that at least 300 had been killed, and as many as 10,000 were arrested.

 

The atrocities committed by the Chinese government shocked its allies and enemies during the ongoing Cold War. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared his sadness over the events in China and said that he hoped the government would adopt his own domestic reforms. In the United States, President George Bush was pressed by editorialists and Congress to punish the Chinese government. This came in the form of a US Congress vote, a little more than 3 weeks later, calling for economic sanctions to be imposed upon China in response to the human rights violation.

 

Want to find out more about the Tiananmen Square Massacre and protests? Click here for more information, or here for a video where protestors recount the events.