Tanks roll into Tiananmen
For week after tense week through spring and summer 1989, the eyes of the world had been on the Square of Heavenly Peace, or Tian-anmen Square, Beijing. It was anything but peaceful. Up to 200,000 people were camped in China's political and cultural centre. They were defying the government, demanding sweeping changes in the way the nation was run, and had brought the capital and much of the nation to a standstill.
In mid-April about 1,000 students, led by Wang Dan, walked into the square and later erected a statue, the Goddess of Democracy. Later, after fleeing China for the United States, Wang wrote that he believed the death of the reform-minded Hu Yaobang, dismissed from the Communist Party in 1987, presented an opportunity to appeal for political reform.
The students demanded senior government officials negotiate with them, then staged a hunger strike. On May 19, premier Li Peng confronted demonstrators; the next day, as the unrest spread across China, the government declared martial law.
Wang Dan tried to persuade student leaders to return to their campuses, but the crowd swelled and refused to disperse.
Civil unrest arrived in Beijing suburbs with talk of soldiers being attacked and their weapons stolen. Tanks rumbled through Beijing's streets but stopped short of the square. Tension mounted at home and abroad. In Hong Kong there were rallies to support the students, but on June 3, Li and president Yang Shankun ordered an end to the 'turmoil'.
Televised statements advised people to stay at home. Instead, more than a million poured into the streets of Beijing. Early on June 4, the army moved into Tiananmen Square.