Effects of the Tienanmen Square Massacre

It was a bloody massacre. On June 3rd and 4th, 1989, Chinese protestors at Tiananmen Square were gunned down by the Chinese Military. Over 100,000 protestors gathered in Tiananmen Square on May 4th, 1989 in order to protest the Communist government, the death of Hu Yaobang, as well as the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. After being warned of using force to break up the protests, Chinese soldiers and tanks entered Tiananmen Square and open fired. This bloody event killed and injured thousands, as well as bruising China's reputation in the world. The Tiananmen Square Massacre was an influential event that greatly affected China socially, economically, and politically. It all started with the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15th, 1989. Hu Yaobang was considered the voice of the people in the Communist party. He had a much more liberal point of view, and fought corruption in the government. Yaobang had been dismissed as General Secretary of the Communist Party, as he was seen to be too Democratic, and was too soft on student protesters. After his death, people poured in the streets to grieve for their lost voice, and mourned for many days. On April 22nd, thousands of students marched on the Great Hall of People to have Li Peng sign a petition to restore Hu's besmirched legacy. When Li Peng refused, the people took to the streets, and thus started the protests in Tiananmen Square. Protesters sat peacefully in the square outside the Great Hall, waiting for Li Peng to restore Hu's legacy. On April 26th, the Chinese government published an editorial shedding a negative light on the protesters. The editorial called for the Chinese unification against the protesters, that "All comrades in the party and the people throughout the country must soberly recognize the fact that our country will have no peaceful days if this disturbance is not checked resolutely." (Zhao) This completely outraged the protesters, which gave them even more of a want to