Tiananmen Square Massacre Research Paper

Tiananmen Square Massacre
Tiananmen Square is in the centre of Beijing. It was the main grounds for protesters in 1989. Students travelled across the country to Tiananmen Square to protest against the Communist government’s corruptions for more freedom. Thousands of students attended to fight for their rights of freedom and education etc. On the 4th of June 1989, the Chinese government took action in protecting their power from the people and the peace in their country. They sent in the People’s Liberation Army to try and control the scene. Some accounts say that the soldiers started the shooting and others say that they only retaliated to protect themselves. There are many different accounts of what actually happened, these accounts are written
by some of the student leaders, western journalists and observers and the Chinese government. They suggest different reasons for the massacre, who started the violence and how many died. Because of this, it is almost impossible for historians to find out what actually happened.
A few days after the event, the Chinese government published their version of what happened at Tiananmen Square. According to the government, the troops showed restraint to minimise the number of deaths inflicted by themselves or the protestors. Not only was their aim to stop the protests, they were also protecting people, including people who were ignorant of the truth. They said that the students were unlawful, that they barricaded the city’s main avenues and stirred up residents in their homes to get them to join the protests. Some of the students were even said to have insulted the officers and soldiers and some threw stones and steel rods and also attacked the soldiers with knives and daggers.
“Many military trucks were smashed and burned. One after another officers and soldiers were injured and fell to the ground. Rioters even cruelly killed and kidnapped wounded soldiers on their way to hospital. When night fell, it was more difficult for the martial law troops to advance towards their destination and the number of wounded soldiers greatly increased. But the troops exercised great restraint and did not fire a single shot”.1
It was also suggested that when about 50 soldiers in one regiment were injured and killed, the others all threw themselves to the ground before their commander and asked for counter-attack orders. It was denied as he said it wouldn’t be possible because the rioters were in amongst innocent people. To the people, this was regarded as weakness, so they attacked the soldiers. When ordered, warning shots were fired into the air and they attacked anyone that ignored or defied the warning shots. After three hours of violence, most of the people in the square retreated. The students who stayed to continue their protests were forced to leave the square before 5.30 am. This was the end of the 2 months of protest in Beijing.
I think there are reasons and motives as to why the Chinese government published such a different account.
In most accounts by the Chinese government, the protesters and the civilians in Beijing were made to sound like they started all the violence and insulted, killed and injured some of the soldiers that were trying to protect the people. I think the government made the people of China sound terrible and violent in order to keep the people’s trust in them and so they could keep their power. It was for a sense of security within their country. If the people of China knew that their army had orders to turn against them, there would be chaos all over the country as the people would have lost their faith and their trust in the government.
According to one student leaders account, Chai Ling, (she was the commander-in-chief of the Protect Tiananmen Square headquarters) the first sign of any violence in Tiananmen Square was when a police jeep rammed into four pedestrians, killing three of them. On June the 3rd, at Xinhuaman Gate (near Tiananmen Square), many soldiers were seen severely beating students and civilians. “Some students standing atop passing cars shouted, ‘The people’s police love the people, the people’s police should not beat people up’. One of the students had shouted just one sentence when a soldier rushed forward and kicked him in the stomach saying, ‘Who the hell loves you?’ The student doubled and fell to the
ground.”2
There was a broadcasting station in which they called the Hunger Strike Station. It was used as a headquarters and they directed the students’ movements from here. This was where they heard the reports of the beating and the students and civilians being slaughtered. Between 8 and 10 pm was where there were at least ten reports of people being killed. Some hotels where foreign reporters were staying were said to have been raided and searched by the soldiers.
“at 9 pm, all students at the square stood up, raided their right hands and vowed, ‘I heartly swear for the sake of our country’s democratisation, for the sake of our country’s real prosperity, for the sake of preventing our country from being usurped by a small band of conspirators, I swear that i will use my young life to defend the republic. My head may be cut off, the blood may flow, but Tiananmen Square must not be lost. I will fight until the last person falls.’”3
I think this is a more realistic account of what happened at Tiananmen Square as there would be no motives to make it sound like there was less bloodshed. I think the purpose of this account was to announce what happened according to one of the student leaders themselves, as a witness to the events. Although because of this, to get support from the other civilians and people of China, this account may have been exaggerated and it may have been a little biased towards the student protesters.
Many western journalists travelled to Beijing to cover the stories on the student protests. At the time, the protests were peaceful. The support for the protestors grew, meaning more and more journalists wanted to cover the story. Some reporters even interviewed many of the students to get their real opinions on the situation. It soon became harder for journalists to find out any new information but they continued to try. One reporter, Peter Ellingsen, was at the event and his account made the scene sound like a giant bloodshed. He talks about the shock of seeing so many students fall to the ground before him. “’A Beijing undergraduate put his arm on my shoulder and in a low, resolute voice said, ‘Make sure the world knows about this disgrace.’”4 He also talks about the student democracy campaign which had happened several weeks before hand. He also mentions how moving the students’ courage was to fight and risk everything for something they believe in. they had always feared the protests would end in violence, but it still came as a shock when it did. “I never thought the military would slaughter the Chinese people, but they did and it left me numb.”5 As the reporter spoke to some of the students, they recounted the Prime Minister, Mr. Li Peng, saying that the peoples’ Army would never harm the people. This was an outrage as he betrayed his own people.

Bodies slaughtered by the military covered the ground, on footpaths, beside cars and in peoples front gardens. This was the hard old men’s last chance at having absolute power and for their last attempt, they chose the most unforgivable way. Waging war on their own civilians. They had ordered riot squads of soldiers to shoot down anyone in their way to protect China’s government.