Tiananmen Square Protests Summary

This is a book about Tiananmen Square protests. The author is Feng Congde and the publishing house is Green Field Bookstore. This book likes a dairy of Feng. He recorded the events which happened between 15th April to 4th June. The author wrote this book because he hopes that people can know more about Tiananmen Square protests. There are many versions of story of Tiananmen Square protests in the world. The author had experienced this event so he wants to tell the people the truth.

This book begins on 15th April which is the beginning of Tiananmen Square protests. 15th April is the birthday of the wife of Feng. Also, it was the day that the Former CPC Central Committee General Secretary Hu Yao bang suddenly dead. On the contrary, some voices occurred which is opposed Deng Xiao Ping. Therefore, some students went
to Tiananmen Square to petition. Feng and his wife also went there to give the food to the students on 18th April. After a period of time, some students decided to start hunger strike on 13th May but the evening news did not report any about hunger strike. Then the Chinese government announced the implementation of martial law in Beijing on 20th May. At 3:00 on 4th June, Lau Xiao Bo persuaded students to evacuate. At 4:00, the lights of the Tiananmen Square were extinguished. Then, the soldiers shot to the monument. At 4:30, the lights were switched up. The soldiers let the students leave. They also said that they will not shoot them before 7:00. At this moment, Feng decided to ask the students to leave. At 4:50, the soldiers shot to the students again. The military failed to comply with commitments.

I recommend this book because people can understand the Tiananmen Square protests from another point of view.
People should take into account with different angle to understand the event. So, this book can let me know more about this event. People often heard the version of the official but few people can hear the version of the students. The official version mainly complained about the students launched riots. The soldiers cleared the field to prevent the society fall into chaos. Therefore, people will think that the students were thugs and support the government.

If people heard of this version, they will know more about the truth of Tiananmen Square. This book told us that the students were demonstrated for against the government to maintain the social order. Also, the military failed to comply with commitments. They said that if the people leave before 7:00, they will not shoot them. But the soldiers still shot the students at 4:50. Therefore, many students dead at this event. If I do not read this book, I will not know that the military failed to comply with commitments to shoot the students. So, this book gives me more information about this
event.

Also, I agree with the point of view of the author. The military often hid about the truth of the event to maintain the international image. In this case, the students were the victims. Thousands of people died in the incident but the military claimed that only 241 people, included 36 students died in the event. Many students said that they saw their classmates were squashed by the tank car. So, the death toll must be greater than 241.This tells us that the official figures may not be necessarily true. They may deliberately conceal the truth for some reasons. People should collect more information and then analysis which side has more support documents. Therefore, people will know the real truth about the event.