In the early morning of June 4, 1989, the People’s Liberation Army, equipped with tanks and assault rifles, massacred an unknown number of unarmed civilians, thus ending month-long demonstrations initiated by university students in Beijing. Casualty estimates range from a few hundred to thousands dead. The students called on the Party to combat corruption and carry out political reforms, and the demonstrations in Beijing received broad support from city residents. Similar demonstrations were also held in nearly 200 cities across the country. 

On April 16, 1989, former General Secretary of the Communist Party Hu Yaobang passed away. Thousands of university students and residents in Beijing marched to Tiananmen Square to mourn Hu, who was forced to resign on account of his liberal political stance.  Later, students launched nationwide demonstrations mourning him. 

On April 26, the Party’s official newspaper People’s Daily published an editorial deeming the student movement a “planned conspiracy” and an “anti-Party and anti-socialist upheaval.” The next day, students from several dozen universities in Beijing marched through the streets. Beijing residents and government workers also participated. The students chanted slogans such as “espouse the Communist Party,” “espouse socialism,” “anti-corruption,” and “anti-cronyism.” 

On May 13, the students initiated hunger strike. Some 30,000 intellectuals in Beijing came to support the students.  Inspired by the course of events in Beijing, protests and strikes began in other cities. 

On the early morning of May 19, General Secretary of the Communist Party Zhao Ziyang went to the Square to meet with the students. Later in the day, he refused to attend the meeting with military leaders at which they decided to declare martial law. Zhao was purged and placed under house arrest for the next 15 years, ultimately dying in custody. On May 20, Li Peng declared martial law in certain parts of Beijing. About 200,000 troops were sent to Beijing, but throngs of Beijing residents thwarted their advance by blocking the roads. The Commander of the 38th Group Army Xu Qin was arrested for refusing to use force against demonstrators. 

On May 23, Yu Zhijian, Yu Dongyue and Lu Decheng filled eggs with ink and threw them at Mao Zedong’s portrait hanging over Tiananmen Square. The three were immediately arrested. Later, Yu Zhijian was given a life sentence.  Lu Decheng was sentenced to 16 years.Yu Dongyue was sentenced to 20 years. While imprisoned, Yu was frequently beaten for being “uncooperative.” He was also repeatedly placed in solitary confinement. As a result of such mistreatment, his head is now covered with scars and he suffers from permanent neurological impairment. 

On May 25, as many as 100,000 students and residents protested in Beijing, among other things demanding that “the People’s Congress convene an emergency meeting” and “Li Peng resign.” 

On June 2, Beijing Normal University lecturer Liu Xiaobo and three other people held a press conference in the Square declaring a 48 to 72-hour hunger strike. Liu was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and remains in prison today.   

Deng Xiaoping said, “This is a political struggle. The goal is to overthrow the Communist Party and to subvert the socialist system, so  (we) can’t compromise. The Politburo needs a unified understanding. There is a decision. We can no longer wait.” On the morning of June 2, Deng and others decided to use military force to clear the Square.

On the early morning of June 3, students and residents discovered troops trying to smuggle weapons into the city and to the Square. Students and residents tried to block them. Shortly before 10pm, the army opened fire. Thirty-two year old Song Xiaoming was shot at Wukesong crossroad. He was the first confirmed fatality in the Tiananmen Square Massacre.   

Crowds of Beijing residents blocked the troops from entering the Square, incurring heavy casualties.  

At 4am on June 4, tanks and armed troops entered the Square while students retreated from the Square.

On June 5, a lone man stood in front of a column of tanks moving through the Square. It is said that his name is Wang Weilin. Little is known about his fate after the confrontation that day. Many believe that the Communist Party secretly executed him. 

Since June 13, the Beijing police issued several lists of wanted people in an effort to arrest student leaders and so-called “people behind the scenes.” 

The true number of deaths will probably never be known, but the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of activists whose children, friends or relatives are victims of the Massacre, have tracked down 202 victims.  The real death toll could be several times this number.