On Tiananmen Square massacre's 30th anniversary, a look at China's erasure of political history
As China imposes strict censorship and blocks any mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, people try hard to prevent this part of history from being erased.
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In 1989, thousands of students took to the streets in Beijing and other cities, for pro-democracy demonstrations. These protests were violently suppressed, after the government declared martial law. Above, protesters march through the central financial district of Hong Kong, supporting the demonstrations in Beijing. Reuters/Andrew Wong.
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Above, residents of Beijing surround an army convoy of 4,000 soldiers to prevent them from continuing to Tiananmen Square. On 4 June, 1989, tanks and troops advanced, killing thousands of demonstrators. The full death toll remains unverified, with suggestions ranging from 2,000 to 10,000. Reuters/Ed Nachtrieb.
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A Beijing citizen stands in front of a convoy of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal peace in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Today, thirty years after the massacre, strict censorship restricts any mention or commemoration of the protests in China, and the incident is absent from history books. Reuters/Stringer.
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Social media and internet in China are being strictly monitored, with any mention of the incident being blocked. News websites carrying stories related to the incident have also been blocked in the country. Above, crowds of students surge through a police cordon before pouring into Tiananmen Square. Reuters/Stringer.
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Workmen try to drape the portrait of Mao Zedong, in Tiananmen Square, 23 May, 1989. He was a founder father of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of China’s Communist Party from its inception in 1949 to his death in 1976. Reuters/Ed Nachtrieb.
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The crowd in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Today, the Square is strictly guarded and journalists are being prevented from taking any photos. In Hong Kong, in contrast, a candlelight vigil is expected to attracted over 150,000 people. Reuters/Ed Nachtrieb.
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A military helicopter drops leaflets above Tiananmen Square in 1989 which state the student protesters should leave the Square as soon as possible. Many observe that this incident was an important moment of China’s political history, marking its turn toward authoritarianism. Reuters/Shunsuke Akatsuka.
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Pro-democracy demonstrators pitch tents in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. Today, as they try to remind people of their history, activists have been restrained and many spokespersons’ locations are unknown. Many activists have decided to fast on the day, being the only thing that cannot be restricted, as commemoration of the incident. Reuters/Bobby Yip.
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An armored military vehicle crushes one of the tents set up on Tiananmen Square by pro-democracy protesters. Today, protesters maintain a decided silence, not telling their children about their role in the protests. They worry about how it might influence their children and acknowledge that any remembrance of the protests is dangerous in modern-day China. Reuters/Stringer.
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Medical workers at Beijing’s Fuxingmen Hospital look at bodies of protesters killed by soldiers around Tiananmen Square after the incident. Even today, ahead of the day, student protesters have been disappearing. China has rebuked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his statement on the 30th anniversary of the incident. Reuters/STR.
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