{"id":1080,"date":"2025-12-22T00:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T00:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2025-12-22T00:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T00:06:13","slug":"declassified-reports-and-modern-reexaminations-reveal-the-widely-covered-up-horrors-of-the-tiananmen-square-massacre-that-left-as-many-as-thousands-dead-in-beijing-on-june-4-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=1080","title":{"rendered":"Declassified reports and modern reexaminations reveal the widely covered-up horrors of the Tiananmen Square massacre that left as many as thousands dead in Beijing on June 4, 1989."},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the spring of 1989, thousands of Chinese troops entered Beijing\u2019s Tiananmen Square and opened fire on unarmed protesters. As many as 1 million demonstrators \u2014 mostly university-age liberals \u2014 had gathered there in the weeks prior, campaigning for far-ranging political and economic reforms.<\/p>\n

While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had silenced previous demonstrations, the violent retaking of the square on June 4, 1989, was so brutal that it has since become known as the Tiananmen Square massacre.<\/p>\n

\"Tiananmen<\/p>\n

Mashable<\/span>Bodies lie on the ground in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We still don\u2019t know how many people died there, as the Chinese government has done everything in its power to suppress and forget about the activities that took place that day. While official records say that 241 people lost their lives, most estimates suggest the real figures to be much higher.<\/p>\n

A doctor at the time said that 500 lives were lost, while a radio announcer reported the Tiananmen Square massacre death toll at more than 1,000. Most recently, however, estimates have risen even higher.<\/p>\n

\"Tank<\/p>\n

The New York TimesThe renowned\u00a0\u201cTank Man\u201d\u00a0faces down a line of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to\u00a0The Independent, a secret British cable from the time alleged that a minimum of 10,000 people were massacred that day. Those who were merely wounded were simply bayoneted to death as they pleaded for mercy. Victims were then incinerated \u2014 and \u201chosed down the drains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because much of our collective understanding of this historic violence and the surrounding Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 has been based on presumably false data \u2014 likely intentionally so \u2014 a reexamination of the event and its underlying causes is certainly in order.<\/p>\n

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The Chinese Communist Party Vs. \u201cBourgeois Liberalism\u201d<\/h2>\n

Before the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was desperate to quash what they saw as \u201cbourgeois liberalism,\u201d a broad phrase suggesting several kinds of resistance to the government\u2019s strict and repressive political doctrine. Meanwhile, China\u2019s educated youth were fed up with that very repressiveness as well as the country\u2019s wealth being funneled to corrupt leaders at the top only for price inflations and poor job prospects to burden the masses.<\/p>\n

Hu Yaobang, a general secretary in the CCP since 1980, had been encouraging the government to listen to its citizenry. He fought from within to sway his peers into supporting democratic reforms and providing the youth with more opportunities. By 1987, he was ousted, and forced to resign.<\/p>\n

\"Chineses<\/p>\n

ABC<\/em><\/span>Demonstrators square off against military personnel during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On April 15, 1989, he died \u2014 and became an immediate martyr to those fighting for his cause. Tens of thousands of students organized a protest at Tiananmen Square on the day of Hu\u2019s funeral, April 22. While similar efforts were undertaken in cities across China, Beijing\u2019s demonstration was the focal point of this national movement.<\/p>\n

At the same time, countless journalists were in Beijing to report on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev\u2019s arrival that May. Soon after, the number of protesters in Tiananmen Square reached 1 million \u2014 and garnered global media coverage. In the beginning, only warnings to disperse were given by the government.<\/p>\n

That would soon change.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

International Business Times<\/em><\/span>Supporters of China\u2019s Communist Party rally around their symbol while waving flags.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There was internal discussion regarding how to approach this growing issue, at first. Zhao Ziyang, a moderate who served as Hu\u2019s successor, advised negotiating with the crowd. He wanted to offer them concessions and thereby assuage their anger and alleviate the situation.<\/p>\n

Chinese premier Li Peng and his loyal base of hard-line supporters, however, overruled this approach. Meanwhile, the reactionary fear of anarchy held by elder statesman Deng Xiaoping prompted the use of force to eradicate the youth movement at all costs.<\/p>\n

Before May turned to June, the government implemented martial law in Beijing. Troops were stationed throughout the city. But their path into Tiananmen Square was blocked by adamantly rebellious citizens, however, who made a statue called \u201cGoddess of Democracy\u201d their hub.<\/p>\n

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June 4, 1989: The Tiananmen Square Massacre<\/h2>\n

Armed troops and tanks made their way to the square on the night of June 3 and into the morning hours of June 4. They soon shot those who stood in their way and crushed those who wouldn\u2019t move out of it. Thousands decided to leave and avoid confrontation, but many didn\u2019t (including the widely-known \u201cTank Man\u201d who stood in the street and faced down a row of tanks).<\/p>\n

Early reports of the Tiananmen Square massacre were largely dismissed by China as necessary measures to combat \u201ccounterrevolutionaries.\u201d The Western media, meanwhile, did refer to the government\u2019s activities as a \u201cmassacre,\u201d with the U.S. imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions.<\/p>\n

\"Tiananmen<\/p>\n

Wikimedia Commons<\/span>Tiananmen Square in 1988, one year before the historic protests and subsequent massacre.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The CCP arrested thousands, imprisoned many of them, and even executed some. Soon, numerous protest leaders fled the country. Ziyang, who had encouraged his peers to find nonviolent solutions, was placed on house arrest and replaced.<\/p>\n

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And while the government admitted that 241 people died and some. 7,000 others were wounded, these numbers are widely disregarded as highly inaccurate by almost all sources outside of China today.<\/p>\n

While public commemoration of the event is federally banned, and the government\u2019s censorship makes for a tight grip on virtual discourse \u2014 a document declassified in 2017 has shed new light on how horrific the Tiananmen Square massacre really was.<\/p>\n

What Really Happened During The Tiananmen Square Massacre<\/h2>\n
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\"Beijing<\/div>\n
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The Hidden History Of The Tiananmen Square Massacre<\/div>\n
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Freedom House, an independent organization dedicated to promoting freedom around the world, labeled China as “Not Free” in their 2014\u00a0Freedom in the World<\/em>\u00a0report, giving the country almost the lowest score possible in nearly every category.<\/p>\n

A number of factors contribute to the country’s lack of freedom, but most can understandably be traced directly to the Chinese government, which is strong and unyielding in its grip on its citizens.<\/p>\n

In the current climate, decades after the Tiananmen Square massacre, there seem to be even fewer opportunities for people to speak out and enact change. The CCP has a monopoly on political power: organized opposition is illegal and independent political parties are strictly forbidden.<\/p>\n

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\"Illustration<\/p>\n

Leak Source<\/em><\/span>An illustration referencing the high levels of censorship in China.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Those who participate in such organized efforts face jail time or bodily harm just for speaking their minds. The CCP’s complete domination over the government and therefore the policies that guide the country ensure that only they can make the rules.<\/p>\n

This stranglehold means that, even today, relatively little information is available about the Tiananmen Square massacre. However, British ambassador to China Sir Alan Donald wrote a secret diplomatic cable around 24 hours after the massacre, which was only declassified in 2017. The cable reveals stunning information previously unknown to most of the world, and likely, much of the country itself.<\/p>\n

According to Donald, at least 10,000 people were killed. One of the Chinese army units was apparently so vicious that the former ambassador described them as “primitives” in the document.<\/p>\n

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The cable provides a hitherto unprecedented look at what really occurred that day.<\/p>\n

Donald’s cable has since found a new home in the U.K. National Archives. The former ambassador explained that his account stemmed from personal conversations from a “good friend” in China’s State Council \u2014 the government’s cabinet \u2014 who spilled the proverbial beans to Donald in confidence.<\/p>\n

Donald said this source “has previously proved reliable and was careful to separate fact from speculation and rumor,” making his recounting of the events of June 3 and June 4 highly credible.<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrator<\/p>\n

Wikimedia Commons<\/span>Pu Zhiqiang, a student demonstrator during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. His shirt reads,”We want freedom of newspapers, freedom of associations, also to support the ‘World Economic Herald’, and support those just journalists.” May 10, 1989.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Donald’s cable to London described the “atrocities” against several thousand pro-democracy protesters as being undertaken by the 27th Army of Shanxi Province. He called this truculent group of soldiers “60 percent illiterate” and “primitives.”<\/p>\n

According to Donald and his trusted source, however, the troops that entered Tiananmen Square prior to the 27th Army were unarmed. This was an initial attempt to disperse the massive group of protesters without violence, as most were students, unarmed, and non-violent.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this approach rapidly came to an end.<\/p>\n

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