Tuesday, June 3, 2014
This Day in History - Tiananmen Square
No, it's no Thursday. You didn't miss two days out of the week. I simply felt the 25th anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square could not go unmentioned.
After the April 15, 1989 death of Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party head who supported democratic reforms, some 100,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the leader and voice their discontent with the Chinese government. On April 22, an official memorial service was held for Hu Yaobang, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall and demanded to meet with Premier Li Peng. This request was denied, leading to a boycott of Chinese universities across the country and calls for democratic reform.
Ignoring warnings from the Chinese government, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen on April 27. Joined by many others, by the middle of May, more than a million people filled the square. Tensions rose as the government declared martial law in Beijing. Negotiations stalled on June 3 and troops were given orders from the Chinese government to seize control of Tiananmen Square, leading to hundreds of deaths and the arrest of thousands.
Find out more at http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
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