32 Photos Show the Hope and Despair of Tiananmen Square
Pro-democracy demonstrators were massacred by government forces 32 years ago today.
It is a testament to just what a monumental challenge the protests in Tiananmen Square posed to China's authoritarian government that the People's Liberation Army responded to them with such force 30 years ago today. Even now, that same government is working to scrub the resulting bloodshed from the national memory. Hong Kong has been banned from commemorating the events of June 4, 1989 as the central government in Beijing strengthens its grip on the city, though the stated reason for the ban is the risk of gatherings during a pandemic. It is up to the rest of the world, then, to remember. Here are some of the most striking photos from that day, and what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
A student displays a banner with one of the slogans chanted by the crowd of some 200,000 pouring into Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989.
Exhausted Chinese students sleep on the ground at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on May 21, 1989.
Picture taken in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on May 14, 1989.
The protest movement of students that started in Tiananmen Square ended in a blood bath with various sources claiming that between 1,500 and 4,000 demonstrators were killed and 10,000 wounded.
A protester on the night of June 3, 1989
Clashes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on June 4, 1989.
Clashes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on June 4, 1989.
Family members try to comfort a grief-stricken mother who has just learned of the death of her son, a student protester killed by soldiers.
A Beijing demonstrator blocks the path of a tank convoy along the Avenue of Eternal Peace near Tiananmen Square. For weeks, people have been protesting for freedom of speech and of press from the Chinese government.
On the night of June 3rd, and into June 4th, soldiers from the People's Liberation Army with orders to clear Tiananmen Square fired on Beijing citizens.
Walking through the Tiananmen Square aftermath.
During the night of June 3 to June 4, 1989 the People's Liberation Army opened fire on the crowd and forced the last blockades with tanks; the students were demonstrating to demand more democracy and freedom of thought from the Chinese government.
Clashes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on June 3, 1989.
Clashes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on June 3, 1989.
A dissident student asks soldiers to go back home as crowds flooded into the central Beijing on June 3, 1989.
Chinese residents check a burning armored personnel carrier which was put in on fire by rioters fighting back when the army opened fire on the civilians on June 4, 1989.
Clashes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on June 4, 1989.
Soldiers keep student demonstrators away from the official memorial for Hu Yaobang at the Great Hall of the People, where the service is being held. Students tried to present a petition to Premier Li Peng, but were rebuffed.
A sea of student protesters gathers in Tiananmen Square on May 4, 1989. They were asking for greater freedom of speech and democracy.
Perhaps the most famous image to emerge from the protest in which a lone demonstrator stands down a column of tanks June 5, 1989 at the entrance to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The incident took place on the morning after Chinese troops fired upon pro-democracy students who had been protesting in the square since April 15, 1989.
Kelly Sherin is the Visuals Editor at Esquire. He was previously the Digital Photo Editor of Allure.com and Photo Researcher at Glamour.
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