tiananmen 8: close to the end
I'm sorry this series has become a bit perfunctory and lacking in the kind of insight and humanity it really needed. With a little more preparation and time it could have been tackled with more enthusiasm and imagination, and drawn on a greater range of resources. Next time something like this comes up hopefully lessons will have been learned. But having come this far the project should be finished. This week takes us right up to the eve of the massacre, and the final post will deal with June 4th itself.
By May 29/30 students were starting to leave Tiananmen Square, students from elsewhere in China were leaving Beijing. Across the country protests were winding down. To an outsider it either looked like the students had won and reforms were imminent or like the pro-democracy movement had run out of steam. A core of students and intellectuals wanted to continue, there were calls to extend the occupation of the square until the National People's Conference meeting on June 20, more than three weeks away. At the same time popular support seemed to be waning.
It was at this time that the famous statue made by art students, the Goddess of Democracy, modelled on the Statue of Liberty was brought to the square. This was certainly provocative, but it wasn't the cause of the tragedy, the decision to clear the square had already been taken. Official rallies were organised against what the government called "the turmoil", and there was a feeling that military action was imminent.
Martial law troops were being prepared to clear the square, including ideologically. On June 1 the government was internally preparing to put an end to the occupation and demonstrations. Internal documents portrayed students as terrorists and justified military action. The students meanwhile were experiencing internal divisions, and conditions in the square were poor. But at the same time protests continued.
On June 2 the party elders made the formal decision that Tiananmen Square must be cleared by force, without casualties. Party propaganda claimed that the US was manipulating the students. A new hunger strike was begun in support of a peaceful transition to democracy by a popular singer and three intellectuals.
The next day martial law troops in plain-clothes began to make their way into Tiananmen Square, and in amongst the demonstrators. This was discovered late on the evening of the 2nd when a jeep ran into pedestrians on a pavement, killing several. The jeep had no number plates and the drivers were not questioned. Citizens broke through to the vehicle and found military uniforms, phones and maps. Word spread quickly and the students and citizenry mobilized.
Vehicles were blocked and overturned. Soldiers were surrounded, stripped of their shirts and helmets, some were questioned, some were even beaten. The tyres of military vehicles were let down, guns and ammunition were taken out of at least one vehicle and displayed on the roof. There were persistant clashes between the police and the citizens.
The order was given to put down what was being described as "counterrevolutionary riot", to enter the square on June 4 and clear it. Citizens gathered at strategic points to block troops from reaching the square. One such place was Muxidi, where it might be said the massacre began. At 10.30pm on the 3rd under a barrage of rocks thrown by protestors martial law troops opened fire using live ammunition. It seems that at first the citizens and students couldn't believe that the People's army would attack the People with deadly force. Many were killed and injured at Muxidi, ambulances ferrying the casualties to hospital.
By May 29/30 students were starting to leave Tiananmen Square, students from elsewhere in China were leaving Beijing. Across the country protests were winding down. To an outsider it either looked like the students had won and reforms were imminent or like the pro-democracy movement had run out of steam. A core of students and intellectuals wanted to continue, there were calls to extend the occupation of the square until the National People's Conference meeting on June 20, more than three weeks away. At the same time popular support seemed to be waning.
It was at this time that the famous statue made by art students, the Goddess of Democracy, modelled on the Statue of Liberty was brought to the square. This was certainly provocative, but it wasn't the cause of the tragedy, the decision to clear the square had already been taken. Official rallies were organised against what the government called "the turmoil", and there was a feeling that military action was imminent.
Martial law troops were being prepared to clear the square, including ideologically. On June 1 the government was internally preparing to put an end to the occupation and demonstrations. Internal documents portrayed students as terrorists and justified military action. The students meanwhile were experiencing internal divisions, and conditions in the square were poor. But at the same time protests continued.
On June 2 the party elders made the formal decision that Tiananmen Square must be cleared by force, without casualties. Party propaganda claimed that the US was manipulating the students. A new hunger strike was begun in support of a peaceful transition to democracy by a popular singer and three intellectuals.
The next day martial law troops in plain-clothes began to make their way into Tiananmen Square, and in amongst the demonstrators. This was discovered late on the evening of the 2nd when a jeep ran into pedestrians on a pavement, killing several. The jeep had no number plates and the drivers were not questioned. Citizens broke through to the vehicle and found military uniforms, phones and maps. Word spread quickly and the students and citizenry mobilized.
Vehicles were blocked and overturned. Soldiers were surrounded, stripped of their shirts and helmets, some were questioned, some were even beaten. The tyres of military vehicles were let down, guns and ammunition were taken out of at least one vehicle and displayed on the roof. There were persistant clashes between the police and the citizens.
The order was given to put down what was being described as "counterrevolutionary riot", to enter the square on June 4 and clear it. Citizens gathered at strategic points to block troops from reaching the square. One such place was Muxidi, where it might be said the massacre began. At 10.30pm on the 3rd under a barrage of rocks thrown by protestors martial law troops opened fire using live ammunition. It seems that at first the citizens and students couldn't believe that the People's army would attack the People with deadly force. Many were killed and injured at Muxidi, ambulances ferrying the casualties to hospital.
Comments
Many martial law troop were initially unarmed (and many were out of uniform) because it was believed to be easier to infiltrate the demonstrators that way. Arms were brought in by bus and other means pretty much covertly. Hence students stopping vehicles and displaying the weapons on the roof.
And whilst it's true that initial western media estimates of deaths were very exaggerated, and relatively few were killed in the square, many did die elsewhere in Beijing - particularly around Muxidi.
Nor was government repression confined to the 4th. People were arrested and beaten, thrown into jail for no good reason or 'disappeared'. Those in government supportive of reform who wouldn't recant were put under house arrest. And many of those arrested in the days and weeks following have never been seen and are suspected to be dead.
To this day dissidents, even the relatively harmless, face intimidation and brutalisation at the hands of the authorities. Falun Gong members are a particular target. Meantime the government and businesses are carrying out a massive land-grab from peasant farmers to fuel China's economic "miracle".
[And just for reference, do you really think live fire is an appropriate response to throwing a molotov cocktail? I don't.]
All the best, Matt.