On this day in 1989, the Chinese army violently suppressed the Tiananmen square protests. Thousands of people died or were wounded. This crackdown ended the last large pro-democracy movement in China. It is a very controversial event that is absent in all official histories and widely censored.

The roots of the protests can be traced back to the early 1980s. Mao Zedong had died in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping slowly emerged as the new supreme leader. Deng implemented a lot of radical economic reforms that turned China into a more capitalist country with a free market and right of free enterprise. The ‘reform and opening-up’ policy, often dubbed ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, was successful and paved the way for Chinese rise to power and economic dominance.

Deng Xiaoping also introduced many social reforms and some political ones, but many students and progressives thought they were not going far enough. So, after the death of a progressive and popular party member in April 1989, protestors seized the moment to demand more democracy, more free speech, and more personal freedom. In the following weeks the movement grew and spread to cities all over the country. Around 250 000 people occupied the Tiananmen square which became the biggest and most symbolic location.

Meanwhile, the party leadership debated how to respond to these protests. Ultimately, it was decided to suppress the nationwide protests with a large crackdown. Many people died, others were imprisoned, and political expression became very limited.

1989 was a turning point and ever since that moment, any form of political opposition in China has been suppressed. The CCP wants to retain complete control. In recent years this has been largely visible online. Behind the great firewall of China, all internet content is heavily censored, although Chinese netizens can be very creative by inventing new words or using propaganda hashtags to criticize certain events.

Censors will be extra active today, even removing candle emojis, as people commemorating the Tiananmen massacre often use them as a symbol for the heroic protestors and hope for change.🕯️ 

Originally posted on Instagram on June 4, 2022