A foreign television crew filming protesters near Tiananmen Square. The world’s news media converged on the square, especially with the visit of the Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, to Beijing in mid-May. Credit David Chen
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Beijing University students wave fists and flags as five Chinese military helicopters fly over Tiananmen Square at dawn Sunday, May 21, 1989. (AP Photo:stf)
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Beijing University students listen as a strike spokesman details plans for a rally in Tiananmen Square, which they have occupied for the last two weeks, Sunday, May 28, 1989, Beijing, China. AP Photo: Jeff Widener
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May 30, students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts create a 10-meter-tall statue, the Goddess of Democracy, boosting the morale of protesters. Erected in just four days, the statue was unveiled in front of the Monument to the People’s Heroes. CNN
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A statue modeled after the Statue of Liberty is ready for unveiling in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, May 30, 1989. The 30-foot styrofoam statue was erected by striking university students. In the background is the Great hall. AP photo
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The Goddess of Democracy in Tiananmen Square. Shelley Zang
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June 2, 1989, shows hundreds of thousands of Chinese gathering around a 10-metre replica of the Statue of Liberty (C), called the Goddess of Democracy, in Tiananmen Square demanding democracy despite martial law in Beijing. Families of those killed in the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests on June 2, 2010, demanded China end its silence and open a dialogue on the bloodshed. In an annual open letter, 128 members of the Tiananmen Mothers castigated the Communist Party government for ignoring its calls for openness on the crackdown that occurred June 3-4, 1989 and vowed never to give up their fight. Photo by CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP/Getty Images
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A masked protester from Beijing University leads chants making fun of the government’s offer of money and a loaf of bread to people willing to march in a pro-government rally, Friday, June 2, 1989, Beijing, China. AP Photo: Mark Avery
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A student pro-democracy protester flashes victory signs to the crowd as People’s Liberation Army troops withdraw on the west side of the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square on Saturday, June 3, 1989, in Beijing. AP Photo: Mark Avery
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On the night of June 3 and into the early hours of June 4, armed troops and tanks move in on students and other civilians in the area around Tiananmen Square, opening fire on the crowds. CNN
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June 4, students set fire to tanks. An official death toll has not been released but witnesses and human rights groups say hundreds were killed in the clash. CNN
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On June 5, the tanks tried to go around the man, but he stepped back into their path, climbing atop one briefly. The tanks held their fire. Eventually, the man was taken away. Time
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In the following weeks, activists who were involved in the pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested. CNN
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Citizens of Beijing look at a photograph of a victim of the massacre. The media was completely controlled by the government, so the only way people could learn what had happened was from lamppost to lamppost. National Geographic
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Today, Hong Kong is the only Chinese territory where commemorations of the June 4 massacre is allowed. Pictured, pro-democracy legislator Lee Cheuk-yan (left) unwraps a replica of the Goddess of Democracy at Hong Kong’s June 4 Museum. AFP PHOTO / Philippe LopezPHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
