Tienanmen Square: Where Was the Violence?

Were civilian casualties more extensive inside or outside of Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989?

A) Plan of Investigation

The bloodshed at Tiananmen Square in Beijing shocked the world. As a result of large-scale Chinese cover-up the public knew little about the deaths that occurred on the morning of June 4th 1989. The aim of this investigation is to find out where the casualties were most extensive. The information needed to answer this question would not be provided for 11 years after which documents began to surface helping explain the unknown tragedy. U.S. government documents surrounding the event were finally declassified. But even more importantly a collection of Chinese documents known as The Tiananmen Papers were leaked out of China. The research for this investigation comes from these two sets of documents. By analyzing both the US and China accounts, similarities and inconstancies will be identified and examined in an effort to find the most plausible answer.

B) Summary of Evidence

1. On the Brink

On the night of June 3rd, 1989 the communist nation China was on the brink of collapse. For months the capital city was saturated with millions of pro-democracy demonstrators. Students, intellectuals, and civilians had set up their democratic stronghold in the symbolic center of the country, Tiananmen Square. The overwhelming animosity against the communist party had shut down the nation, and embarrassed its leaders. The senior members of the Chinese politburo demanded that this uprising be subdued and disbanded. After months of fruitless efforts to resolve the matter peacefully the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was dispatched to clear Tiananmen Square and to put an end to the ever expanding trouble. The soldiers were instructed to be extremely disciplined, opening fire as the last resort (Liang, 370.) Additionally no bloodshed would be allowed in the Square itself because of its important symbolism.

2. To the Square

The United States first received news about the violence in Beijing in a message from the US embassy in Beijing on the night of June 3rd 1989. The document reported that the PLA was using violent force to remove protestors as they moved on Tiananmen Square. Chinese tanks, APCs, trucks, and soldiers had met sizable civilian resistance. Thousands of protestors blockaded the PLA pelting the army with rocks, bottles, and molotov cocktails (Evans, Document 12.) Some proceeded to overturn and destroy military vehicles. Soldiers using automatic weapons fired into the mass of protestors. Demonstrators fell back slowly, continuing to fight for seven hours. Not surprisingly casualties were very high and hospitals were reported to be overflowing with injuries and deaths (Evans, Document 12.)

Chinese documents describe an equally violent march on Tiananmen. Tens of thousands of citizens formed a massive human blockade West of the square. Believing the troops would not fire upon their own people, protestors hurled shards of brick and glass at the soldiers. The soldiers formed two rows and sent volleys of bullets into the unsuspecting demonstrators. Citizens continued to resist, creating roadblocks and hurling concrete. It took the PLA seven hours to make the three mile march to Tiananmen. Local hospitals reported over 2,000 casualties with over two hundred dead (Liang, 373.)

3. The Clearing of Tiananmen Square

The American Secretary of States intelligence summary for the morning of June 4th describes the military's takeover of Tiananmen Square. Most demonstrators were reporting leaving the square after the rumors of violence. The army surrounded Tiananmen at 3:30a.m. At 5:30a.m., when nearly 50 PLA tanks, APCs, and trucks entered the square the PLA opened fire on the 3,000 democratic protestors remaining in the square (Evans, Document 14.) When the rifles and machine guns cooled fifteen minutes later, bodies were reported lying on the ground of Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese description of the evacuation of the Square is much different. After the PLA took control of the Square, soldiers formed rows and waited expressionlessly clutching their batons. Broadcasts were played over the loud speakers, the last of which listed four demands,

1. Anyone on the Square who hears this announcement must leave immediately.

2. Martial law troops will use any means necessary to deal with those who resist this order or disobey by remaining in the square.

3. The Square will be under the strict control of martial law troops after it is cleared.

4. All patriotic citizens and students who do not want I to see turmoil in the country should cooperate with the martial law troops and clear the square. (Liang, 381)

Hearing these demands for evacuation, tens of thousands of citizens and students left the square. What remained were a few thousand die-hard students. 10,000 soldiers and several tanks advanced upon the remaining students. By firing their guns over the heads of and pushing the far outnumbered students, the PLA was able to completely evacuate Tiananmen Square peacefully. According to Chinese documentation, no one was killed while clearing the square.

C) Evaluation of Sources

Evans, Michael L., and Jeffrey T. Richelson. National Security Archive. Tiananmen Square, 1989: The Declassified History. 1 June 1999. 9 Mar. 2005 .

This online collection of declassified documents focuses on the student demonstrations in China from 1985 to 1989. The database contains the actual documents sent between the US Embassy in Beijing and the Department of State in Washington DC. Recently declassified, these documents include summaries of intelligence gathered by the US Embassy in Beijing for June 3rd and 4th, 1989. This is an invaluable resource because it provides a relatively unbiased and uncensored description of the events for these violent days. Unfortunately, some of the information in these documents is still considered classified and is blacked out. Consequently, the reader is forced to take some situations out of context and is not able to read the document as it was meant to be read.

The Tiananmen Papers. Comp. Zhang Liang. Ed. Perry Link, and Andrew J. Nathan. New York: Public Affairs, 2001.

This book consists of hundreds of transcripts from actual Chinese documents reporting on the fateful spring of 1989. A traitor compiled these documents