Difference between revisions of "Tiananmen Square massacre"
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Tiananmen Square had been the scene of earlier significant demonstrations in Chinese history, notably those of May 4, 1919 protesting against concessions to Japan, and the demonstrations of April 5, 1976 following the death of [[Zhou Enlai]], the latter being broken up by police. The square was also the venue in 1966-67 of giant demonstrations by the Chinese [[Red Guards]] during the [[Cultural Revolution]]. | Tiananmen Square had been the scene of earlier significant demonstrations in Chinese history, notably those of May 4, 1919 protesting against concessions to Japan, and the demonstrations of April 5, 1976 following the death of [[Zhou Enlai]], the latter being broken up by police. The square was also the venue in 1966-67 of giant demonstrations by the Chinese [[Red Guards]] during the [[Cultural Revolution]]. | ||
| − | + | [[File:Qian Qichen and Brent Scowcroft, Dec. 9, 1989 Beijing.PNG|right|350px|thumb|Brent Scowcroft toasting Qian Qichen after the Tiananmen massacre, hoping to preserve the U.S.-CCP relationship.]] | |
==U.S. response== | ==U.S. response== | ||
Four weeks after the slaughter, President [[George H.W. Bush]] sent [[National Security Advisor]] [[Brent Scowcroft]] and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger on a secret mission to Beijing to engage Deng Xiaoping directly,<ref>https://apnews.com/article/e91d5cfaf764de1750eb1a66b5e191d0</ref> after Bush’s attempts to reach Deng via telephone hotline were rebuffed. Bush personally wanted to “preserve” the U.S.-China relationship at all costs and get the relationship “back on track.” Bush and other senior officials praised and encouraged the collapse of communism as the regimes of [[Eastern Europe]] were being toppled in the second half of 1989 by their citizens one after another, but no praise and encouragement for the people of China.<ref>https://www.chinafile.com/conversation/other-tiananmen-papers</ref> | Four weeks after the slaughter, President [[George H.W. Bush]] sent [[National Security Advisor]] [[Brent Scowcroft]] and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger on a secret mission to Beijing to engage Deng Xiaoping directly,<ref>https://apnews.com/article/e91d5cfaf764de1750eb1a66b5e191d0</ref> after Bush’s attempts to reach Deng via telephone hotline were rebuffed. Bush personally wanted to “preserve” the U.S.-China relationship at all costs and get the relationship “back on track.” Bush and other senior officials praised and encouraged the collapse of communism as the regimes of [[Eastern Europe]] were being toppled in the second half of 1989 by their citizens one after another, but no praise and encouragement for the people of China.<ref>https://www.chinafile.com/conversation/other-tiananmen-papers</ref> | ||
Revision as of 14:53, August 9, 2021
| Tiananmen Square massacre | |||||||||
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| Demonstrator in Tiananmen Square | |||||||||
| Chinese | 六四事件 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | June Fourth Incident | ||||||||
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The massacre mainly took place on Tiananmen Square just outside the seat of the tyrannical Chinese Communist Party ruling clique in Beijing. The crackdown was a source of friction between China and the West, and also between the visiting Mikhail Gorbachev and the Chinese Government.[2]
Tiananmen Square had been the scene of earlier significant demonstrations in Chinese history, notably those of May 4, 1919 protesting against concessions to Japan, and the demonstrations of April 5, 1976 following the death of Zhou Enlai, the latter being broken up by police. The square was also the venue in 1966-67 of giant demonstrations by the Chinese Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.
Contents
U.S. response
Four weeks after the slaughter, President George H.W. Bush sent National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger on a secret mission to Beijing to engage Deng Xiaoping directly,[3] after Bush’s attempts to reach Deng via telephone hotline were rebuffed. Bush personally wanted to “preserve” the U.S.-China relationship at all costs and get the relationship “back on track.” Bush and other senior officials praised and encouraged the collapse of communism as the regimes of Eastern Europe were being toppled in the second half of 1989 by their citizens one after another, but no praise and encouragement for the people of China.[4]
Recognition
On June 14, 1989, Former President Ronald Reagan spoke about the massacre.[5][6] He said: "The seeds of democracy have been planted. It may take years or even decades before the people of these countries can sit in the shade of democracy, but sit in the shade of democracy they someday will."
Tiananmen Square massacre help fuel an explosive growth of Christianity in China
See also: Growth of Christianity in China and East Asia and global desecularization
The Tiananmen Square massacre fueled a big rise in Chinese interest in Christianity.[7]
See also
External links
- Chinese Killed At Least 10,000 At Tiananmen Square, Newly Declassified Documents Claim
- Victims of Tiananmen Massacre, Beijing, June 4, 1989.
- U.S.-China Diplomacy After Tiananmen: Documents from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library
References
- ↑ "Chinese Killed At Least 10,000 At Tiananmen Square, Newly Declassified Documents Claim", Daily Caller, 12/24/2017.
- ↑ Tiananmen - the Rape of Peking. Michael Fathers and Andrew Higgins, 1989.
- ↑ https://apnews.com/article/e91d5cfaf764de1750eb1a66b5e191d0
- ↑ https://www.chinafile.com/conversation/other-tiananmen-papers
- ↑ Reagan Gets A Red Carpet From British, The New York Times, June 14, 1989, "You cannot massacre an idea, you cannot run tanks over hope. You cannot riddle a people's yearning with bullets. Those heroic Chinese students who gave their lives have released the spirit of democracy and it cannot be called back. That spirit is loose upon the world this spring."
- ↑ President Reagan Speaks Out on Tiananmen Square Massacre, NBC
- ↑ Militant atheists caused a massive and explosive growth of Christianity
