Tiananmen massacre - 20 years on
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the Tiananmen Square protests
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Thursday, 04, Jun 2009 12:01
The Tiananmen Square protests continue to divide east and west, twenty years since the peaceful demonstrations were crushed.
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 are commonly known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, but in China are referred to as the June 4th Incident.
Demonstrators were initially made up of students and academics but later included urban workers, who were also unhappy with the speed of political and social reform in China.
The protests began in mid-April but endured until the government crackdown at the beginning of June when a full-scale assault by armoured vehicles and soldiers was launched against the unarmed demonstrators.
Death-toll estimates vary wildly from several hundred to almost 7,000, although the Chinese government insists no one died in the square itself.
The speed of the operation caught even the government by surprise, allowing foreign media outlets in Beijing covering the state visit of Mikhail Gorbachev to initially report on the beginning of the crackdown before being taken off air.
This led to the iconic 'tank man' picture being taken, showing a lone protestor - known as the unknown rebel - blocking the progress of four tanks by refusing to move.
Many Chinese have a very different impression of the events of June 4th 1989 than people in the west, with any mention of the massacre forbidden.
In addition, any internet coverage of the protests is automatically filtered out in mainland China, making the next generation of Chinese students unaware of the actions of their forebears.
Amnesty International this week called on the Chinese authorities to hold an open and independent inquiry into the 1989 crackdown.
The agency also urged people to sign an international online petition, calling for an inquiry into the handling of the protests.
A flower-laying commemoration will take place outside the Chinese embassy later today, with Amnesty members across the UK holding candlelit vigils as an act of solidarity.
Commenting, Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen, said: "Events will take place around the world to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, but there will be few in China itself.
"Censorship and repression of those who try to talk about the events of June 1989 mean that many people don't even know what happened or are fearful of trying to find out.
"The Chinese authorities should reveal the truth about Tiananmen Square in an open and independent inquiry. They should release those who are still in prison for their involvement in protests that took place 20 years ago. And they should end the persecution of those who try to discuss the Tiananmen Square crackdown and other human rights issues."