05 June 2007

Tiananmen

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals, and labour activists in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between April 15, 1989 and June 5, 1989. While the protests lacked a unified cause or leadership, participants were generally critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and voiced complaints ranging from minor criticisms to calls for full-fledged democracy and the establishment of broader freedoms. The demonstrations centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stayed peaceful throughout the protests. In Beijing, the resulting military crackdown on the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured. The toll ranges from 200–300 (PRC government figures), to 400–800 by The New York Times, and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross), although the PRC government asserts and most independent observers agree that the majority of these deaths were not in the square itself but rather in the streets leading to the square (by wikipedia).

After this tragedy PRC government kept the citizens in iron abrace and on every step demonstrated it's power.
Pictures shown below were made in June 1990 at Tiananmen

pictures © by Marcin Górski

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is of course a picture that always will be remembered from 1989 - the student standing in front of a giant tank.
With over a billion people and one of the biggest industrial powers of the world, China will now have to deal with the human rights issues.
I am impressed to see your pictures Marcin, just one year after the crack down.
/Ulf

F said...

A black day for the mankind. How humans can treat humans under certain conditions always disgusts me.

Very strong pics.

/christofer