In April of 1989, thousands of student protesters took to the streets in Tiananmen Square to demand democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. According to recently released British diplomatic cables, the Chinese government may have massacred up to 10,000 of them on June 4th of that same year.
A week after the death of Hu Yaobang, 100,000 Chinese students held a march to Tiananmen Square in his memory. Tensions had already been raised between students and government officials when protestors demanded the government reassess Hu’s legacy the day after his death. Hu had held various high positions in the Chinese government, from which he had been purged more than once during the Cultural Revolution of the ’60s and ’70s.
The march rapidly turned into an occupation of Tiananmen Square, with protestors demanding democracy for their country. The protests lasted for seven weeks, drawing international attention and support in addition to the millions of Chinese citizens who joined in.
“Two hundred dead could bring 20 years of peace to China.” -former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping
On June 3, 1989, the Chinese military was deployed en masse to bring the protests to an end. After several failed attempts to persuade the protestors to leave over the previous weeks, the Chinese government began warning that it would do whatever it took to stop the spread of “social chaos.”
According to recently released British diplomatic cables, protestors were told they had one hour to disperse. Five minutes later, armored personnel carriers (APCs) opened fire on protestors. According to Ambassador Alan Donald, the APCs then began to run over casualties as they fired indiscriminately into crowds of protestors and soldiers alike.
“Minimum estimate of civilian dead 10,000.” -Alan Donald, British Ambassador to China in a diplomatic cable dated June 5, 1989
According to the source, which is known to be reliable and “careful to separate fact from speculation and rumor,” the body count was 10,000 Chinese citizens killed. Violence had been expected, but the intensity of the Chinese reaction caught many by surprise. According to Donald, female students begged for their lives and were instead bayoneted. Army ambulances that attempted to give aid were shot up.
“Students linked arms but were mown down, including soldiers. APCs then ran over bodies time and time again to make ‘pie’ and remains collected by bulldozer. Remains incinerated and then hosed down drains.” -British Ambassador to China, Alan Donald
The violence was shocking to the international community and led to widespread condemnations and sanctions from many governments. According to the Chinese government, the suppression of the “counter-revolution” had resulted in 218 civilians killed, as well as 10 military members and 13 police.
Nearly three decades later, the Chinese government still forbids discussion of the event in textbooks, in the media, or online. An entire generation has grown up unaware of the “June Fourth Incident.” However, it is important to balance the initial claim of 10,000 dead with a later report from Donald that estimated the deaths between 2,700 and 3,400. This is more in line with the initial estimate of the Chinese Red Cross, which estimated 2,700 fatalities.
The British and US Governments Knew the Massacre Was Coming
Other recently declassified documents have revealed that the British knew that a massacre was “inevitable” weeks before the events of June 4th. In a secret cable dated May 20, 1989, Ambassador Donald stated that Professor Stuart Schram had informed him that in recent days Deng Xiaoping had commented that “two hundred dead could bring 20 years of peace to China.”
According to Donald, the implication was that “the sacrifice of a number of demonstrators’ lives now would stabilize the present situation and buy the time needed to complete the reform of China.” The ambassador went on to say he treated this information somewhat skeptically until the United States’ Situation Room at their Embassy told them that “the Chinese government has decided that there is no way to avoid bloodshed” and that “the military has been instructed to do what is necessary to put down the situation.”
