1989 – 500,000 students and workers gathered to protest the hard-line policies and corrupt government practices of then Chinese ruler Deng Xiaoping.
• The protest started peacefully, with low-key displays and slogans from the protestors – including signs, staged hunger strikes, and congregations along the streets of Tiananmen Square. The police were ordered to keep a low-profile, although many argue that this was due to the fact that the Chinese government at the time was entertaining Mikhail Gorbachev. Upon Gorbachev’s departure from China, the Chinese government clenched an iron-fist and violently crushed the protests – which would spark a mass riot.
• Violence would ensue, which would leave over 1,300 protestors dead and thousands more injured.
• The tail end of the protests included an iconic moment in the history of protests when one lone unnamed protestor(in the pic above in front of the first tank) stood alone in front of a row of on-coming army tanks. Despite the historic moment and picture of the tanks stopping in his tracks, the young man was pulled back into the crowd to avoid any harm.
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