June Fourth refers to the June 3-4, 1989 government military crackdown that ended the large-scale, peaceful protests in Beijing and other cities that spring and early summer. Despite persistent citizen demands for the truth and an accounting of the bloodshed, the authorities have offered nothing beyond their characterization that the protests were “counterrevolutionary riots”—a label they later changed to “political disturbance” (政治风波)—which “the Party and state suppressed by using decisive measures.” (党和国家采取果断措施平息). More >
Challenges
Official impunity
Despite repeated demands by Chinese citizens for an official accounting of the truth of the June Fourth crackdown, the Chinese government has never publicly accounted for its actions with an independent and open investigation, brought to justice those responsible for the killing of unarmed civilians, or compensated the survivors or families of those killed. In fact, it has never made public even the names and the number of people killed or wounded during the crackdown, or of those executed or imprisoned afterwards in connection with the protests. Many believe that several hundred people were killed, but to date, there are no authoritative estimates of the casualties.
Enforced amnesia
Since 1989, the Chinese government has censored public discussion of the 1989 Democracy Movement and the June Fourth crackdown, and prohibited public commemorations of June Fourth victims on anniversaries of the crackdown.
Responses
International
Immediately after June Fourth, many countries expressed shock and consternation. But some, including East Germany, Romania, and Czechoslovakia—communist countries at the time—supported the Chinese government’s action. The United States and European Union imposed an arms embargo that is still in place in 2013. More >
Mainland China
Despite on-going suppression, over the years, individuals and groups have taken diverse actions to fight enforced amnesia and get at the truth. Examples include: the 1999 publication in book form—The Tiananmen Papers—of internal government and Party documents compiled by Zhang Liang (pseudonym) that revealed the decision-making process in the CPC’s higher echelons in Spring 1989; Tan Zuoren’s 2007 essay, “1989: Bearing Witness to the Ultimate Beauty—Diary of an Eyewitness from the Square;” and the May 2013 publication of Tiananmen Massacre, a collection of eyewitness accounts of the June Fourth crackdown compiled by journalist Du Bin. More >
The Tiananmen Mothers
The Tiananmen Mothers is a group of 156 (as of June 2013) survivors and family members of victims of the June Fourth crackdown (including 33 members who are deceased). In the absence of an official list of June Fourth casualties, the group has spent years searching for the families of those killed, and documented 202 victims of the crackdown. More >
Hong Kong
On May 21, 1989, the day after martial law was imposed in Beijing, one million Hong Kongers—roughly one in five people—marched in protest. One hundred days after the June Fourth crackdown, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements organized a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park. More >
KEY DATES OF 1989 DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT AND JUNE FOURTH CRACKDOWN
April 15–18 Hu Yaobang dies. Protests begin. Students announce seven demands of government.
April 26 People’s Daily publishes editorial: “The necessity of a clear stand against turmoil,” reflecting Deng Xiaoping’s April 25 declaration.
May 13 Hunger strike begins, more than 3,000 demand the government rescind negative labels of the student movement and engage in dialogue with students.
May 17 More than one million people, including workers, teachers, scholars, journalists, medical workers, and government cadres, march in Beijing.
May 20 Martial law takes effect at 10:00 a.m. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) units are ordered to clear Tiananmen Square and return order to the city.
May 21 More than one million people march in Beijing, defying martial law.
June 3-4 Crackdown begins. PLA troops block off all approaches to Tiananmen Square. Witnesses of the killing of civilians bring news to the BWAF and to the students’ Command Headquarters, urging protestors to leave the square.
From http://www.hrichina.org/en/june-fourth-overview