4 days ago
HT This Day: June 5, 1989 -- Hundreds of civilians shot in Beijing: Army controls Tiananmen Square; students defiant
Beijing: Chinese soldiers shot dead hundreds of people in an unprecedented bloodbath yesterday when they stormed Beijing's central Tiananmen Square. A student leader said at least 3,000 people were killed in the violence, which recurred today.
Eyewitnesses saw hundreds of innocent people being gunned down by soldiers. An announcer on the English language service of Radio Beijing said: 'Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in a barbaric act of oppression.'
The radio did not repeat the announcement where an announcer had obviously refused to toe the official line describing action 'against counter-revolutionaries.'
A student leader at Beijing University said that 3,000 people had been killed. No official figures of the dead have been released. Earlier reports said 200 people were killed while a police spokesman said at least 1,000 'security forces' had been injured.
The massacre left Beijing residents in a state of shock and anger. 'This Regime is worse than any previous Government in our history, even the 'Japanese devils' did not show so much ruthlessness against the Chinese,' said one worker.
Late yesterday, soldiers advanced on Tiananmen Square, where hundreds of people have been protesting for democracy for the past few weeks, shooting automatic weapons to clear their way of demonstrators.
At first soldiers used teargas, then live ammunition and finally tanks. One of the wide avenues leading into Tiananmen Square turned into a death trap when soldiers fired salvo after salvo on hundreds of people running away in panic. Hundreds of injured people were ferried to hospital in wooden carts.
Hours after the first shooting, soldiers again opened fire when crowds regrouped on Tiananmen Square. Shortly afterwards, dozens of bodies were lying in the street.
Frightened students had been holding each other's hands as troops moved in, many of them crying. Eyewitnesses reported seeing some of the soldiers launching and obviously enjoying their task of opening fire on the people.
Chinese implored foreign reporters to 'report all of this. We have no other chance. This is pure fascism and your country should end all diplomatic ties. This Government should not receive foreign money anymore'.
Before troops surrounded Tiananmen Square, two tanks, chasing up and down the street in a show of force, were pelted with stones and homemade incendiary devices after crashing through makeshift street barriers, the tanks finally stopped in front of the huge portrait of Mao Tsetung and the party and Government headquarters, where they went up in flames.
The military soon gained control of Tiananmen Square with a tank rolling over the statue of the 'Goddess of Democracy' that the students built there only a few days ago.
More than 200),000 troops had been positioned on the outskirts of the Capital since Prime Minister Li Peng signed the martial law order a fortnight ago.
Mr Li, who is reported to have won a political power struggle over the protests, appeared in public on Saturday after an absence of about 10 days He was shown on television addressing an international environment conference in the Capital.
A slogan daubed in blood on one of the surrounding walls on Tiananmen Square said, 'Li Peng, you'll never live in peace.'
The streets of Beijing on Sunday resembled a battlefield. Many residents appeared to be under shock after the violence of the preceding hours. Shops remained closed. Military vehicles and armoured personnel carriers were burning at several street crossings.
Hospitals in the city were swamped with the bodies of the dead and wounded. Injured people were being ferried on three-wheel tricycles to hospitals from the Wangfujing main shopping street. 'Fascism' was the word repeatedly uttered by bystanders, comparing the massacre to actions of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and the Jewish holocaust.
A member of the Chinese Communist Party and the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, Professor Yang Xianyi, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) described Chinese leaders as 'the worst criminals in Chinese history.'
'The responsibility lies with the criminals Deng Xiaoping (Chairman of the Military Commission), Yang Shangkun (the President) and Li Peng (the Prime Minister),' Mr Yang said.
'They will go down as the worst criminals in Chinese history, It is the most scandalous thing that has happened in the modern history of before has a Government been responsible for such a massacre of innocent people,' the official said.
Asked whether he was not endangering himself with such remarks, Mr Yang replied. 'This is not criticism. It is the condemnation of criminals. They have killed so many people already. They can put me on their list too. But we are millions of people. They can't kill us all'. V
PTI correspondent reports: The stretch of Changan (Avenue of Eternal Peace) in front of Tiananmen was packed with tanks, personnel carriers and troops this morning.
AT 0645 (3.15 a.m. IST) today a group of people standing about 30 yards away from the first line of soldiers and shouting at them, 'this is our city, go home,' were told by an officer using a megaphone, 'we are doing our duty, leave us alone. Don't disturb us.'
Suddenly a shot was heard and a Chinese man in his thirties fell to the ground with a gunshot wound and was carried away by onlookers.
Another shot was heard but it appeared to have hit no one. But waves after him marched or bicycled towards the line of troops backed up by tanks and personnel carriers.
People ran into side lane but quickly reemerged to shout back again at the soldiers who, however, made no move to advance from the Square.
All long the avenue leading up to the Square, there were blood splatters on the pavement, marks of wounded people being dragged to a side.
The avenue looked devastated with road dividers lying smashed and strewn around and marks of haphazardly driven personnel carriers ploughing through the asphalt and objects in the way.
A little after the shots were heard, about 100 yards away from the Square, a young man scribbled on a lamppost with a piece of cloth dipped in a cup of what seemed to be his own blood 'it is the People's Square'. His arms showed long slashes and he continued to daub other lampposts with his tragic message.
A few yards away, an abandoned bus with a deflated tyre bore the message, 'bloody madmen', apparently inscribed in blood, in huge Chinese characters.
Another man approached and offered his comment with anguish, 'this has never happened in the history of the People's Republic of China. Then he added, 'except in Tibet.'
All along the avenue, people congregated in groups and moved towards or away from the Square. At two intersections, two buses were set on fire by a few young people, apparently in angry frustration.
Two soldiers were killed when the truck in which they were sitting was hit and overturned by the armed personnel carrier. Some eyewitnesses thought the collision seemed deliberate but others said it could have been committed in panic as the carrier had sped from the direction of Tiananmen and was trying to turn back towards it.
Last night and until about 0500 hours (1.30 a.m. IST) the mood had been tense but friendly 'dialogue' was continuing between the soldiers huddled in some 25 trucks and the thousands of men, women and children who milled around them.
Pregnant women and women carrying infants clambered on to the vehicles and vociferously took part in the efforts to dissuade the soldiers from proceeding towards Tiananmen Square.
Many soldiers responded with bewilderment in the evening but with enthusiasm at night. Women asked the soldiers if they had eaten and some people offered cigarettes to them.
The mood turned sullen and sombre after the fatal carrier collision but the number of people at the flyover stayed constant.
Suddenly tanks, personnel carriers and trucks roared in from the west and towards Tiananmen just before the break of dawn and the sounds of gun shots and the cries of men, women and children rent the air.
Lights were on throughout the night in most residences, with people unable to sleep because of the noise and tension in the air and many clambered on to rooftops wherever the door to roofs had not been shut by the authorities.
Official statement: Chinese State television broadcast an official statement saying several army men were killed, failed to mention the massacre of civilians and claimed a 'great victory' against what it called 'counter revolutionaries.
However, one renegade radio announcer said a barbaric act had been perpetrated against innocent civilians. The announcer was immediately replaced.
A man in his forties interviewed about half a kilometre from the Square this evening said, 'the Communist Party controls the army. What happened is their responsibility.'
There were persistent reports that the Crack 12th Army that is said to owe its loyalty to hardline conservative President Yang Shangkun was responsible for most of the carnage.
This evening about 100 yards to the west of Beijing Hotel and immediately to the east of the Square large groups of people continued to gather and face sporadic gunfire, suffering scores of casualties
The Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Chinese Red cross sources as saying late today that at least 2,600 people died and 10, 000 others were injured in a predawn military attack.
Some Chinese people present there said some of the bodies were being taken away in cycle carts by a few civilians
