Why were Chinese students gathered at Tiananmen Square in the summer of 1989 and what happened to them?
1 Answer
To demand political reform. Many were killed and imprisoned, a few escaped to the West.
Explanation:
After the death of Mao in 1976, a power struggle ensued between reformers and radicals. Within two years the reformers had won and embarked on a programme of economic reform, opening up China to the West and pursuing policies such as the Four Modernisations.
These policies had a profound social and economic impact and it created demands for political reform. In particular groups such as the students who assembled in Tiananmen Square demanded democracy in China.
They were supported to some extent by some of the Chinese leadership, but Deng Xiao Ping who was in charge at the time saw their demands as going too far. After a stand off, and after he secured the support of China's regional military commanders the army moved in with very heavy loss of life. Many were given long prison sentences followed by house arrest and a few escaped to the West.
