"PLA soldiers leap over a barrier on June 4, 1989, during heavy clashes with people and dissident students. The night before, Chinese troops forcibly marched on the square to end the weeks-long occupation by student protesters, using lethal force to remove opposition they encountered along the way. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed in the crackdown as tanks rolled into the square."
Getty Images
compromise- settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions
(Webster dictionary)
Although the Chinese government had several opportunities to meet with student leaders to make compromises in favor of free speech and assembly, on May 19,1989 China's Premier Li Peng ultimately refused to compromise and imposed martial law in Beijing. By June, freedom of the press was restricted as international reporters were prohibited from filming demonstrations. On June 4-5, the protests ended after troops fired on students and civilians resulting in tens of thousands of arrests and over a thousand casualties. Although some citizens sided with the government, there are many today who feel there was no true resolution to the conflict and are still fighting to have the government acknowledge the massacre and pay restitution to the families who suffered the loss of loved ones. Today, the government points to progress made through free economic markets; however, many individual rights are still limited.
Chinese Family Mourns Son Lost in Tiananmen Massacre.
People's Republic is a political cartoon drawn by Herbert Bock in 1989. The cartoon depicts the irony that China calls itself the "People's Republic" yet the people have no freedom and were killed during the demonstrations.
|
Pat Oliphant was another political cartoonist in 1989. Remember Tiananmen Square shows a protester using the slogan "Give me liberty or give me death", a slogan used by Colonists in the American Revolution. In this incident, the citizens were killed while trying to exercise their free speech.
|