34th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square: “Tiananmen Mothers” Reiterate Three Demands

Tensions were already high before the Chinese government’s June 4 crackdown, but citizens often gave gifts to soldiers and police. At times, troops entering the city sang patriotic songs along with the demonstrators. The policewoman in the picture sang loudly in Tiananmen Square, and a few days later, the army moved in and the pro-democracy movement was suppressed by force.

On June 3, 1989, a day before the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a woman was caught between pro-democracy demonstrators and the army near the Great Hall of the People. At midnight that same day, the 38th Army opened fire on unarmed civilians, eventually capturing Tiananmen Square, which had been occupied by protesters for weeks.

A day before the crackdown, thousands of demonstrators gathered around a bus with captured weapons on a table on the roof. After the government declared martial law, the relationship between soldiers and demonstrators was once delicate. Demonstrators sometimes sent gifts to soldiers, and troops briefly retreated.

In the middle of the night on June 3, an armored personnel carrier had just broken through the roadblocks built by the demonstrators when it was surrounded by demonstrators in front of the People’s Congress Party. At the same time, soldiers of the Martial Law Force not far away were preparing to open fire on the demonstrators.

On the evening of June 3, demonstrators set fire to an armored personnel carrier on Chang’an Avenue in Tiananmen Square. This was the last photo taken by photographer Jeff Widener of the night, shortly after he was accidentally hit by a brick thrown by a protester. Although he suffered a severe concussion, Widner escaped with a non-life-threatening injury because the casing of the camera in his hand offset most of the impact.

On June 4, the first day after the bloody crackdown on the student-led pro-democracy movement, a truck loaded with soldiers patrolled Chang’an Avenue in front of the Beijing Hotel. On the same day, soldiers on a similar truck opened fire on tourists standing in the lobby of a Beijing hotel.

On June 4, a lone man with a shopping bag stood in the middle of Chang’an Avenue, trying to block the way of the tank formation. Twenty-five years later, the man’s ultimate fate remains unknown. This scene became one of the most symbolic images of the Tiananmen democracy movement.

On June 5, a group of people displayed a picture on Chang’an Avenue that was said to have been taken in a local mortuary. The dead in the picture were said to be demonstrators shot dead by soldiers of the 38th Army during the occupation of Tiananmen Square. Huge wounds on the body of the deceased showed that dum ammunition was used by the soldiers. Amnesty International believes at least 300 civilians were killed.

Two women clean the square after the army cracked down on the pro-democracy movement, behind a burned-out bus. Many cars and military vehicles were burned during the protest movement, and some soldiers were killed or injured as a result.

For several days after the crackdown, soldiers and tanks stood guard in front of the Tiananmen Gate.

In late May 1989, Associated Press photographer Widner (left) and Chinese photographer Liu Xiangcheng took a commemorative photo in front of the Forbidden City. At that time, they probably did not expect that the Chinese government would use force to suppress the Tiananmen democracy movement a few days later.

In 1989, he was one of the activists supporting the Beijing student democracy movement. In the “Democratic Songs for China” event, Jackie Chan contributed “Pride” and the finale “Friends” sung with the entertainment industry. This Kung Fu superstar who is a guest on various variety shows in China every year and was a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, sang in “Arrogance” at that time: “Others may call me stupid, but I am determined to be invincible. Others often say I play with fire, I say I know me, I say I cherish me”. At that time, Jackie Chan, who was popular with the Police Story series, publicly stated when supporting the 89 Student Movement: No Chinese will bow to authoritarian power. For the first time in more than 30 years, Jackie Chan, who sang “There is a country where there is a family” in various parts of mainland China, expressed opposition in a high-profile manner during the “anti-extradition” movement in Hong Kong and played the role of “flag guard”.

Jackie Chan’s friend, host, actor, and producer Zeng Zhiwei, who was born as a dragon and tiger martial artist, put on red-letter white-bottomed clothes at the end of May 1989, and participated in hosting the “Democracy Songs for China” activity. After Anita Mui’s death, Zeng Zhiwei, who succeeded Jackie Chan, Alan Tam and other artists as the chairman of the Hong Kong Performing Artists Association, gradually became a guest of various types of variety shows and political gift programs in mainland China. More than 30 years ago, Zeng Zhiwei was still a not-so-popular comedy comedian who actively raised funds for the Beijing democracy movement in the “Democracy Songs for China” event.

Hong Kong singer Alan Tam publicly stated 33 years ago, “My heart is with everyone to support the student movement, because we are all passionate Chinese.” And in a video sent to the “Democracy Songs for China” campaign, the sentence “Peel off your teeth” is considered to be a direct reference to Li Peng, then Premier of the State Council who was in charge of organizing and suppressing the student movement in Beijing at that time. Because “you shed” in Cantonese is homonymous with Li Peng, the original meaning of “peeling your shed teeth” in Cantonese is to slap someone in the face and destroy their prestige. More than 30 years later, Alan Tam, who supported the democratic demands of Beijing students, and Hong Kong performing arts stars including Liang Jiahui joined the ranks of artists who supported the Hong Kong police “supporting the police”, and frequently toured in mainland China to participate in the production of cultural programs.

Andy Lau, who is very popular in mainland China, is the image and spiritual idol of a generation in mainland China. During the June 4th in 1989, Andy Lau expressed that the spirit of supporting the Chinese democracy movement should not only be reflected on May 27, the day when the “Democracy Sings for China” event was held, and called on the public to “be sure to support until tomorrow or even the days to come.” A leader of the “Four Heavenly Kings” said at the time that he would “take the lead” and hoped that “everyone will fight for democracy and freedom together in the future.” Although he later expressed sympathy for students and opposed violence during the Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong in 2014, Andy Lau, who later held concerts in mainland China and attended various large-scale variety shows including the Spring Festival Gala, never again raised his voice in mainland China. and the words “democracy” and “freedom”.

1989 was a very special year for Hong Kong movie star Maggie Cheung. This year, by starring in Wong Kar Wai’s debut film “Carmen in Mong Kok”, she began to get rid of the image of a pure girl in Jackie Chan’s “Police Story” series of films, and began to embark on the road of a powerful actress. In the same year, Maggie Cheung expressed that she would try her best to support the democracy movement in China at that time, and called on all parties to work together, “Fight to the end for democracy, I hope we can succeed!”. After several decades, China’s democratic movement has not been successful, and it has been suppressed unprecedentedly. Maggie Cheung, who is known as “always has a schedule and never has a schedule”, started her career as a rock singer in mainland China.

Back then, Jacky Cheung, Chow Yun-fat, Xu Zhian, Luo Guanting, Hacken Lee, Zhong Zhentao, Qi Qin, Teresa Teng, Zhou Huimin, Kwong Meiyun, Zhao Yazhi, Lin Yilian, Chen Baiqiang, Zhang Mingmin, Zhou Huajian, Ye Qianwen, Lin Zixiang, Wang Jie and others. During the thirty-three years, some of those who performed on stage at that time later joined the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, some were unwilling to talk about June Fourth, and some continued to insist on rehabilitating June Fourth. Huang Yaoming, who participated in the performance back then, was interviewed by Radio Television Hong Kong on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Movement. He said that it is “human nature” for people who were on the same road back then to part ways now, because “anyone has the right to change.”