1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,940 In June 1989, a lone figure halting a battalion of tanks 2 00:00:10,940 --> 00:00:15,140 in the Chinese capital, Beijing, sent shock waves around the world. 3 00:00:16,860 --> 00:00:21,300 It is an act which China itself prefers to forget. 4 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:25,180 What had started as a peaceful student protests calling for freedom 5 00:00:25,180 --> 00:00:28,780 and democracy ended seven weeks later in carnage. 6 00:00:30,260 --> 00:00:35,100 We challenged the government before everybody in the whole world... 7 00:00:36,220 --> 00:00:40,700 ..and they took the worst of all options. 8 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:47,460 A bloody and brutal climax to what had become a battle 9 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:49,580 for the soul of a nation. 10 00:00:49,580 --> 00:00:51,460 I never thought we got so close 11 00:00:51,460 --> 00:00:54,460 to shape an entirely different future for China 12 00:00:54,460 --> 00:00:59,860 and I never expected the military crackdown was so extreme. 13 00:00:59,860 --> 00:01:01,220 How could this happen? 14 00:01:01,220 --> 00:01:03,420 Why did this happen? 15 00:01:03,420 --> 00:01:07,060 30 years on, eyewitness accounts and secret documents 16 00:01:07,060 --> 00:01:09,740 now help provide a deeper understanding 17 00:01:09,740 --> 00:01:12,340 of how the Tiananmen massacre changed the course 18 00:01:12,340 --> 00:01:13,700 of Chinese history. 19 00:01:13,700 --> 00:01:14,780 GUNSHOT 20 00:01:21,260 --> 00:01:22,740 UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS 21 00:01:27,060 --> 00:01:28,580 IN CHINESE: 22 00:01:34,060 --> 00:01:38,140 Tiananmen is the beating heart of China, built by the people, 23 00:01:38,140 --> 00:01:39,580 for the people. 24 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:42,340 A symbol of its history and tradition, 25 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:45,460 Tiananmen is also a place of absolute power. 26 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:54,780 But, for seven dramatic weeks in 1989, 27 00:01:54,780 --> 00:01:59,500 it became a battleground to determine the country's future. 28 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:02,020 MUSIC: Rock 'N' Roll On The New Long March by Cui Jian 29 00:02:05,140 --> 00:02:08,060 Throughout the 1980s, China had been undergoing 30 00:02:08,060 --> 00:02:09,940 a radical transformation. 31 00:02:13,060 --> 00:02:15,260 From a previously closed society 32 00:02:15,260 --> 00:02:18,780 to one that was embracing modernity and individuality. 33 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:24,780 The Communist Party had opened up to Western values and influence. 34 00:02:29,180 --> 00:02:36,500 The 1980s will be remembered as the best decade 35 00:02:36,500 --> 00:02:38,860 in contemporary Chinese history. 36 00:02:44,540 --> 00:02:48,140 It was a moment of really high expectation, 37 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:50,780 rising expectation, and happiness. 38 00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:10,020 Taking credit for this golden age was China's leader - Deng Xiaoping. 39 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:15,660 A longstanding Party official, 40 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:18,900 persecuted during Mao's Cultural Revolution, 41 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:21,580 Deng envisioned a new deal for China. 42 00:03:30,620 --> 00:03:33,460 He promoted a programme of economic reform, 43 00:03:33,460 --> 00:03:35,820 dubbed "The Four Modernisations", 44 00:03:35,820 --> 00:03:39,740 promising a better standard of living for every Chinese citizen. 45 00:03:43,900 --> 00:03:47,620 But with this new-found prosperity came an expectation 46 00:03:47,620 --> 00:03:49,420 of a fifth modernisation - 47 00:03:49,420 --> 00:03:51,820 the people's voice - democracy. 48 00:03:55,620 --> 00:03:58,700 And, in an unelected single-Party state, 49 00:03:58,700 --> 00:04:01,460 this presented Deng with a dilemma. 50 00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:04,340 Would he dare to make that final move? 51 00:04:05,580 --> 00:04:09,220 Was the Communist Party ready for a complete political turnaround? 52 00:04:14,340 --> 00:04:17,220 By 1989, Deng Xiaoping had stepped down 53 00:04:17,220 --> 00:04:20,540 from the day-to-day leadership of the Party. 54 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:25,380 But as calls for reform escalated, he continued to pull the strings. 55 00:04:28,340 --> 00:04:30,900 Central to his political manoeuvring 56 00:04:30,900 --> 00:04:34,460 was the play-off between his two opposing successors - 57 00:04:34,460 --> 00:04:37,260 hard-line conservative premier Li Peng... 58 00:04:38,460 --> 00:04:42,260 ..and the reformist general secretary Zhao Ziyang. 59 00:05:16,180 --> 00:05:20,860 But Zhao's reform plans faced heavy resistance from within the Party. 60 00:05:23,660 --> 00:05:28,220 They monitored and controlled every facet of society to maintain order. 61 00:05:33,700 --> 00:05:37,020 Thanks to thousands of leaked official documents 62 00:05:37,020 --> 00:05:39,340 known as "The Tiananmen Papers", 63 00:05:39,340 --> 00:05:42,500 the story from within the Party can now be revealed. 64 00:05:51,580 --> 00:05:54,900 "April 17th, afternoon. Politburo meeting. 65 00:05:58,740 --> 00:06:02,420 "Party secretary Zhao Ziyang and Premier Li Peng are notified 66 00:06:02,420 --> 00:06:05,460 "that there are worrisome trends on university campuses. 67 00:06:07,740 --> 00:06:10,580 "Zhao asserts his view that the student protests 68 00:06:10,580 --> 00:06:12,380 "are essentially patriotic, 69 00:06:12,380 --> 00:06:15,100 "but that reason should be their watchword. 70 00:06:15,100 --> 00:06:17,420 "Li Peng however argues that the problems 71 00:06:17,420 --> 00:06:19,220 "should be nipped in the bud. 72 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:22,620 "He has been warned that anti-communist ideas of bourgeois 73 00:06:22,620 --> 00:06:26,140 "liberalisation are in the air and must be blocked." 74 00:06:26,140 --> 00:06:30,180 I would describe the campuses more like a keg, you know, 75 00:06:30,180 --> 00:06:34,020 for gunpowders and ready for any spark. 76 00:06:34,020 --> 00:06:37,660 On April the 15th, 1989, the unexpected death of one 77 00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:40,660 of the Communist Party's leading modernisers, 78 00:06:40,660 --> 00:06:43,940 Hu Yaobang, sparked calls for reform. 79 00:06:46,180 --> 00:06:50,660 He had been harshly dismissed from the Party for supporting change. 80 00:06:50,660 --> 00:06:53,620 Thousands of students headed to Tiananmen Square 81 00:06:53,620 --> 00:06:54,860 to commemorate him. 82 00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:14,820 MUSIC PLAYING 83 00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:20,740 Within a week, the students had created a movement. 84 00:07:23,380 --> 00:07:27,460 They saw themselves as the guardians of China's future, fired up 85 00:07:27,460 --> 00:07:31,260 to challenge the authoritarian nature of the communist regime. 86 00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:35,300 On the walls of Beijing's universities, 87 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:37,380 giant handwritten posters 88 00:07:37,380 --> 00:07:40,940 known as "dazibaos" promoted democratic reform. 89 00:07:47,740 --> 00:07:52,300 Leading the way was a 21-year-old - Wang Dan - 90 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:56,060 soon to be the movement's principal strategist. 91 00:08:18,740 --> 00:08:20,460 IN ENGLISH: 92 00:08:36,900 --> 00:08:38,540 THEY CHANT 93 00:08:44,660 --> 00:08:48,260 The students were confident their voice would be heard. 94 00:08:48,260 --> 00:08:51,900 In 1987, the Party had passed a motion allowing dialogue 95 00:08:51,900 --> 00:08:53,860 between the people and their leaders. 96 00:08:57,460 --> 00:08:59,220 On the night of April the 19th, 97 00:08:59,220 --> 00:09:02,740 thousands of students made their way to Party headquarters 98 00:09:02,740 --> 00:09:06,260 to present their proposals for reform to Premier Li Peng 99 00:09:06,260 --> 00:09:08,860 and demand an official dialogue. 100 00:09:10,700 --> 00:09:13,260 We want to meet with the leaders. 101 00:09:13,260 --> 00:09:16,420 We wanted to meet with Li Peng. 102 00:09:25,260 --> 00:09:27,780 But they were met with silence. 103 00:09:27,780 --> 00:09:30,860 That gathering last until 4am, 104 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:35,540 when the Beijing region decided to deploy police force to drive us off, 105 00:09:35,540 --> 00:09:38,820 and then I think that was the first time I got really beaten by police 106 00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:41,660 in my entire life. 107 00:09:45,020 --> 00:09:48,500 When you deploy police, you create the front line. 108 00:09:53,260 --> 00:09:54,780 That's what they did. 109 00:09:54,780 --> 00:09:56,340 IN CHINESE: 110 00:10:33,380 --> 00:10:37,100 Being a leader in 1989 really wasn't that hard. 111 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:40,860 I stood up and then people decided to listen. 112 00:10:40,860 --> 00:10:44,420 I think that's something people long wanted, not just somebody 113 00:10:44,420 --> 00:10:48,380 to take the stage but to show we're not afraid. 114 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:57,740 On April the 22nd, the state funeral of the students' champion Hu Yaobang 115 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:01,420 was held in the Great Hall Of The People at Tiananmen. 116 00:11:03,020 --> 00:11:06,060 With every senior official of the Party in attendance, 117 00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:08,460 the students saw another opportunity. 118 00:11:11,820 --> 00:11:13,580 We didn't just come for a funeral - 119 00:11:13,580 --> 00:11:16,900 we came to Tiananmen to ask for that dialogue. 120 00:11:51,220 --> 00:11:55,420 They prepared another petition, outlining their reformist agenda, 121 00:11:55,420 --> 00:11:57,660 but a troop of armed police awaited them. 122 00:12:03,460 --> 00:12:05,620 They broke through, 123 00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:09,220 took it to the doors of the Great Hall Of The People... 124 00:12:09,220 --> 00:12:10,700 ..and waited. 125 00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:18,620 Yet again, no-one came to listen to them. 126 00:12:23,060 --> 00:12:27,100 We have come to the point, we're not going to just beg... 127 00:12:27,100 --> 00:12:29,460 ..for democracy, we're going to... 128 00:12:30,980 --> 00:12:32,460 We're going to demand it. 129 00:12:39,660 --> 00:12:41,980 As the students rallied on the square, 130 00:12:41,980 --> 00:12:44,660 Zhao addressed senior Party members. 131 00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:50,380 He argued for a policy of persuasion to restore calm. 132 00:12:50,380 --> 00:12:52,900 Dialogue was his preferred strategy. 133 00:12:56,180 --> 00:12:58,820 Premier Li Peng didn't disagree. 134 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:05,180 The following day, Zhao left on a diplomatic visit to North Korea, 135 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:07,140 leaving Li Peng in charge. 136 00:13:11,340 --> 00:13:15,020 Behind closed doors in Deng Xiaoping's home, 137 00:13:15,020 --> 00:13:18,860 Li took advantage of Zhao's absence to force Deng's hand 138 00:13:18,860 --> 00:13:21,900 on taking a tougher approach to the student movement. 139 00:13:25,260 --> 00:13:27,420 "April 25th, Politburo meeting. 140 00:13:28,540 --> 00:13:32,420 "Hardliner Premier Li Peng is outraged by the open calls 141 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:34,180 "for the government to step down, 142 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:36,700 "the appeals to institute broader elections 143 00:13:36,700 --> 00:13:38,780 "and revise the Constitution, 144 00:13:38,780 --> 00:13:42,140 "to lift restrictions on political parties and newspapers." 145 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:47,300 Deng apparently listened to Li Peng's argument, 146 00:13:47,300 --> 00:13:52,340 listens to the others' comments, and then sums things up by saying, 147 00:13:52,340 --> 00:13:56,700 "This is a well-planned plot, whose real aim is 148 00:13:56,700 --> 00:14:01,900 "to reject the Chinese Communist Party and the socialist system 149 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:03,900 "at the most fundamental level. 150 00:14:03,900 --> 00:14:08,300 "We've got to be explicit and clear in opposing this turmoil." 151 00:14:08,300 --> 00:14:11,740 "I completely agree with the standing committee's decision. 152 00:14:11,740 --> 00:14:14,380 "This is no ordinary student movement. 153 00:14:14,380 --> 00:14:17,100 "A tiny minority want to confuse the people 154 00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:19,420 "and throw the country into chaos." 155 00:14:23,460 --> 00:14:25,460 On the morning of April 26, 156 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:26,820 the students were confronted 157 00:14:26,820 --> 00:14:28,660 with an editorial on the front page 158 00:14:28,660 --> 00:14:32,460 of China's official Party newspaper - The People's Daily. 159 00:14:36,820 --> 00:14:38,980 It claimed the students' actions 160 00:14:38,980 --> 00:14:41,740 threatened to plunge the country into chaos. 161 00:14:46,940 --> 00:14:51,340 It recalled a bloody period in recent Chinese history - 162 00:14:51,340 --> 00:14:53,340 Mao's Cultural Revolution. 163 00:14:56,460 --> 00:15:00,740 A dark decade that saw millions jailed and thousands executed. 164 00:15:04,820 --> 00:15:09,260 Deng's own son had been attacked and paralysed by Mao's Red Guards. 165 00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:16,980 There was no place for civil disobedience in Deng's new China. 166 00:15:18,580 --> 00:15:22,100 By portraying the peaceful student demonstrators 167 00:15:22,100 --> 00:15:23,860 as enemies of the state, 168 00:15:23,860 --> 00:15:27,100 Deng's incendiary editorial touched a nerve. 169 00:15:47,620 --> 00:15:51,980 The following day, defying an emergency ban on public protest, 170 00:15:51,980 --> 00:15:54,820 the students took their anger onto the streets. 171 00:16:12,060 --> 00:16:13,580 21 years old, I was. 172 00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:16,060 CHUCKLING: I was facing this dilemma. 173 00:16:16,060 --> 00:16:21,340 Do I give this command for my fellow classmates to go out to face... 174 00:16:24,060 --> 00:16:25,460 ..we don't know what? 175 00:16:35,780 --> 00:16:39,620 We told them that we will take part in this march. 176 00:16:39,620 --> 00:16:41,260 We will be in the front line. 177 00:16:59,380 --> 00:17:01,540 From universities across the capital, 178 00:17:01,540 --> 00:17:05,620 students walked for many hours to the centre of Beijing, 179 00:17:05,620 --> 00:17:09,580 outraged by the misrepresentation of their movement. 180 00:17:13,060 --> 00:17:14,980 APPLAUSE AND CHEERING 181 00:17:23,180 --> 00:17:25,540 The editorial also led to a development 182 00:17:25,540 --> 00:17:27,820 that Deng could never have expected - 183 00:17:27,820 --> 00:17:31,740 it aroused public support for the student demonstrations. 184 00:17:38,740 --> 00:17:45,060 That's one day that I think we will remember in such festive feeling. 185 00:17:48,060 --> 00:17:53,740 And everybody was giving us a V sign and then it became a symbolic 186 00:17:53,740 --> 00:17:56,620 gesture of the 1989 student movement, too. 187 00:18:01,460 --> 00:18:05,780 Anticipating conflict, thousands of police had been mobilised, 188 00:18:05,780 --> 00:18:09,820 but the march's peaceful good nature caught them off-guard. 189 00:18:09,820 --> 00:18:13,900 In the face of overwhelming public support, there was only so much 190 00:18:13,900 --> 00:18:16,900 resistance they could use against the students. 191 00:18:30,940 --> 00:18:32,340 It was such a triumph. 192 00:18:32,340 --> 00:18:36,860 We break human walls formed by police. 193 00:18:36,860 --> 00:18:40,620 The feared armed police did not arrive. 194 00:18:43,380 --> 00:18:45,460 And it was such a carnival. 195 00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,420 WHISTLE BLOWING 196 00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:30,660 Believing that triumph was within their grasp, 197 00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:33,540 the students realised that, to champion democracy, 198 00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:36,100 they needed to practise what they preached. 199 00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:19,740 ALL SPEAKING 200 00:22:00,540 --> 00:22:05,340 There was also the hardening of attitudes among students 201 00:22:05,340 --> 00:22:10,340 because the regime sent out for the dialogue some of the most hardline 202 00:22:10,340 --> 00:22:13,980 sort of liars and bastards, you know, kind of thing, 203 00:22:13,980 --> 00:22:18,100 to have dialogue with the students and use the old paternalistic, 204 00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:20,980 "You stupid students, get out of the square," kind of thing 205 00:22:20,980 --> 00:22:23,020 that absolutely didn't work. 206 00:22:27,380 --> 00:22:32,380 Not everyone in the Party took a hard line on the students' demands. 207 00:22:32,380 --> 00:22:36,700 Back from his trip to North Korea, reformist Zhao Ziyang tried 208 00:22:36,700 --> 00:22:39,780 to convince his sceptical comrades of the urgent need 209 00:22:39,780 --> 00:22:41,340 for political change. 210 00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:49,500 "April 1st. Reported statement. 211 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:52,340 "Politburo standing committee meeting. 212 00:22:54,900 --> 00:22:58,340 "Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang explains the need to accelerate 213 00:22:58,340 --> 00:23:00,420 "the reform of the political system, 214 00:23:00,420 --> 00:23:04,220 "especially the building of a socialist democracy based on law. 215 00:23:06,140 --> 00:23:09,180 "If the Party doesn't hold up the banner of democracy, 216 00:23:09,180 --> 00:23:10,460 "someone else will. 217 00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:14,500 "Ziyang however insists on pursuing multi-channel dialogue while putting 218 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:17,660 "pressure on the students to return to classes." 219 00:23:26,540 --> 00:23:30,580 On May the 4th, Beijingers celebrated the 70th anniversary 220 00:23:30,580 --> 00:23:31,940 of a landmark moment, 221 00:23:31,940 --> 00:23:35,580 when the people's voice changed China's political landscape, 222 00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:37,700 ushering in communism. 223 00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:40,900 The country was once again on the brink of transformation. 224 00:23:40,900 --> 00:23:45,260 This time, it was the Communist Party itself that was the target. 225 00:24:07,460 --> 00:24:09,940 CHANTING TO THE TUNE OF FRERE JACQUES 226 00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:28,260 THEY REPEAT 227 00:24:40,020 --> 00:24:43,100 But on May 4th, Zhao Ziyang was scheduled 228 00:24:43,100 --> 00:24:45,820 to address an important economic summit. 229 00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:51,660 He made a choice that would come back to haunt him. 230 00:25:40,020 --> 00:25:44,220 Zhao's position was clear - China was not in danger of collapsing 231 00:25:44,220 --> 00:25:47,620 into the turmoil that Deng Xiaoping had forecast. 232 00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:53,700 His public revelation of the Party's bitter internal split 233 00:25:53,700 --> 00:25:57,140 on democratic reform set him up for a fall. 234 00:25:58,980 --> 00:26:02,700 People in the conservative faction of the leadership and Deng Xiaoping 235 00:26:02,700 --> 00:26:06,060 accused him later of having used this ADB speech 236 00:26:06,060 --> 00:26:08,580 to sort of make a public challenge 237 00:26:08,580 --> 00:26:10,980 against Deng Xiaoping and the rest of the... 238 00:26:10,980 --> 00:26:15,060 But I think his intention, and he defended himself later and said, 239 00:26:15,060 --> 00:26:19,540 that his intention was simply to continue on the track 240 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:22,660 of signalling to the students that, 241 00:26:22,660 --> 00:26:26,660 "You should separate yourself from the small number of extremists 242 00:26:26,660 --> 00:26:29,340 "and go back to the campuses, and your message 243 00:26:29,340 --> 00:26:30,940 "has been heard and accepted." 244 00:26:34,660 --> 00:26:37,580 The students did not go back to campus. 245 00:26:37,580 --> 00:26:41,220 The movement was spreading across China, 246 00:26:41,220 --> 00:26:45,700 a nation now united in its hunger for a different kind of society. 247 00:26:48,420 --> 00:26:52,100 Large-scale protests broke out in 21 provinces, 248 00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:54,660 the student voice amplified by the support 249 00:26:54,660 --> 00:26:56,740 of every sector of the population. 250 00:26:59,780 --> 00:27:04,420 Back at Tiananmen, the student leaders were tired of being ignored. 251 00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:32,100 Everything about the hunger strike was symbolic, 252 00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:35,820 down to the white headbands identifying those taking part. 253 00:27:37,700 --> 00:27:42,860 We were going to stop eat to death... 254 00:27:42,860 --> 00:27:45,820 ..until our demands were met. 255 00:27:45,820 --> 00:27:49,140 We all have written down our last will. 256 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:53,820 It's a moment of self... 257 00:27:53,820 --> 00:27:56,900 ..definition for all the young peoples. 258 00:27:56,900 --> 00:27:59,500 We were making who we are. 259 00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:07,340 VOICEOVER: "During the glorious days of our youth, we have no choice 260 00:28:07,340 --> 00:28:10,060 "but to abandon the beauty of life, 261 00:28:10,060 --> 00:28:13,020 "yet how reluctant, how unwilling we are. 262 00:28:13,020 --> 00:28:14,860 THEY SING 263 00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,340 "The country is our country. 264 00:28:19,340 --> 00:28:21,540 "The people are our people. 265 00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:24,900 "The government is our government. 266 00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:27,260 "Who will shout if not us? 267 00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:29,020 "Who will act if not us? 268 00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:33,820 "Though our shoulders may be frail, 269 00:28:33,820 --> 00:28:36,860 "though we are too young to die, we must leave. 270 00:28:36,860 --> 00:28:39,020 "We have no choice. 271 00:28:39,020 --> 00:28:42,260 "History demands this of us. 272 00:28:42,260 --> 00:28:45,660 "Democracy is not the concern of only a few 273 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:48,140 "and the building of democracy cannot be accomplished 274 00:28:48,140 --> 00:28:49,980 "in a single generation." 275 00:28:57,100 --> 00:29:00,020 This profound gesture had an immediate effect. 276 00:29:01,180 --> 00:29:04,860 The Party was finally ready to talk. 277 00:29:21,580 --> 00:29:24,820 Four ministers plus the State Council 278 00:29:24,820 --> 00:29:29,100 and the Central Committee of Communist Party were present. 279 00:29:30,860 --> 00:29:34,660 The student negotiators arrived at the meeting with high hopes. 280 00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:38,980 It was chaired by Yan Mingfu, a reformist and sympathiser, 281 00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:42,900 and the Party agreed it would be broadcast on national television. 282 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:46,540 Yan Mingfu sat down and said, "As hard as it is for me 283 00:29:46,540 --> 00:29:50,740 "to agree orders, let me say, yes." So, yes, we were promised. 284 00:29:50,740 --> 00:29:56,100 He tried very hard to make sure all these conditions were met. 285 00:29:56,100 --> 00:29:58,140 MAN SPEAKING CHINESE 286 00:29:58,140 --> 00:30:02,060 Live broadcast, however, was cancelled in the last moment. 287 00:30:03,180 --> 00:30:07,460 Wang Chaohua barged into the room and said, 288 00:30:07,460 --> 00:30:09,700 "We need to stop, there's no broadcast." 289 00:30:18,660 --> 00:30:20,140 IN ENGLISH: 290 00:30:30,020 --> 00:30:31,620 We felt cheated. 291 00:30:38,340 --> 00:30:41,340 So we were sabotaged by the State Council, 292 00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:45,020 by Prime Minister Li Peng, and stopped the broadcast. 293 00:30:57,820 --> 00:31:02,140 As student leaders seethed over the thwarted talks, at home, 294 00:31:02,140 --> 00:31:04,340 Deng Xiaoping was feeling the heat. 295 00:31:08,180 --> 00:31:09,820 "May 13th. Private conversation. 296 00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:14,580 "Deng Xiaoping affirms to Zhao Ziyang that dialogue is all well 297 00:31:14,580 --> 00:31:17,540 "and good, but the movement has dragged on for too long. 298 00:31:19,220 --> 00:31:23,660 "The hunger strike is a ploy to gain international attention. 299 00:31:23,660 --> 00:31:30,500 "Since USSR Party secretary Mikhail Gorbachev is due for a crucial state visit in just two days' time, 300 00:31:30,500 --> 00:31:33,780 "Deng is worried about China's international image. 301 00:31:33,780 --> 00:31:37,460 "The square must be in order when Gorbachev arrives." 302 00:31:42,740 --> 00:31:44,900 Gorbachev's policy of "glasnost", 303 00:31:44,900 --> 00:31:47,980 which had introduced openness to Soviet communism, 304 00:31:47,980 --> 00:31:51,500 had been an inspiration for the Chinese student movement. 305 00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:57,900 For Deng, Gorbachev's visit raised fears of change. 306 00:32:17,180 --> 00:32:21,220 As Deng fretted, Zhao's reformist group persuaded a number 307 00:32:21,220 --> 00:32:24,180 of Chinese intellectuals to visit Tiananmen, 308 00:32:24,180 --> 00:32:27,300 believing that this respected elite could encourage 309 00:32:27,300 --> 00:32:29,300 the students to leave the square. 310 00:33:28,620 --> 00:33:32,860 The intellectuals' call for rational thinking had no effect. 311 00:33:32,860 --> 00:33:35,100 Hunger strikers were already fainting. 312 00:33:35,100 --> 00:33:38,380 The square had become a charged environment. 313 00:33:43,340 --> 00:33:44,820 The following morning, 314 00:33:44,820 --> 00:33:48,100 Deng Xiaoping's worst fears were realised. 315 00:33:48,100 --> 00:33:50,340 The student movement was immovable. 316 00:34:12,700 --> 00:34:15,700 The Chinese leaders will be furious if the historic significance 317 00:34:15,700 --> 00:34:18,380 of the summit is overshadowed by internal unrest. 318 00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:25,780 On May the 15th, Gorbachev arrived. 319 00:34:25,780 --> 00:34:28,140 He would never make it to Tiananmen. 320 00:34:30,620 --> 00:34:34,020 What should have been a glorious state reception on the square 321 00:34:34,020 --> 00:34:36,380 became a handshake on the airport runway. 322 00:34:36,380 --> 00:34:37,820 SIREN BLARING 323 00:34:41,220 --> 00:34:45,340 There were student demonstrators as far as the eye could see. 324 00:34:45,340 --> 00:34:48,100 Deng's humiliation was overwhelming. 325 00:34:51,620 --> 00:34:54,860 Standing witness, on the rooftop of the Forbidden City, 326 00:34:54,860 --> 00:34:58,660 Zhao Ziyang looked down through binoculars on a sea of protest. 327 00:35:00,740 --> 00:35:04,540 Two days later, it would be his turn to face humiliation. 328 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:11,380 "May 17th, evening, Politburo meeting. 329 00:35:12,780 --> 00:35:15,540 "Premier Li Peng lists the massive mistakes 330 00:35:15,540 --> 00:35:17,980 "of Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang 331 00:35:17,980 --> 00:35:20,620 "regarding the escalation of the student movement. 332 00:35:22,380 --> 00:35:25,140 "Li Peng is openly critical. 333 00:35:25,140 --> 00:35:27,940 "Zhao has exposed the Party's internal conflicts. 334 00:35:27,940 --> 00:35:31,980 "He used Gorbachev's visit to point a spear at Deng Xiaoping 335 00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:33,820 "while the world was watching. 336 00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:38,580 Deng Xiaoping decided that martial law was required 337 00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:42,620 and that Zhao Ziyang, as General Secretary, must implement it. 338 00:36:28,740 --> 00:36:32,340 Five days in, even the state-controlled Chinese television 339 00:36:32,340 --> 00:36:35,140 was reporting sympathetically on the fasting students. 340 00:37:15,940 --> 00:37:19,300 The students were making the ultimate sacrifice for the people. 341 00:37:32,060 --> 00:37:34,940 As more and more citizens took to the streets 342 00:37:34,940 --> 00:37:37,300 and visited the square in support, 343 00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:40,460 an upbeat mood swept throughout the city. 344 00:38:43,140 --> 00:38:47,500 Finally, after weeks of resistance, Li Peng agreed to talks 345 00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:51,740 with the student leaders - including Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi. 346 00:38:53,060 --> 00:38:54,380 But it was all a sham. 347 00:38:55,540 --> 00:38:59,180 The Premier knew that martial law was just around the corner. 348 00:39:01,140 --> 00:39:05,260 The students were weak with hunger, but determined to fight on. 349 00:39:30,540 --> 00:39:34,740 The students were sort of puffed up, I think, with the power 350 00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:38,100 of being covered by the international media, 351 00:39:38,100 --> 00:39:42,780 of having somehow gotten away with this demonstration for weeks 352 00:39:42,780 --> 00:39:46,300 and weeks, and they were like, "We're winning, you listen to us!" 353 00:39:51,100 --> 00:39:54,180 Until today, I think I was quite polite. 354 00:39:55,540 --> 00:39:58,580 I was firm and then I was... 355 00:39:58,580 --> 00:40:02,020 I think I was a little agitated, but of course. 356 00:40:02,020 --> 00:40:04,380 I was in my fifth day of hunger strike. 357 00:40:24,020 --> 00:40:26,900 But, unfortunately, that meeting wasn't... 358 00:40:28,020 --> 00:40:30,900 ..meant for them to listen. 359 00:40:30,900 --> 00:40:34,180 They didn't bring their ears. They were there to just talk. 360 00:40:38,980 --> 00:40:41,380 In the dawn hours of May the 19th, 361 00:40:41,380 --> 00:40:44,580 Zhao made a final visit to Tiananmen. 362 00:40:44,580 --> 00:40:48,740 He apologised to the students, but hidden within was a suggestion 363 00:40:48,740 --> 00:40:50,260 that their time was up. 364 00:41:33,740 --> 00:41:35,460 MAN YELLING ON MEGAPHONE 365 00:42:27,700 --> 00:42:29,900 With Zhao Ziyang's ruthless dismissal, 366 00:42:29,900 --> 00:42:31,940 the Party had shown they would stop 367 00:42:31,940 --> 00:42:33,780 at nothing to end the movement. 368 00:42:36,820 --> 00:42:39,460 For those in the square, it was becoming clear 369 00:42:39,460 --> 00:42:41,580 that a showdown was inevitable. 370 00:43:08,020 --> 00:43:11,780 On the evening of May the 19th, Premier Li Peng revealed 371 00:43:11,780 --> 00:43:15,460 to the Party the emergency plan to suppress the students. 372 00:43:49,500 --> 00:43:52,860 A chaos had broken out in the city, according to the leadership, 373 00:43:52,860 --> 00:43:55,220 and martial law was required. 374 00:43:55,220 --> 00:43:58,060 Everyone had to leave the square immediately 375 00:43:58,060 --> 00:44:00,740 or be responsible for the consequences. 376 00:44:00,740 --> 00:44:02,860 The troops were on their way. 377 00:44:02,860 --> 00:44:04,580 MAN SPEAKING ON MEGAPHONE 378 00:44:09,660 --> 00:44:14,580 At midnight, Li Peng's declaration was broadcast in Tiananmen Square. 379 00:44:16,540 --> 00:44:20,260 In a matter of hours, all would be subjected to military rule. 380 00:44:24,860 --> 00:44:27,660 Demonstrations, mass gathering, speeches - 381 00:44:27,660 --> 00:44:30,140 everything that fuelled their movement 382 00:44:30,140 --> 00:44:32,300 would become a criminal activity. 383 00:44:52,220 --> 00:44:56,340 More than 200,000 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army 384 00:44:56,340 --> 00:44:59,180 had been deployed, primed to seize control 385 00:44:59,180 --> 00:45:01,580 of seven major Beijing districts. 386 00:45:05,260 --> 00:45:07,380 An astonishing thing happened that night - 387 00:45:07,380 --> 00:45:09,740 everyone was keeping vigil in the square, 388 00:45:09,740 --> 00:45:11,780 waiting for the soldiers to arrive. 389 00:45:11,780 --> 00:45:14,980 SINGING AND CLAPPING 390 00:45:14,980 --> 00:45:17,900 The hours ticked by and then, about 3am, 391 00:45:17,900 --> 00:45:19,940 people were thinking, "Where's the army?" 392 00:45:19,940 --> 00:45:22,420 You know, "What's holding it?" 393 00:45:25,540 --> 00:45:30,140 The Party's stated aim for martial law was to curb the turmoil 394 00:45:30,140 --> 00:45:32,780 with a firm hand, but they hadn't accounted 395 00:45:32,780 --> 00:45:34,740 for the unique relationship 396 00:45:34,740 --> 00:45:37,900 between the Chinese citizens and their army. 397 00:45:51,860 --> 00:45:54,300 In a country where schoolchildren are taught to sing 398 00:45:54,300 --> 00:45:59,020 "the army loves the people", this firm hand was a personal affront. 399 00:46:01,100 --> 00:46:03,380 I just climbed up the trucks and talked to them, 400 00:46:03,380 --> 00:46:05,820 and said, "Do you know what's been going on?" 401 00:46:05,820 --> 00:46:08,300 And, "Why are you doing this?" You know? 402 00:46:08,300 --> 00:46:11,580 "We are on the same side. 403 00:46:11,580 --> 00:46:13,580 "We just want China to be better." 404 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:19,500 Suddenly, the student loudspeakers came to life in the square 405 00:46:19,500 --> 00:46:22,940 and announced the great citizenry of Beijing 406 00:46:22,940 --> 00:46:26,820 has stopped the advance of the PLA into the capital 407 00:46:26,820 --> 00:46:30,500 at all points of entry by sheer force of numbers. 408 00:46:43,820 --> 00:46:45,940 CHEERING 409 00:46:54,420 --> 00:46:56,460 On the morning of May 20th, 410 00:46:56,460 --> 00:46:58,940 military helicopters dropped bulletins 411 00:46:58,940 --> 00:47:01,900 outlining the strict regulations of martial law. 412 00:47:04,260 --> 00:47:09,060 The troops may have been stalled, but the new order was here to stay. 413 00:47:22,420 --> 00:47:26,860 Emboldened and determined, the students would not be intimidated. 414 00:47:26,860 --> 00:47:28,700 The hunger strike was abandoned 415 00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:31,700 in favour of the permanent occupation of the square. 416 00:47:31,700 --> 00:47:34,540 The standoff between the people and the Party 417 00:47:34,540 --> 00:47:36,060 had reached a new level. 418 00:47:46,340 --> 00:47:51,140 Not only were Beijing citizens stopping the military crackdown, 419 00:47:51,140 --> 00:47:54,100 martial law was under threat from within, 420 00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:57,140 through an unprecedented mutiny within every rank 421 00:47:57,140 --> 00:47:59,180 of the People's Army itself. 422 00:48:04,900 --> 00:48:08,620 There are accounts of soldiers that didn't want to be doing 423 00:48:08,620 --> 00:48:11,780 what they were doing. The real tough question is, 424 00:48:11,780 --> 00:48:14,180 how widespread was that kind of thinking? 425 00:48:19,900 --> 00:48:22,540 As chairman of the Central Military Commission, 426 00:48:22,540 --> 00:48:25,780 Deng's orders should have been final. 427 00:48:25,780 --> 00:48:29,660 Instead, his plan looked perilously close to backfiring. 428 00:48:32,620 --> 00:48:35,020 The army was deeply divided. 429 00:48:35,020 --> 00:48:38,620 We also know that the commander of the 38th Army, which is the 430 00:48:38,620 --> 00:48:41,860 Beijing division - Beijing-based division of the PLA - 431 00:48:41,860 --> 00:48:43,860 refused to carry out orders. 432 00:48:47,940 --> 00:48:50,820 May 21st. Meeting with the Elders. 433 00:48:50,820 --> 00:48:53,460 Home of Deng Xiaoping, Forbidden City. 434 00:48:56,860 --> 00:48:59,060 Deng Xiaoping called for an emergency meeting 435 00:48:59,060 --> 00:49:01,700 with the Eight Elders. 436 00:49:01,700 --> 00:49:05,380 He states, "The martial law hasn't restored order. 437 00:49:05,380 --> 00:49:09,460 "The ongoing divisions inside the Party prevent from taking action 438 00:49:09,460 --> 00:49:12,500 "against an issue that should have been solved long ago. 439 00:49:12,500 --> 00:49:16,420 "Party and state are facing a life and death crisis. 440 00:49:17,980 --> 00:49:19,580 "Deng incites the Elders 441 00:49:19,580 --> 00:49:22,460 "to publicly support the army and martial law." 442 00:49:25,460 --> 00:49:28,260 On May 22nd, Deng raised the stakes. 443 00:49:30,060 --> 00:49:33,940 All hopes of crushing the student movement lay with martial law. 444 00:49:36,660 --> 00:49:39,460 Any dissent within the Party needed to be curbed. 445 00:49:39,460 --> 00:49:42,780 He ordered his own comrades to be placed under surveillance. 446 00:50:23,860 --> 00:50:28,020 This transfer of power had no constitutional legitimacy, 447 00:50:28,020 --> 00:50:31,500 but, by now, Deng had assumed absolute control. 448 00:50:45,340 --> 00:50:47,580 CROWD SHOUTING 449 00:50:49,340 --> 00:50:51,500 Outrage at martial law enforcement 450 00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:54,460 once again united the people against the government. 451 00:50:56,180 --> 00:50:57,860 A protest in Hong Kong, 452 00:50:57,860 --> 00:51:00,380 where 600,000 took to the streets, 453 00:51:00,380 --> 00:51:04,020 mirrored similar mass gatherings throughout China, 454 00:51:04,020 --> 00:51:05,660 from Wuhan to Shanghai, 455 00:51:05,660 --> 00:51:07,420 to Chongqing, and beyond. 456 00:51:11,380 --> 00:51:16,220 To buy time to enlist China's entire military force, Deng withdrew 457 00:51:16,220 --> 00:51:18,460 the troops to the outskirts of Beijing. 458 00:51:20,860 --> 00:51:24,700 But, as one massed convoy left the city, a whole new group 459 00:51:24,700 --> 00:51:26,660 of protesters was arriving. 460 00:51:56,940 --> 00:52:01,940 On May 23rd, one million Beijing workers staged a mass strike 461 00:52:01,940 --> 00:52:04,300 in support of the student call for democracy. 462 00:52:06,140 --> 00:52:08,660 This was really quite something. 463 00:52:08,660 --> 00:52:12,260 A big column of brawny workers appeared in the square, 464 00:52:12,260 --> 00:52:16,060 carrying banners and looking very kind of proletarian. 465 00:52:16,060 --> 00:52:18,180 The big banner saying... 466 00:52:18,180 --> 00:52:20,260 SPEAKING CHINESE 467 00:52:20,260 --> 00:52:23,500 ..which means, "Citizens Dare To Die brigades." 468 00:52:23,500 --> 00:52:27,300 The message the workers were giving at this time is, "We, the workers, 469 00:52:27,300 --> 00:52:30,140 "are here and we will defend the students in the square 470 00:52:30,140 --> 00:52:32,180 "with our lives - if necessary." 471 00:52:34,580 --> 00:52:38,740 As soon as the workers actively came in on their own account, 472 00:52:38,740 --> 00:52:41,580 then it became a multi-class movement, 473 00:52:41,580 --> 00:52:44,460 which was really unprecedented in China. 474 00:52:52,500 --> 00:52:56,940 Nurses, journalists, even the police, openly identified themselves 475 00:52:56,940 --> 00:52:58,260 with the movement - 476 00:52:58,260 --> 00:53:02,020 the closest thing to a revolution Beijing's streets had seen. 477 00:53:05,300 --> 00:53:08,820 This further fuelled the government's paranoia. 478 00:53:08,820 --> 00:53:11,580 In fact, this really was their worst nightmare. 479 00:53:21,020 --> 00:53:23,780 MUSIC: No More Disguises by Cui Jian 480 00:53:41,140 --> 00:53:44,140 Tiananmen was no longer the headquarters of a movement... 481 00:53:46,460 --> 00:53:49,700 ..but the epicentre of a free-speaking society. 482 00:53:53,100 --> 00:53:56,260 A model of the China they all hoped to live in. 483 00:54:02,820 --> 00:54:06,700 It's very hard in Beijing to find ordinary people 484 00:54:06,700 --> 00:54:08,900 who are on the government's side. 485 00:54:10,100 --> 00:54:14,300 People came out and the public mood 486 00:54:14,300 --> 00:54:17,100 was better than I'd ever seen it in Beijing. 487 00:54:17,100 --> 00:54:19,220 People were nice to each other. 488 00:54:20,860 --> 00:54:26,340 There were no policemen, but it was a self-run city, very civilised. 489 00:54:33,860 --> 00:54:36,700 The crime rate was down during that time 490 00:54:36,700 --> 00:54:40,460 and it was a funny moment that there was little posters 491 00:54:40,460 --> 00:54:43,940 saying that thieves in Beijing declared a strike. 492 00:54:43,940 --> 00:54:46,660 They will stop stealing in support of the students. 493 00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:52,540 CHANTING 494 00:54:55,060 --> 00:54:57,340 SINGING 495 00:55:09,220 --> 00:55:12,860 To us, it was China's Woodstock. 496 00:55:15,380 --> 00:55:21,580 It was the first opportunity for people since 1949 497 00:55:21,580 --> 00:55:24,420 to fully express themselves. 498 00:55:50,460 --> 00:55:54,500 In the cold light of day, many woke up to a harsh reality. 499 00:55:57,940 --> 00:56:00,580 The day-to-day logistics on the square were tough. 500 00:56:02,020 --> 00:56:04,340 With martial law still in operation, 501 00:56:04,340 --> 00:56:06,900 each day was an anxious waiting game. 502 00:56:11,740 --> 00:56:14,660 The movement's democratic principles were in jeopardy 503 00:56:14,660 --> 00:56:17,140 as hot-headed sentiment took hold. 504 00:56:27,900 --> 00:56:30,860 And the radical voices are usually louder. 505 00:56:32,180 --> 00:56:37,100 The rational voices can hardly compete with those voices, 506 00:56:37,100 --> 00:56:41,060 so it's clear, toward the end of May, 507 00:56:41,060 --> 00:56:43,380 there were different voices in Tiananmen Square. 508 00:56:43,380 --> 00:56:46,940 Maybe we will lost our lives, we will lose our lives, 509 00:56:46,940 --> 00:56:50,420 but we have decided we must go out. We must strike on. 510 00:56:50,420 --> 00:56:52,500 APPLAUSE 511 00:56:56,380 --> 00:56:59,380 Key to the square's growing radicalisation 512 00:56:59,380 --> 00:57:01,540 was a newly-installed commander in chief - 513 00:57:01,540 --> 00:57:03,180 23-year-old Chai Ling. 514 00:57:52,700 --> 00:57:57,820 For a political movement that campaigns on such a huge scale 515 00:57:57,820 --> 00:58:03,380 to reach its desired consequences, desired result, 516 00:58:03,380 --> 00:58:07,100 we need to be able to not just charge our emotion 517 00:58:07,100 --> 00:58:10,220 but also be able to restrain from it. 518 00:58:14,860 --> 00:58:19,820 By mid-May, as many protesters left the square, a flow of new students 519 00:58:19,820 --> 00:58:23,380 from the provinces poured into Beijing, drawn by the hope 520 00:58:23,380 --> 00:58:25,940 of being part of China's new future. 521 00:58:30,500 --> 00:58:32,660 So, they're arriving and somebody says, 522 00:58:32,660 --> 00:58:34,660 "Oh, it's time to fold up and go back." 523 00:58:34,660 --> 00:58:36,300 "No, we just got here!" 524 00:58:37,820 --> 00:58:43,340 The ones who stayed to the very end and risked their lives - 525 00:58:43,340 --> 00:58:46,660 and some of them lost their lives - were disproportionately 526 00:58:46,660 --> 00:58:49,340 students from outside of Beijing. 527 00:58:49,340 --> 00:58:51,860 THUNDER RUMBLES 528 00:59:04,180 --> 00:59:06,260 RAIN AND THUNDER 529 00:59:08,980 --> 00:59:14,060 If we vacate the square before June 4th, 530 00:59:14,060 --> 00:59:18,220 we probably could avoid a bloodshed. 531 00:59:20,500 --> 00:59:25,420 I'm not saying students should hold responsibility for the bloodshed. 532 00:59:28,900 --> 00:59:33,740 If we could have avoided it, and then we didn't... 533 00:59:35,500 --> 00:59:40,180 ..I think that question will haunt us for the rest of our lives. 534 00:59:44,900 --> 00:59:48,140 On May 27th, the longest-serving student leaders 535 00:59:48,140 --> 00:59:49,740 addressed a packed crowd. 536 00:59:56,260 --> 00:59:58,380 They were faced with a moral dilemma. 537 00:59:58,380 --> 01:00:01,900 Should they stay to the bitter end and face the consequences, 538 01:00:01,900 --> 01:00:04,140 or encourage the students to back down? 539 01:00:54,540 --> 01:00:58,220 Wu'er Kaixi and Wang Dan had the benefit of first-hand 540 01:00:58,220 --> 01:01:01,580 experience in dealing with the Party - 541 01:01:01,580 --> 01:01:04,100 both knew how ruthless it could be. 542 01:01:05,740 --> 01:01:08,780 They foresaw a tragic conclusion. 543 01:01:08,780 --> 01:01:11,140 Unable to convince their fellow students, 544 01:01:11,140 --> 01:01:13,180 they withdrew from Tiananmen. 545 01:01:15,820 --> 01:01:19,300 By May 27th, Deng's military strategy was in place. 546 01:01:21,540 --> 01:01:25,580 He'd secured the backing of the army and enlisted troops from provinces 547 01:01:25,580 --> 01:01:28,740 throughout China to carry out a final act of suppression. 548 01:01:59,940 --> 01:02:03,580 On their arrival in Beijing, the provincial troops were confined 549 01:02:03,580 --> 01:02:07,460 to suburban barracks and groomed to crush the movement. 550 01:02:30,220 --> 01:02:33,660 The soldiers were mostly young peasant males, 551 01:02:33,660 --> 01:02:37,020 who came into the army and now were sent to the city. 552 01:02:37,020 --> 01:02:38,700 They were indoctrinated, 553 01:02:38,700 --> 01:02:42,980 they were told that this was a counter-revolutionary riot, 554 01:02:42,980 --> 01:02:46,300 inspired by foreign forces, and that it was their patriotic duty 555 01:02:46,300 --> 01:02:47,980 to follow instructions. 556 01:02:51,900 --> 01:02:55,740 "June 1st. Propaganda report ordered by Li Peng. 557 01:02:58,740 --> 01:03:02,700 "The turmoil was planned, organised and premeditated 558 01:03:02,700 --> 01:03:04,740 "by a tiny minority of people. 559 01:03:06,060 --> 01:03:09,380 "Hostile forces, organisations, individuals from inside 560 01:03:09,380 --> 01:03:12,940 "or from abroad have provided spiritual and material aid 561 01:03:12,940 --> 01:03:14,260 "to the plotters. 562 01:03:14,260 --> 01:03:17,140 "They are determined to push for a final showdown 563 01:03:17,140 --> 01:03:19,580 "with the Party in government. 564 01:03:19,580 --> 01:03:23,020 "They pulled together thugs like the Motorcycle Flying Tiger group, 565 01:03:23,020 --> 01:03:26,060 "Dare To Die brigade, and the army of volunteers. 566 01:03:27,060 --> 01:03:30,660 "Plans were made to kidnap or detain Party and state leaders." 567 01:03:36,620 --> 01:03:40,500 By June 2nd, a massive statue dominated the square, 568 01:03:40,500 --> 01:03:43,060 created by students of the Fine Arts Academy. 569 01:03:44,460 --> 01:03:48,860 Modelled on the Statue of Liberty, and dubbed the Goddess of Democracy, 570 01:03:48,860 --> 01:03:52,140 it was erected to face off the portrait of Chairman Mao. 571 01:03:59,580 --> 01:04:04,340 During the day, four celebrated intellectuals, led by Liu Xiaobo 572 01:04:04,340 --> 01:04:08,300 and Chinese pop superstar Hou Dejian, launched an emergency 573 01:04:08,300 --> 01:04:10,940 hunger strike in solidarity with the students. 574 01:04:12,580 --> 01:04:14,460 They made a final plea for calm. 575 01:04:32,700 --> 01:04:35,620 "June 2nd, evening. Politburo meeting. 576 01:04:35,620 --> 01:04:40,060 "Members of the Politburo urged Deng Xiaoping to take firm action. 577 01:04:40,060 --> 01:04:42,100 "The Army needs to intervene now. 578 01:04:43,900 --> 01:04:46,500 "Deng Xiaoping agrees with the committee. 579 01:04:46,500 --> 01:04:49,380 "Martial law troops should begin to carry out the clearing plan 580 01:04:49,380 --> 01:04:52,180 "and finish it within two days. 581 01:04:52,180 --> 01:04:54,300 "Reformist Chau Tzu admits that clearing 582 01:04:54,300 --> 01:04:56,300 the square is necessary. 583 01:04:56,300 --> 01:04:59,180 "Unfortunately, events have shown that students had not left 584 01:04:59,180 --> 01:05:01,020 "the square spontaneously." 585 01:05:07,820 --> 01:05:09,780 The Party was now in agreement. 586 01:05:11,660 --> 01:05:14,300 The People's Liberation Army headed for the square 587 01:05:14,300 --> 01:05:16,580 in the early hours of June 3rd. 588 01:05:54,900 --> 01:05:59,020 It was a weird atmosphere and I can remember our young driver, 589 01:05:59,020 --> 01:06:02,220 he reached down and he picked up a knife. He had this long knife. 590 01:06:03,460 --> 01:06:06,300 He said, "I'm going down to the square to help the students." 591 01:06:13,100 --> 01:06:15,700 As morning broke, undercover soldiers continued 592 01:06:15,700 --> 01:06:17,420 to infiltrate the city. 593 01:06:18,620 --> 01:06:21,180 They were intercepted and disarmed. 594 01:06:34,820 --> 01:06:38,300 A platoon of troops was dispatched from the Great Hall of the People 595 01:06:38,300 --> 01:06:41,700 to take control and seize back the stolen weaponry. 596 01:06:43,060 --> 01:06:45,020 SHOUTING 597 01:06:49,980 --> 01:06:51,900 "June 3rd, 5pm. 598 01:06:51,900 --> 01:06:55,660 "Orders from the Politburo to the Central Military Commission. 599 01:06:55,660 --> 01:06:57,620 "At 9pm on June 3rd, 600 01:06:57,620 --> 01:07:01,060 "People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police, assisted 601 01:07:01,060 --> 01:07:04,620 "by Beijing Public Security, will begin to put down the riot 602 01:07:04,620 --> 01:07:06,620 "that has erupted in the capital. 603 01:07:06,620 --> 01:07:11,140 "Martial law troops will arrive at the square at 1am on June 4th 604 01:07:11,140 --> 01:07:13,980 "and clear it by 6am. 605 01:07:13,980 --> 01:07:17,620 "They must resolutely carry out their mission according to the schedule. 606 01:07:17,620 --> 01:07:21,300 "Absolutely no delays will be permitted. 607 01:07:21,300 --> 01:07:24,340 "No-one is permitted to block the advance of the troops. 608 01:07:24,340 --> 01:07:28,540 "If blocking occurs, soldiers may clear it using all self-defence 609 01:07:28,540 --> 01:07:30,980 "means that may be required. 610 01:07:30,980 --> 01:07:34,300 "Television will broadcast nonstop emergency announcements 611 01:07:34,300 --> 01:07:36,540 "from the Beijing municipal government 612 01:07:36,540 --> 01:07:38,260 "and the martial law command. 613 01:07:38,260 --> 01:07:41,260 "Important announcements will also be broadcast 614 01:07:41,260 --> 01:07:43,740 "over loudspeakers in the square." 615 01:07:49,860 --> 01:07:51,580 The message was blunt. 616 01:07:51,580 --> 01:07:55,140 If killing were required, then so be it. 617 01:07:55,140 --> 01:07:59,180 Along Chang'an Avenue, the main artery to Tiananmen, 618 01:07:59,180 --> 01:08:02,020 outraged citizens began building barricades 619 01:08:02,020 --> 01:08:04,180 and setting the boulevard ablaze. 620 01:08:58,020 --> 01:09:01,860 News of the crackdown had brought more people out on the streets. 621 01:09:01,860 --> 01:09:04,940 Beijingers crowded every intersection around the square. 622 01:09:07,300 --> 01:09:09,740 They were the first to discover the brutal truth. 623 01:09:11,780 --> 01:09:13,820 The ammunition was live. 624 01:09:13,820 --> 01:09:16,580 Tiananmen Square was ground zero 625 01:09:16,580 --> 01:09:20,020 for the troops that were converging from all points of the compass. 626 01:09:21,940 --> 01:09:23,580 But the scene of the massacre 627 01:09:23,580 --> 01:09:26,300 was on the approach roads coming into the city. 628 01:09:28,020 --> 01:09:31,580 The people who came out to block them were the citizens 629 01:09:31,580 --> 01:09:35,340 because they were trying to protect their students. 630 01:09:35,340 --> 01:09:38,460 I think it's no exaggeration to say that the Beijing citizens 631 01:09:38,460 --> 01:09:42,580 fell in love with those students, that they just could not bear 632 01:09:42,580 --> 01:09:46,860 the thought that these students were going to be violently... 633 01:09:46,860 --> 01:09:48,700 ..rounded up or even killed. 634 01:10:04,260 --> 01:10:05,900 SHOUTING 635 01:10:10,900 --> 01:10:12,740 I was not thinking. 636 01:10:12,740 --> 01:10:14,220 I couldn't. 637 01:10:15,660 --> 01:10:18,180 I just experienced, 638 01:10:18,180 --> 01:10:21,220 without any mental or psychological preparation, 639 01:10:21,220 --> 01:10:24,180 the most horrifying thing in my life. 640 01:10:24,180 --> 01:10:26,980 EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE 641 01:10:35,060 --> 01:10:40,940 I just saw a female student from another university - 642 01:10:40,940 --> 01:10:45,060 who took a bullet on her face, which to this day I believe 643 01:10:45,060 --> 01:10:48,060 that bullet was meant for me - 644 01:10:48,060 --> 01:10:52,540 and then she was carried by four people 645 01:10:52,540 --> 01:10:56,900 and passed in front of me. And I looked down, I saw her face. 646 01:11:04,500 --> 01:11:06,140 By the end of the night, 647 01:11:06,140 --> 01:11:09,380 the mood on Tiananmen Square remained defiant. 648 01:11:12,260 --> 01:11:15,460 News of the shooting had not emerged and the remaining leaders 649 01:11:15,460 --> 01:11:17,500 were still entrenched by the symbolic 650 01:11:17,500 --> 01:11:19,460 Monument to the People's Heroes. 651 01:11:55,580 --> 01:11:57,500 CLAPPING 652 01:12:16,460 --> 01:12:18,820 But the atmosphere in Tiananmen had descended 653 01:12:18,820 --> 01:12:20,580 into chaos and violence. 654 01:12:22,900 --> 01:12:27,380 When a lone army tank appeared, it was blasted with petrol bombs. 655 01:13:04,340 --> 01:13:06,420 GUNFIRE 656 01:13:36,100 --> 01:13:40,700 With every point of entry and exit to Tiananmen now completely blocked, 657 01:13:40,700 --> 01:13:42,580 the students were trapped. 658 01:13:50,580 --> 01:13:56,220 Suddenly, a group of about ten PLA soldiers 659 01:13:56,220 --> 01:13:58,940 formed a line and started marching south. 660 01:13:58,940 --> 01:14:03,380 They suddenly stopped, lowered their rifles and began firing. 661 01:14:03,380 --> 01:14:05,100 RAPID GUNFIRE 662 01:14:07,740 --> 01:14:10,180 The experience of being fired at 663 01:14:10,180 --> 01:14:13,580 by ten soldiers with AK-47s is unforgettable. 664 01:14:13,580 --> 01:14:15,660 SIRENS 665 01:14:49,180 --> 01:14:50,820 I went towards the stairs, 666 01:14:50,820 --> 01:14:53,980 the front stairs of the Great Hall of the People. 667 01:14:57,860 --> 01:15:02,340 I saw hundreds and hundreds of troopers bashed out... 668 01:15:05,900 --> 01:15:09,780 ..with automatic guns with bayonets on them 669 01:15:09,780 --> 01:15:12,220 and they were wearing helmets. Helmets. 670 01:15:12,220 --> 01:15:16,180 There were emerging from like a hole in the ground, 671 01:15:16,180 --> 01:15:20,860 a secret entrance or exit below the stairs, 672 01:15:20,860 --> 01:15:23,940 literally from under the ground. 673 01:16:00,780 --> 01:16:02,500 SHOUTING 674 01:16:02,500 --> 01:16:04,180 SIREN WAILING 675 01:16:32,780 --> 01:16:34,540 TANKS RUMBLING LOUDLY 676 01:16:36,780 --> 01:16:38,860 That noise of the tanks... 677 01:16:40,500 --> 01:16:43,300 ..er, roaring in, 678 01:16:43,300 --> 01:16:49,420 still so far was the loudest noise I've ever heard in my life. 679 01:16:49,420 --> 01:16:52,260 Still that noise stays with me forever. 680 01:17:31,300 --> 01:17:34,940 The Beijing United Medical College had a medical emergency tent 681 01:17:34,940 --> 01:17:37,300 in the northern sector of the square. 682 01:17:39,660 --> 01:17:42,340 I will never forget the scene there. 683 01:17:42,340 --> 01:17:44,220 It's erm... 684 01:17:47,740 --> 01:17:49,780 It was so moving. Erm... 685 01:17:52,860 --> 01:17:55,820 One young man had taken a bullet to the side of the head. 686 01:17:55,820 --> 01:17:57,420 He was clearly dying. 687 01:17:57,420 --> 01:17:59,980 There was blood pouring out of his head 688 01:17:59,980 --> 01:18:02,180 and the doctor said to me, "You know, 689 01:18:02,180 --> 01:18:04,860 "we can't really do anything except try to make these people 690 01:18:04,860 --> 01:18:08,060 comfortable, these casualties, because we have no plasma, 691 01:18:08,060 --> 01:18:12,140 "we have no drugs. The troops are not allowing us to take casualties 692 01:18:12,140 --> 01:18:14,020 "out of the square to the hospitals." 693 01:18:16,140 --> 01:18:18,260 That's a war crime, right off. 694 01:18:23,580 --> 01:18:26,140 In a last attempt to avoid further carnage, 695 01:18:26,140 --> 01:18:28,340 two emergency hunger strikers 696 01:18:28,340 --> 01:18:31,540 set out to negotiate a truce with the military. 697 01:18:33,620 --> 01:18:37,100 They said, "Look, give us more time. We will try to clear the square. 698 01:18:37,100 --> 01:18:39,500 "We don't want violence." 699 01:18:39,500 --> 01:18:44,380 And the officer in charge of the troops in the square said, 700 01:18:44,380 --> 01:18:46,820 "You have limited time, but, if you can do this, 701 01:18:46,820 --> 01:18:48,140 "you will deserve merit." 702 01:19:08,580 --> 01:19:12,060 By the time the mobile units of the 27th Army arrived 703 01:19:12,060 --> 01:19:16,340 at the Monument of the People, it was clear the Party had won. 704 01:19:54,460 --> 01:19:57,380 CROWD SINGING 705 01:19:59,340 --> 01:20:01,980 One final time, it was put to the vote. 706 01:20:04,060 --> 01:20:07,100 And for the first time, the result was leave. 707 01:20:16,020 --> 01:20:17,900 CRYING 708 01:20:39,060 --> 01:20:44,660 I felt the ultimate total helplessness. 709 01:20:46,300 --> 01:20:51,140 Human bodies against state apparatus, 710 01:20:51,140 --> 01:20:54,300 dictatorship, machines, their cold steel. 711 01:20:57,460 --> 01:21:00,300 REPORTER: Can you tell us more...? 712 01:21:00,300 --> 01:21:05,220 There was a TV crew and I remember that moment... 713 01:21:05,220 --> 01:21:07,860 ..when the light was on me. 714 01:21:07,860 --> 01:21:11,300 My immediate thought was that, 715 01:21:11,300 --> 01:21:15,420 "I know how dangerous it is to say something on camera - 716 01:21:15,420 --> 01:21:18,180 "obviously a foreign crew - 717 01:21:18,180 --> 01:21:22,820 "but it's very important to tell the world they're killing people." 718 01:21:24,780 --> 01:21:27,380 Of course, I'm sure, very sure. 719 01:21:27,380 --> 01:21:29,300 Many students were killed. 720 01:21:29,300 --> 01:21:30,980 It is said 1,000 students. 721 01:21:32,740 --> 01:21:34,220 Feel right now? 722 01:21:34,220 --> 01:21:35,740 I'm very angry! 723 01:21:39,660 --> 01:21:42,420 We were just forced to do that. 724 01:21:43,780 --> 01:21:47,620 What they are doing now is just opposite to the people's willing. 725 01:22:00,820 --> 01:22:04,780 On June 4th, Beijing awoke to scenes of devastation. 726 01:22:05,740 --> 01:22:07,940 The streets were unrecognisable. 727 01:22:07,940 --> 01:22:10,380 Thousands of unarmed civilians were dead. 728 01:22:17,700 --> 01:22:21,860 I learned later on, from a close personal friend, who also 729 01:22:21,860 --> 01:22:24,620 has been close to the Deng family, 730 01:22:24,620 --> 01:22:28,100 even when they surrounded Tiananmen Square 731 01:22:28,100 --> 01:22:33,100 and start shooting, the whole family was on the edges of their seats, 732 01:22:33,100 --> 01:22:35,980 getting all this live report. 733 01:22:35,980 --> 01:22:38,660 The moment they took over and the students were forced 734 01:22:38,660 --> 01:22:42,860 to peacefully withdraw from the square, 735 01:22:42,860 --> 01:22:44,580 they all let out a sigh. 736 01:22:44,580 --> 01:22:46,740 This is Deng's family. 737 01:22:46,740 --> 01:22:48,180 And they went to sleep. 738 01:22:53,100 --> 01:22:57,660 On June 5th, in the wake of the savage suppression, 739 01:22:57,660 --> 01:23:00,340 no-one expected a defiant last stand. 740 01:23:06,260 --> 01:23:08,700 Of course, everyone's seen the picture of the man who stood 741 01:23:08,700 --> 01:23:10,340 in front of the tanks. 742 01:23:10,340 --> 01:23:13,380 This man looked about, sort of, in his 30s. 743 01:23:13,380 --> 01:23:16,540 Imagine the audacity and bravery of this man. 744 01:23:16,540 --> 01:23:20,020 This one man has brought the PLA to a halt. 745 01:23:20,020 --> 01:23:22,340 He's climbing it. He's climbing on. 746 01:23:27,340 --> 01:23:30,820 We never hear about him again after that. 747 01:23:30,820 --> 01:23:33,900 He is an enigma, but, at the same time, 748 01:23:33,900 --> 01:23:36,300 he epitomises the whole movement. 749 01:23:36,300 --> 01:23:40,820 He represents tens or hundreds of thousands of Beijing citizens 750 01:23:40,820 --> 01:23:45,340 and citizens from cities all around the country who came out 751 01:23:45,340 --> 01:23:49,900 to say no and tried to stop this military rape 752 01:23:49,900 --> 01:23:51,740 of their city by the army. 753 01:23:56,460 --> 01:23:58,780 Tens of thousands of arrests were made. 754 01:24:00,380 --> 01:24:03,180 Others, labelled as rioters, were executed. 755 01:24:06,060 --> 01:24:10,260 Despite the Party's recourse to military brutality, 756 01:24:10,260 --> 01:24:12,940 Deng promoted his own version of events. 757 01:24:25,860 --> 01:24:29,700 He had suppressed a counter-revolutionary riot 758 01:24:29,700 --> 01:24:32,300 and restored stability to the nation. 759 01:24:49,300 --> 01:24:52,660 For Deng Xiaoping, the case was closed. 760 01:24:52,660 --> 01:24:55,460 The events of the past seven weeks were a blip 761 01:24:55,460 --> 01:24:58,140 in the success of his new deal for China. 762 01:24:59,180 --> 01:25:04,500 My feeling, I'm pretty confident of this, of why he chose a massacre 763 01:25:04,500 --> 01:25:08,140 was to slam the lid on, once and for all. 764 01:25:08,140 --> 01:25:09,740 And it worked. 765 01:25:09,740 --> 01:25:13,060 It intimidated not only people in Beijing, but people 766 01:25:13,060 --> 01:25:16,540 all over the country, and you can argue that the intimidation 767 01:25:16,540 --> 01:25:18,260 has lasted until today. 768 01:26:21,220 --> 01:26:24,220 For 30 years, I wrote about Tiananmen 769 01:26:24,220 --> 01:26:26,660 and my personal experience. 770 01:26:26,660 --> 01:26:31,540 It's a form of therapy and still very emotionally charged for me. 771 01:26:31,540 --> 01:26:33,700 I can move on. 772 01:26:33,700 --> 01:26:37,300 I live, relatively, a normal life, 773 01:26:37,300 --> 01:26:41,300 but my fellow students and 774 01:26:41,300 --> 01:26:45,380 my fellow countrymen in China 775 01:26:45,380 --> 01:26:47,260 did not have that chance. 776 01:26:52,500 --> 01:26:54,380 In the wake of Tiananmen, 777 01:26:54,380 --> 01:26:59,620 21 of the key players were condemned as China's most-wanted criminals. 778 01:26:59,620 --> 01:27:03,420 Number one was Wang Dan, who spent five years in prison. 779 01:27:04,780 --> 01:27:08,380 Seven others, including Wu'er Kaixi, 780 01:27:08,380 --> 01:27:13,460 Chai Ling and Wang Chaohua fled to avoid arrest. 781 01:27:14,980 --> 01:27:18,060 They now live in permanent exile. 782 01:27:18,060 --> 01:27:20,420 We achieved so much 783 01:27:20,420 --> 01:27:22,660 by the end of May. 784 01:27:22,660 --> 01:27:26,140 We have changed the political landscape of China. 785 01:27:28,660 --> 01:27:30,100 We made a demand. 786 01:27:30,100 --> 01:27:32,300 The government did not respond. 787 01:27:33,420 --> 01:27:37,180 And then the crowd, the people, decide to stay, 788 01:27:37,180 --> 01:27:41,780 applying that pressure and willing to pay the price for that. 789 01:27:41,780 --> 01:27:44,700 It's their... 790 01:27:44,700 --> 01:27:46,740 It's their glorious decision.