Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party

Uncover the true story of the seven-week period that changed China forever. On June 4, 1989, a violent and bloody pro-democracy demonstration ended, leaving thousands dead, and laying the foundation for China’s future.

On April 15th 1989, thousands of Chinese students gathered in Tiananmen Square to mark the sudden death of a liberal politician, Hu Yaobang. Former student Zhang Jian, then just 19 years old, recalls how he heard the students call for political change and democracy – and in the process, he himself became a central figure in the student movement.

With their request for meetings with Chinese Communist Party continuing to be ignored, the student movement chose to raise the stakes by going on a hunger strike. Their official manifesto declared that they had “no choice but to abandon the beauty of life” and that “history demands this of us.” Over 3,000 took part on the first day, the numbers rising with each day afterwards.