Approximately 200 demonstrators gathered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on the 18th anniversary of the 1989 June 4 Massacre. Police immediately arrested all the demonstrators.
The demonstrators formed groups around the Great Flagpole, in front of the Great Hall of the People, and at the Monument to the People’s Heroes.
Police, who were out in force on the Square to prevent demonstrations, surrounded and seized the demonstrators as soon as they assembled.
Police vans and buses were parked around the Square, and police were searching the bags of everyone trying to enter the Square, looking for banners or signs.
Tiananmnen Square, while open to the public, can only be accessed through a series of narrow tunnels. This makes it easy for police to control the area and search visitors.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre
Tiananmen Square was the site of months-long demonstrations following the death Communist Party Secretary General Hu Yaobang, who had called for reform and a condemnation of the policies and programs of the Mao era. Hu was denounced by the Chinese Communist Party, (CCP) but was revered by the Chinese people for trying to change the bloody reign of the CCP.
