*There was no massacre in Tiananmen Square. It had been evacuated and the fight between protestors and PLA soldiers occurred in surrounding areas. The CBS testimony says that the CPC denies the casualties in outer areas. This is incorrect, the mayor of Beijing had stated in a report that around 200 people died including PLA soldiers.
“According to the information we have so far gathered, more than 3,000 civilians were wounded and over 200, including 36 college students, died during the riot.” (p. 47).
Xitong, Chen. Report on Checking the Turmoil and Quelling the Counter-Revolutionary Rebellion. New Star Publishers, 1989.
**Are we expected to believe that a group of tanks which had just got done driving over a supposed 10,000 people would stop for one man (and try to drive around him, which the man blocks), then let him get atop the tank, bang on it, and simply try to speak to him? The context of this famous image actually demonstrates the absurdity of the story (the Guardian cuts the later footage out as per).
Always love an opportunity for a source dump.
Confidential Cable from U.S. Government Embassy in Beijing Showing No Firing in the Square
Footage of the Evacuation of Tiananmen Square—Aired on Hong Kong TV
Hou Dejian, a Taiwanese national and one of the leaders of the Tiananmen protests, saying he was in the square all night and saw no one killed
Protestors Immolated PLA Soldiers (thread)
Testimony from CBS News Correspondent in the Square*
*There was no massacre in Tiananmen Square. It had been evacuated and the fight between protestors and PLA soldiers occurred in surrounding areas. The CBS testimony says that the CPC denies the casualties in outer areas. This is incorrect, the mayor of Beijing had stated in a report that around 200 people died including PLA soldiers.
“According to the information we have so far gathered, more than 3,000 civilians were wounded and over 200, including 36 college students, died during the riot.” (p. 47). Xitong, Chen. Report on Checking the Turmoil and Quelling the Counter-Revolutionary Rebellion. New Star Publishers, 1989.
“Tankman” Actual Footage**
**Are we expected to believe that a group of tanks which had just got done driving over a supposed 10,000 people would stop for one man (and try to drive around him, which the man blocks), then let him get atop the tank, bang on it, and simply try to speak to him? The context of this famous image actually demonstrates the absurdity of the story (the Guardian cuts the later footage out as per).