The Tiananmen Square Massacre, which took place in Beijing, China on June 4, 1989, was a tragic event in China’s history. The Chinese government’s response to a peaceful student protest turned violent, leading to a violent and chaotic crackdown in which military forces killed hundreds of student protesters, and potentially thousands more if some estimates are to be believed.
The government responsible for the slaughter was the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a single-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is estimated that upwards of 85 percent of the Chinese population was in support of the CCP in 1989.
The PRC government was led by Deng Xiaoping at the time of the massacre and he had been in power since 1979. Deng was a controversial leader who believed that economic reform was more important than anything else. He wanted to open up the Chinese economy to foreign investment and free markets, and believed this would stimulate growth and modernize China.
Deng had previously declared martial law in Beijing in an attempt to stop the student protests, which began in April of 1989. He also ordered the military to take control of the city, which ultimately led to their presence in Tiananmen Square and the violent suppression of the peaceful protests.
The PRC government was not alone in its responsibility for the massacre. The Chinese army was deployed to Tiananmen Square and it was this force which opened fire on the students. While the orders for military action came from the top and reports typically attribute the order to Deng himself, the soldiers must have received and executed the order to carry out the shooting, making them also culpable in the atrocity.
In addition, Chinese leaders such as Li Peng and Zhao Ziyang played a major role in the government’s decision-making process and were likely influential in the decision to deploy the military. Li Peng was the Premier at the time and Zhao Ziyang was the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
The international community must also share some of the blame for this event. The United States and other western powers failed to come to the aid of the protesters in the weeks leading up to the massacre. They provided little to no support in terms of diplomatic pressure or economic sanctions, despite having knowledge of the impending violence.
Ultimately, while the Chinese government, in particular Deng Xiaoping and the Chinese Communist Party, are primarily responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, they did not act alone. Chinese military forces, Chinese leaders, and the international community all bear some responsibility for the tragedy.