Photo Gallery Remembering Tiananmen
Twenty five years ago, China's leaders crushed the democracy movement on Tiananmen Square. This iconic photo shows a protestor standing off against a Chinese army tank on June 5, 1989.
Here, columns of smoke can be see rising behind confused masses on Changdan Avenue in Beijing on June 4, 1989. Hundreds were killed in the Tiananmen massacre and hundreds more outside Beijing. The exact toll is unknown to this day. Efforts to obfuscate the massacre began immediately after it had occurred.
Here, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, left, is seen with the country's then general-secretary, Hu Yaobang. Hu's toppling by Chinese leaders was a decisive event that helped to trigger the Tiananmen protests. Tens of thousands of students demanded his rehabilitation, marking the beginning of the revolutionary events of 1989.
This week, on the 25th anniversary of the massacre, police patrols at Tiananmen Square were increased.
Tiananman Square is a popular tourist destination, and nothing here is allowed to remind visitors of the bloodshed that occured here a quarter-century ago.
Even subway stations became the subject of complicated security procedures in Beijing.
After Hu Yaobang's death, his family asked historian Zhang Lifan to document the events of the coming days and weeks. The 64-year-old, pictured here in Beijing, waited almost a quarter of a century to publish part of his memoirs and talk about his experiences publicly. "Historians rarely have the opportunity to witness an event that shapes history," he says.
Many of the student protesters were arrested and detained for years following the events at Tiananmen Square. Here, protesters in Hong Kong demonstrate for the release of numerous prisoners in May.
Zhang Lifan, whose blog was shut down last November, says: "Those who do not participate in writing the official account of this country's history have to think very carefully about what they are writing and how much of a risk they are taking."
