In the News Do You Remember Tiananmen?

May 29, 2009

VIEW: Remarkable footage and eyewitness accounts on the events in Beijing, early June 1989.

No one knows for certain how many died when some 300,000 soldiers from the People's Liberation Army launched a deadly assault to end the student-led pro-democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese Red Cross initially reported 2,600 dead - and immediately retracted under intense government pressure. The official government figure is 7,000 wounded and 241 dead, including soldiers.

The clip is from FRONTLINE's film, The Tank Man, and you can watch the full report here.

It examines the amazing events of 1989 that marked a turning point for China.

The film also investigates the mystery of the unknown, unarmed young man who stood his ground before a column of tanks (view it in this clip).

Who was he? What became of him?

The symbolism of his defiant act inspired the world.
But how much do China's students of today care about Tiananmen?