what happened in china on june 4 1989

On June 4, 1989, the Chinese government declared martial law and deployed troops to occupy Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, where student-led demonstrations had been held since April 15 of that year. The protests were calling for greater political freedom and were spurred on by the death of a leading politician, Hu Yaobang, who had overseen some of the economic and political changes in China. After weeks of attempts to resolve the conflict peacefully, including negotiations from both sides, the Chinese government sent tens of thousands of armed troops and hundreds of armored military vehicles into the city center to enforce martial law and forcibly clear the streets of demonstrators. The Chinese governments violent suppression of the protests resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed peaceful pro-democracy protesters. The Chinese government has never acknowledged the true events surrounding the Tiananmen massacre, and it remains a contentious topic in China, with authorities banning all mention of the protest even today.