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A Brief Chronology of Events at Tiananmen Square, 1989

15 April	Hu Yaobang, former General Secretary of the Communist Party and well known reformer, dies. Posters begin to appear mourning his death.
19 April	Students march to Zhongnanhai where the government leaders live to have a sit-in demonstration. Students and police clash.
22 April	Funeral for Hu Yaobang.
26 April	Demonstrations continue, but the official newspaper, People's Daily, says the protests are just an "organized conspiracy to sew chaos." Over 150,000 angry students break through police lines and return to Tiananmen Square.
4 May	100,000 students protest.
13 May	Frustrated by the lack of official response to their demands, over 1,000 students launch a hunger strike.
17-18 May	Close to 1 million people march to the Square to support the hunger strike.
19 May	Students and citizens prevent troops from entering Tiananmen Square.
30 May	The "Goddess of Democracy" is erected in the Square.
2 June	PLA troops with tanks and armored personnel carriers enter Beijing to clear the Square.
3 June	Scattered shooting in the streets of Beijing; hundreds killed.
4 June	During the early morning hours, troops clear Tiananmen Square.

Asia for Educators | afe.easia.columbia.edu

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