This year marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, known as the “June 4th” incident. Epoch Times exclusively obtained over two thousand previously unreleased historical photos of the event, shedding light on those dark years that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been trying to erase from memory.
In the spring and summer of 1989, a student-led democratic movement ignited at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, shaking the world and quickly spreading throughout China. Millions of students and citizens took to the streets, peacefully expressing their opposition to corruption, and advocating for democracy and freedom. However, the CCP secretly mobilized a large number of troops and, in the early hours of June 4th, launched a violent crackdown using tanks and machine guns against the civilians. According to unofficial estimates, the CCP killed thousands to tens of thousands of people during the massacre.
An official photographer who was present at the scene during that time captured the complete record of this history. The vast collection of films, sealed for 37 years, was entrusted by the elderly photographer to Epoch Times for publication. The collection consists of over 2000 color and black-and-white photos. Recently, the Chinese authorities have been threatening and harassing individuals believed to be associated with these photos, including Chinese and American citizens.
For the past 37 years, the CCP has been covering up and suppressing the truth of the event, smearing the students’ peaceful protests as “counterrevolutionary riots” and denying for years the fact that the military opened fire on the civilians. However, history cannot be erased through censorship.
In honor of the photographer’s wishes, Epoch Times is releasing, for the first time, the long-dormant “June 4th” photos, allowing readers to revisit that sorrowful historical moment and reminding the world not to forget the CCP’s brutal massacre of its own people. The CCP continues to intensify its persecution and intimidation of innocent civilians today, including threatening Epoch Times staff not to publish these photos.
Beijing at the intersection of spring and summer in 1989. (Epoch Times)