This year marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, also known as the “June 4th” incident. Epoch Times has exclusively obtained over two thousand previously unreleased historic photos of the Tiananmen Square protests, shedding light on a period that the Chinese Communist Party has long tried to conceal and erase.
In the spring and summer of 1989, a student-led pro-democracy movement erupted at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, sending shockwaves around the world and quickly spreading across China. Millions of students and citizens took to the streets, peacefully and rationally voicing their opposition to corruption, and advocating for democracy and freedom. In secret, the Chinese Communist Party mobilized a large number of regular troops and, in the early hours of June 4th, launched a brutal crackdown on civilians using tanks and machine guns. According to unofficial estimates, the CCP’s violent suppression resulted in the deaths of thousands to tens of thousands of people.
One official photographer who was present at the scene during those fateful days painstakingly documented this history, but the reels of film remained unseen for 37 years. In the twilight of his life, this elderly gentleman entrusted these precious photos to Epoch Times for public release, which include both color and black-and-white images, totaling over 2000 pictures. Recently, the Chinese authorities have been threatening and harassing individuals believed to be associated with these photos, including both Chinese and American citizens.
For 37 years, the CCP has continued to cover up and suppress the truth of the events, smearing the peaceful student demonstrations as “counterrevolutionary riots,” and persistently denying the fact that the military fired upon civilians. However, history cannot be erased by censorship.
In fulfilling the late photographer’s final wish, Epoch Times is now releasing, in batches, these dormant “June 4th” photos, allowing readers to revisit that somber chapter of history and reminding the world not to forget the CCP’s brutal massacre of its own people. The CCP continues its intensified persecution and intimidation of innocent citizens, including threatening Epoch Times staff not to publish these photos.
The 2000 unreleased photos of the Tiananmen Square protests can be viewed in the following image galleries: Gallery 1, Gallery 2, Gallery 3, Gallery 4, Gallery 5, Gallery 6.