This year marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, also known as the “June 4th Incident”. Epoch Times has obtained over two thousand previously unreleased historical photos from that period, shedding light on the years that the Chinese Communist Party has attempted to erase from history.
In the spring and summer of 1989, a student-led democratic movement ignited on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, resonating globally and quickly spreading throughout China. Millions of students and citizens took to the streets, peacefully and rationally expressing their opposition to corruption and advocating for democracy and freedom. However, senior Chinese Communist Party officials secretly mobilized a large number of regular troops and launched a full-scale crackdown on civilians with tanks and machine guns in the early hours of June 4th. According to unofficial estimates, the CCP’s violent suppression resulted in the deaths of thousands to tens of thousands of people.
An official photographer who was present at the scene captured the complete history, and the extensive collection of film he shot has remained hidden for 37 years. In the late stage of his life, this elderly man entrusted Epoch Times with these valuable photos, which include both color and black-and-white images, totaling over 2000 pictures. Recently, the Chinese authorities have been threatening and harassing individuals they believe are related to these photos, including Chinese and American citizens.
For 37 years, the CCP has continued to cover up and suppress the truth of the events, labeling the students’ peaceful protest as a “counter-revolutionary riot” and denying the military’s use of force against civilians. Nevertheless, history cannot disappear due to censorship.
In order to fulfill the elderly photographer’s last wish, Epoch Times is releasing this batch of 37-year-old “June 4th” photos in stages for the first time, guiding readers back to that sorrowful historical moment and reminding the world not to forget the CCP’s bloody massacre of its own people. The CCP continues to intensify its persecution and intimidation of innocent people today, even threatening Epoch Times staff not to publish these photos.
View the two thousand unreleased photos of the June 4th Incident:
Photo set 1
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Photo set 2
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Photo set 3
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Photo set 4
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Photo set 5
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Photo set 6
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Photo set 7
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Photo set 8