Tiananmen Square
... 1989, over 100,000 students marched through Beijing into Tiananmen Square to protest against corruption in their government. Another event that caused the students to protest was the death of Hu Yaobang. He was a hero to the Chinese students because of his liberal beliefs. The students wanted the right to have freedom of speech. They built the Goddess of Democracy to look like the Statue of Liberty because they wanted the Chinese government to be like the democratic government in the United States. about 3,000 students went on a hunger strike to show the government they would starve to death for freedom. Soon parents, children and people of all ages joined the students in a peaceful demonstration. On May 20, 1989, the government declared martial law. Martial law is when military law replaces civil law. On June 3rd and 4th, armed soldiers and tanks were ordered into the square by the Chinese government to force the people out. The tanks crushed hundreds of innocent protesters, and injured thousands of people. The tanks knocked down the Goddess of Democracy statue and crushed it, too. The number of people who were killed that day has never been exact. At first, the news report...