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To: Jonty30

That sounds like almost as much fun as asking Deep Seek about Tiananmen Square.


8 posted on 04/02/2025 12:52:22 PM PDT by cdcdawg (The Left should cry harder.)
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To: cdcdawg

According to Grok.
On June 3 and 4, 1989, a significant and tragic event unfolded in Beijing, China, known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. This was the culmination of weeks of student-led protests that had begun in April 1989, following the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party leader who was seen as a symbol of political reform. The protests, centered in Tiananmen Square, initially called for government accountability, freedom of speech, and democratic reforms, reflecting widespread frustration with corruption and political repression amid rapid economic changes.

By early June, the Chinese government, led by the Communist Party, decided to end the demonstrations forcibly. On the night of June 3, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was deployed with tanks and heavily armed troops. They advanced toward Tiananmen Square, opening fire on unarmed protesters and bystanders, crushing those who attempted to block their path. The violence escalated into the early hours of June 4, as the military cleared the square and surrounding areas. While some students negotiated a peaceful withdrawal from the square itself, the broader crackdown resulted in significant bloodshed, particularly along routes leading to Tiananmen, such as Chang’an Avenue.

The exact death toll remains unknown and is a subject of ongoing dispute due to strict censorship by the Chinese government. Official Chinese reports claim around 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel died. However, estimates from Western sources, eyewitness accounts, and declassified documents vary widely, ranging from hundreds to possibly thousands of deaths, with thousands more injured. One notable estimate from a declassified British cable, later revised, suggested 2,700 to 3,400 fatalities, though earlier claims of 10,000 were contested. Hospitals in Beijing reported hundreds of casualties, and groups like Amnesty International have cited figures between several hundred and close to 1,000.

The events of June 3 and 4 marked a brutal end to the pro-democracy movement, followed by widespread arrests and a sustained campaign to suppress discussion of the incident within China. Internationally, the crackdown drew condemnation, with the image of “Tank Man”—an unidentified individual who stood before a column of tanks on June 5—becoming an enduring symbol of resistance. The Chinese government has since maintained that the actions were necessary to restore order, labeling the protests a “counter-revolutionary rebellion,” while continuing to censor public memory of the event.


12 posted on 04/02/2025 1:04:46 PM PDT by Jonty30 (I can promise I can land any plane that is in the air, because gravity only moves in one direction.)
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To: cdcdawg
That sounds like almost as much fun as asking Deep Seek about Tiananmen Square.

I love how it starts to answer and then the answer disappears and it says "I see nothing.... I hear nothing.... "

35 posted on 04/02/2025 2:11:35 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie ("We want no Gestapo or Secret Police. F. B. I. is tending in that direction." - Harry S Truman)
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