A collection of roughly 2,000 photographs, recently smuggled out of China, provides a detailed look at the lead-up to and aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. These images, reportedly taken by a Chinese state media photographer, had remained hidden for decades on undeveloped film rolls.
The pro-democracy protests, which began weeks before the June 4 massacre, saw an estimated one million students, workers, and civilians participating. Protesters called for political reform, an end to corruption, and greater freedoms. Images depict students on hunger strike, marked by white cloth bands around their foreheads, and participants linking arms to form human chains and block military movement. Some photographs show communist monuments adorned with pro-democracy banners, and civilians offering food, such as fried dough sticks, to soldiers in the days preceding the crackdown.
In response to the growing unrest, the Chinese Communist Party deployed soldiers and armored vehicles to Beijing. The official government death toll states 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel perished. However, human rights groups estimate the number of fatalities to be between 2,000 and 3,000.
After the military intervention, the photographer documented the resulting carnage. Photos capture burned-out vehicles, debris-strewn streets, and individuals on stretchers with severe injuries. One witness account, dated June 4, described the scene as one of widespread devastation with "smashed heads, ruptured stomachs, and spilling intestines." Eyewitnesses reported that apart from the soldiers, everyone else present was crying in the aftermath.
The day after the main crackdown, June 5, saw the emergence of the iconic "Tank Man" image. This photograph depicted a lone man carrying shopping bags standing in front of a column of tanks attempting to leave Tiananmen Square. The man's identity remains unknown, and the image is heavily censored within China, where any commemoration of the massacre is suppressed.
The photographer's family has reportedly faced pressure from Chinese authorities to prevent the publication of these images, according to The Epoch Times, which first obtained and published them. The Chinese government has continued its efforts to suppress commemorations of the event, notably in Hong Kong, where gatherings that once drew hundreds of thousands have been dismantled. Officials from the now-closed Hong Kong Alliance and the June 4 Museum face charges related to "inciting subversion."
"By burying the past, the Chinese government is also burying respect for fundamental rights in the future," said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. He urged concerned governments to support those who continue to commemorate the massacre and to press the Chinese government for accountability and reparations.