Mysteries in the Archives

1989: The Protests at Tiananmen Square (2x8)

Air date: Jul 23, 2011

Beijing, May 1989. In the huge Tiananmen Square occupied by students, reporters from around the world film the protests and their terrible repression. These pictures are among the most famous testimonies of the history of the 20th century: On the morning of June 5, 1989, a man in a white shirt confronted a tank column of the Chinese army in Beijing. He is filmed by western reporters, but to this day it is unclear who this man was. At that time, the atmosphere in the Chinese capital was similar to that of a civil war. For the first time in the history of the communist republic, army units advance into the city center. They are said to evict thousands of students occupying the vast Tiananmen Square. Reporters from all over the world film the rallies for political and democratic reforms every day. On the night of June 3-4, Chinese army troops stormed the center of Beijing and drove the students from the square. Numerous Beijing citizens opposed the soldiers.