protesters refused to leave tiananmen square. everyone expects the government to act, but few predict what actually happens next. on the night of june 3rd, the square was filled with people milling around. we started getting rumors the army was starting to shoot its way into the center of downtown beijing. all of sudden we hear this noise. boom, boom, boom, boom. under orders from the government to take back the square, people from the liberation army burst into the city center from three directions. the violence began outside of tiananmen square. as the army units came into beijing, they were net with resistance. one point, one of the carriers was set on fire and some of the chinese soldiers inside it were burned to death. they were using battlefield weapons. these were armor-piercing
that sparked an initial round of demonstrations and the crowds kept growing, growing. in april/may of 1989, the whole country erupted in these protests, and they were stunning. jan wong lived in china in the 1970s as a student and returned as a reporter for the toronto globe and mail in the late 80s. there was the beginning of opening dissent. i was quite surprised because i d never seen spontaneous political protests in china. in beijing, a million chinese were on the streets. people who lived all their lives taking orders from the government and the communist party. now openly defying authority. tiananmen square became the focal point of the protests. the square is right in front of the great hall of the people, where the seat of chinese government is. it was mind-boggling. i was in the middle of that march. i m 6 2 . i weigh 200 pounds. i was literally swept off my feet by those demonstrators. photojournalist jeff widner
protesters refused to leave tiananmen square. everyone expects the government to act, but few predict what actually happens next. on the night of june 3rd, the square was filled with people milling around. we started getting rumors the army was starting to shoot its way into the center of downtown beijing. all of sudden we hear this noise. boom, boom, boom, boom. under orders from the government to take back the square, people from the liberation army burst into the city center from three directions. the violence began outside of tiananmen square. as the army units came into beijing, they were net with resistance. one point, one of the carriers was set on fire and some of the chinese soldiers inside it were burned to death. they were using battlefield weapons. these were armor-piercing bullets. and the crowd was, of course,
whole country erupted in these protests, and they were stunning. jan wong lived in china in the 1970s as a student and returned as a reporter for the toronto globe and mail in the late 80s. there was the beginning of opening dissent. i was quite surprised because i d never seen spontaneous political protests in china. in beijing, a million chinese were on the streets. people who lived all their lives taking orders from the government and the communist party. now openly defying authority. tiananmen square became the focal point of the protests. the square is right in front of the great hall of the people, where the seat of chinese government is. it was mind-boggling. i was in the middle of that march. i m 6 2 . i weigh 200 pounds. i was literally swept off my
the jet, they now learn the wait could be much longer. reporter: that s right. some of that anger exploded today. you had dozens of relatives of some of the 154 chinese passengers aboard that missing flight. they stood up and stormed out of a conference room when they were supposed to be having a video conference with malaysian authorities in the capitol of kuala lumpur when the audio didn t work. after 20 minutes, they gave up, walked out, stormed out, some of them yelling liars at the malaysian officials on the video screen. i think that is symbolic for the tension that has built up between the hundreds of relatives of missing chinese passengers who have been put up by malaysian airlines at a number of hotels here in beijing. frustration and anger from the relatives at the lack of