The Tank Man: Tiananmen Square Demonstration and Massacre

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Question 1
One of the main reasons why the protests erupted in 1989 was the death of Hu Yaobang. The students believed that he died due to the stress he got after being forced to resign. His resignation indicated the oppression and lack of freedom that was going on in China. A few days following a series of protests, a large number of people has joined the protests. These people were protesting to ensure political reforms in the country, reduce corruption and ensure the freedom of the press. These situations marked the main reasons why the citizens joined the students in protest. The protests were done when the Chinese economy was experiencing inflation, and there was limited preparedness of graduates before releasing them into the job market. The high levels of corruption and lack of democracy had made it challenging for graduates to maneuver the job market. Citizens were also experiencing a high cost of living and high levels of unemployment. On April 15th, people began to gather at Tiananmen square. Later that day, students from different universities had also joined the mourners in the courtyard. On April 17th, the crowd that gathered in the yard was large than expected. The gathering included speakers from different backgrounds who led the masses in mourning HU and also addressed the social issues that the citizens were facing. The meeting was considered obstructive to the activities of the square, and the police were required to intervene by persuading the students to disperse. The government believed that this could be an effective method of managing the protests. However, more people continued to get to the square and the government chose to use force to disperse the people.
The protesters aimed to create political reforms in the government, pushing for policy developments to reduce corruption and ensure that the press had freedom. On April 17th, the students presented a list of their grievances which included seven items. One of the main issues presented was eliminating press censorship, raising the funding for education, and affirming that HU's ideologies about democracy were right. The students believed that if their grievances were heard and action is taken, China would be a better place to live than during the protest era. At the peak of the protests, more than one million people had gathered in the square. The citizens aimed at creating reforms to ensure China exercised people’s democratic rights. The students and citizens were disorganized, and their goals differed from one person to the other. However, they all called for accountability in the constitution's due process and freedom of the press. After 5the demonstrations, the people expected to live in a world ruled with different policies. The press would have more space and would be allowed to cover various news without facing intimidation from the government. An example of such oppression is when the Chinese government expelled all foreign press members from the country during the peak of the protests. Such was an indication that the press was facing in China. If the citizen's goals of ensuring freedom of speech and the press were a success, they would greatly benefit from it. The press would ...