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lowed 40,000 soldiers from 22 separate divisions to set out for Beijing
(the majority of them were prevented from entering the city by the pop-
ulace).

That popular resistance did not last long, however. On the morn-
ing of June 3, troops began surrounding the square. Fighting broke out
in the afternoon, and by the evening army units had overcome the bar-
ricades. Many Beijing residents lost their lives in the fighting, as did stu-
dents, when the Chinese army opened fire on the crowd at random, and
its tanks crushed anyone who got in their way, even bystanders. On the
morning of June 4, all the roads leading into Tiananmen Square were
sealed off. The fighting lasted for a day or two more, and by June 9
thousands of people had been killed. The cleaning up operation was not
restricted to dispersing the crowd. Tens of thousands of people were ar-
rested, including intellectuals, workers, politicians, students, and
Beijing residents. Those members of the Politbureau who had taken a
moderate line were expelled from the party and arrested.

SCENES AFTER THE MASSACRE

The 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was a terrible reminder to
those who had forgotten the savage face of communism. The whole
world saw once again just how savage, ruthless and brutal communist
ideology could be when it came to defending itself. Asiaweek magazine
described the Chinese rulers who gave the order for the massacre in
these words, "Words like "paranoia," "irrational," "bloodthirsty" fail
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to explain the rage of Beijing's supreme leaders." Eyewitnesses of the
massacre described the scenes as follows:
… at one command, the soldiers raised their guns and fired one round at
the residents and students, who fell to the ground. As soon as the gun-
shots stopped, other people rushed forward to rescue the wounded. The

Communist China’s Policy
of Oppression in East Turkestan