During a dangerous student protest in Tienanmen Square, the government is forced to intervene on the behalf of the people of Beijing. The student protesters blocked off the city to outside help, endangering the welfare of the citizens of Beijing. Troops were sent in to clear the streets for the protection of all involved. When the troops arrive the protest becomes extremely violent. Students block the streets and use any available weapons to their advantage. They were throwing rocks, and at one point, a bus is set on fire.
The wild antics of the students forced the troops into a corner; they could either defend themselves and the people, or stand in peace and risk their lives. While they wished to stay peaceful there was no choice, peace would have ended in a massacre. The PLA troops did their best to contain the situation, there was no other option but to open fire. A few radical protesters were injured but all in all it ended as well as could be expected. “The troops feared for their lives, they were forced to take dramatic action to avoid an outrageous amount of death,” says Zhao Ziyang, general secretary.
When the troops finally arrive in the square they expect to do nothing more than govern an evacuation of the square. They offered a peaceful ending to the already deadly situation. The protesters agreed and quickly left the area, but then began to try to re-entering the square. Their return caught the PLA troops off guard and the protesters took full advantage of it. It is believed that the people trying to enter the square were the parents of the student protesters. The soldiers tried to stop them from entering the square because it was dangerous at that point, but the protesters would try every half hour to storm into the square. The troops were stretched thin and couldn’t keep the protesters out, so they began firing at the crowd to discourage further violence. Throughout the day the actions of the protesters lead to much death and injury. The protesters endangered not only themselves but the rescue workers who were doing their best to help. Due to the continuing violence and confusion on part of the students 241 people died, and 7000 were wounded. This included PLA troops who were only trying to dispel the violence. “I was surprised by the situation. We never saw it coming,” says Premier, Li Peng.
The death and violence could have been easily avoided if only the protesters had remained peaceful and cooperated with the evacuation of Tienanmen Square. Wang Dan says, “I never expected it to get to this point, I just wanted a peaceful protest.” It is disappointing that our people had to hurt each other when in truth this protest and eventual massacre of PLA troops and rescue workers.