Rebroadcast 2025: Special - Tiananmen Square: The Declassified History - 06/01/1999 w/ postscript 2024

The History of China

Chris Stewart

History

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🗓️ 4 June 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

Doc 1: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, A Student Demonstration of Sorts in Tiananmen Square (11/21/85) Doc 2: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Government Arrests Student Demonstrators (11/25/85) Doc 3: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, More Student Demonstrations (12/23/85) Doc 4: From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Student Demonstrations Update (12/24/86) Doc 5: IPAC Daily Intelligence Summary 1-87, China: Student Demonstrations (01/02/87) Doc 6: IPAC Daily Intelligence Summary 10-87, China: Hu Yaobang Resigns (01/17/87) Doc 7: Memorandum of Conversation, [George Bush] Meeting with Wan Li, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Member of the Politburo, People’s Republic of China (05/23/89) Doc 8: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/0289, China: Stalemate Continues Doc 9: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/03/89, China: Police Use Tear Gas on Crowds Doc 10: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 27: Martial Law with Chinese Characteristics (06/03/89) Doc 11: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 28: Ten to Fifteen Thousand Armed Troops Stopped at City Perimeter by Human and Bus Barricades (06/03/89) Doc 12: Cable, From: Department of State, Wash DC, To: U.S. Embassy Beijing, and All Diplomatic and Consular Posts, TFCHO1: SITREP 1, 1700 EDT (06/03/89) Doc 13: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/04/89, China: Troops Open Fire Doc 14: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 32 (06/04/89) Doc 15: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 33 (06/04/89) Doc 16: Cable, From: Department of State, Wash DC, To: U.S. Embassy Beijing, China Task Force Situation Report No. 3 (06/04/89) Doc 17: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/05/89, China: After the Bloodbath Doc 18: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 35 (06/05/89) Doc 19: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/06/89, China: Descent into Chaos Doc 20: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01--SITREP No. 37 (06/06/89) Doc 21: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/07/89, China: Tense Standoff Continues Doc 22: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01--SITREP No. 38 (06/07/89) Doc 23: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/9/89, China: Uneasy Calm Doc 24: Department of State Intelligence Brief, "Current Situation in China: Background and Prospects" (Ca. 06/10/89) Doc 25: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/10/89, China: Mixed Signals on Purge Doc 26: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 49, (06/11/89) Doc 27: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/14/89, China: Back to Business, But Crackdown Continues Doc 28: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/15/89, China: Accusation over Fang Lizhi Doc 29: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/21/89, China: Swift Justice Doc 30: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Eyewitness Account of June 4 PLA Tank Crushing 11 Students and Related Early Morning Events in Tiananmen Square (06/22/89) Doc 31: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, What Happened on the Night of June 3/4? (06/22/89) Doc 32: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01: SITREP No. 65 (06/27/89) Doc 33: State Department document entitled "Themes" (06/29/89) Doc 34: State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, "Status Report on Situation in China as of 07/ 26/89" Doc 35: State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, "China: Aftermath of the Crisis" (07/27/89) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.9	The Civil War and Reconstruction was a pivotal era in American history.
0:10.1	When a war was fought to save the Union and to free the slaves.
0:13.9	And when the work to rebuild the nation after that war was over turned into a struggle to
0:19.7	guarantee liberty and justice for all Americans.
0:23.3	I'm Tracy. And I'm Rich. And we want to invite you to join us as we take an in-depth look at this
0:30.1	pivotal era in American history. Look for the Civil War and Reconstruction wherever you find your
0:36.5	podcasts.
0:42.6	T.9M.S. Square, 1989. The Declassified History.
0:47.1	Edited by Jeffrey T. Richelson and Michael L. Evans in the National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book, number 16, published June 1st, 1999.
0:57.9	Before getting into this, I would just like to note that this article references many sources, about 35 of them in fact, which I will not be quoting
1:04.6	directly, but I will link to them all in the show notes. Part one Demonstrations in 1985 and 1986.
1:13.9	The student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989 were not the first time in the 1980s
1:18.7	that Chinese authorities were faced with organized demonstrations, expressing dissatisfaction
1:22.7	with their rule.
1:24.4	In late 1985 and again in late 1986, Beijing and Shanghai were the site of student protests.
1:31.3	Students carried banners with slogans such as law, not authoritarianism, and long-lived democracy.
1:37.9	In China, a state with significant curbs on free expression, demonstrators have often seized upon politically tolerable causes,
1:44.8	such as anti-Japanese sentiment or the commemoration of a popular Chinese leader, as vehicles to
1:49.7	gather together and express their dissatisfaction with the policies of the Chinese government.
1:54.3	Document 1, a U.S. Embassy cable, suggests possible meanings of a tepid anti-Japanese demonstration
1:59.1	in Tiananmen Square following a sign of Japanese volleyball
	...

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