30 years after Tiananmen, persecution the world has never seen the likes of.

This is Dr. Jim Denison's The Daily Article Podcast for Monday, June 3rd, 2019.

Tiananmen Square consists of 109 acres in the heart of Beijing, China.

Ironically, the name means Gate of Heavenly Peace.

First constructed in 1420 during the

Ming Dynasty, it was the entrance to the imperial city and the forbidden city, the homes of emperors

and their households for almost 500 years. When I visited several years ago, I was amazed by the

massive size of the square, and by the fact that it displays no indication whatsoever that

one of the most dramatic events of my lifetime took place there. In 1989, weeks of pro-democracy

protests led to demonstrations by more than a million people in Tiananmen Square. 30 years ago today,

the Chinese government ordered its military to reclaim the area. Troops reached the square around 1 a.m.

the following morning, June 4th, leading to hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.

An official death toll has never been released. Several dozen people were later executed for their

parts in the demonstrations. Mention of the massacre is banned in China still today.

Perhaps the most iconic moment came when an unidentified protester stood in front of a line of tanks blocking their progress.

The so-called tank man stood there for several minutes before he was pulled aside by onlookers.

The same day the Chinese government massacred hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators,

communist party leaders watched as pro-democracy candidates in Poland supplanted communist rule.

Pope John Paul II's support was indispensable to their success.

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Nina Shea and Bob Fu describe what happened to Christians in China after the Tiananmen massacre.

Shea directs the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom.

Dr. Fu was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and founded China aid,

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