Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident Henan province, and five set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square. One of them, Liu Chunling, died at Tiananmen under disputed circumstances, and another, 12-year-old Liu Siying, reportedly died in hospital several weeks later; three survived. The incident received international news coverage, and video footage was broadcast a week later in the People's Republic of China by China Central Television (CCTV). In the Chinese press, the event was used as proof of the "dangers" of Falun Gong, and was used to legitimise the government's campaign against the group. The official account of events soon came under scrutiny, however. Two weeks
Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters Notably, a Hong Kong concert raised one million US dollars for the students. However, since the various student organizations within the square maintained their own donation funds, accountability waned. For example, the Beijing Students’ Autonomous Federation withheld one million RMB in donations when the Hunger Strike Committee took back control of the Square on May 13. Upon learning of these funds, the CCP’s official stance was that donations came from reactionary forces and were used by the students in general to procure communication equipment and illegal arms. Intent on increasing support for the movement, Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters established communication