21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests 21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests The 21st anniversary Tiananmen square incident march began as a small march to commemorate the 4 June Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Hong Kong. Hong Kong and Macau are the only places on Chinese soil where the 1989 crushing of China's pro-democracy movement can be commemorated, and the annual event to commemorate has been taking place in Hong Kong since 1990. In 2010, the candlelight vigil attracted more than 150,000 participants – the controversies surrounding Hong Kong authorities' treatment of the democracy goddess statues, including a controversial ban by the Chinese
1989 Tiananmen Square protests at universities in other cities, with many students traveling to Beijing to join the demonstration. Generally, the demonstration at Tiananmen Square was well ordered, with daily marches of students from various Beijing-area colleges displaying their solidarity with the class boycott and with the demands of the protest. The students sang "The Internationale", the world socialist anthem, on their way to, and at, the square. Afraid that the movement would spin out of control, Deng Xiaoping asked that the Square be cleared for Gorbachev's visit. Executing Deng's request, Zhao again used a soft approach, and directed his subordinates to coordinate negotiations