Funding of student organizations during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests money was not received by the various Pro-Democracy groups. A large amount of the money raised overseas was sent to China as cheques or money orders made out to “the Students’ ”Autonomous Union,” “Hunger Strike Headquarters,” “Tiananmen Square Headquarters,” or even just “Tiananmen Square.” Such donations, even if delivered to the student organizations could not be redeemed. When the hunger strike started on May 13 the costs of running protests at Tiananmen Square increased. At first the number of hunger strikers was quite small, around 300 students, but as their numbers increased so did the crowds that came to support
Funding of student organizations during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that occupied Tiananmen Square. The Beijing Workers Autonomous Federation focused more on corruption and inflation. They complained about the elitism of the students who wanted to keep their protest pure and initially refused to allow the BWAF to operate within Tiananmen Square. There were also disputes between different student groups. When the Hunger Strike Committee took over leadership on the Square the BSAF which had raised nearly one million RMB during the first week of the hunger strike refused to hand the money over. Eventually they gave 100,000 RMB to the Hunger Strike Committee and kept the rest. Later in