Foreign media at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests to "justify counteractions" while warning the population that China would "be humiliated in the eyes of the world" while the protesters used the attention "to maximize public attention and sympathy" for their movement. There were a variety of different correspondents present for the Tiananmen Square Protests, including from then British-controlled Hong Kong and Taiwan. These correspondents were familiar with the politics and proficient in the language; they were able to gather important information and conduct interviews with locals. Foreign media at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Foreign media institutions and correspondents were present for much of the Tiananmen Square protests
Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident practitioners, but were not scrutinised for the methods they used. This resulted in the widespread use of torture, sometimes resulting in death. Tiananmen Square was one of the main venues where Falun Gong practitioners gathered to protest the persecution, usually by raising banners in defence of the group, or stage peaceful meditation sit-ins. Ian Johnson of the "Wall Street Journal" estimated that by 25 April 2000, more than 30,000 practitioners had been arrested for attempting to demonstrate in Beijing, most of them in or on the way to Tiananmen Square. Seven hundred Falun Gong followers were arrested during a demonstration