20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests protests of 1989, thousands of students and protests had gathered in Tiananmen square, when troops opened fire. An unknown number of people were wounded or died in the incident. As the People's Republic of China has publicly embraced the one country, two systems model of governance for Hong Kong, the annual 4 June observance which has become a tradition since 1989 has continued after the transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China. It is the only place on Chinese soil where the event is openly commemorated in any way and on any scale. The 20th anniversary was commemorated in the
Students' hunger strike at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Students' hunger strike at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests The first of two student hunger strikes of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 began on May 13, 1989, in Beijing. The students said that they were willing to risk their lives to gain the government's attention. They believed that because plans were in place for the grand welcoming of Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, on May 15, at Tiananmen Square, the government would respond. Although the students gained a dialogue session with the government on May 14, no rewards materialized. The Chinese Communist Party did not heed