Reactions to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests having occurred in Tiananmen Square itself. Yuan Mu portrayed the crackdown as a response to "a counterrevolutionary rebellion in the early hours of the morning of June 3." In August, 1989, the Chinese government released its complete, official account of the Tiananmen protests, "The Truth About the Beijing Turmoil". The narrative presented in "The Truth About the Beijing Turmoil" differs significantly from the accounts of student leaders and foreign journalists, many of which are banned in China. On the origins of the protest the book states: This contradicts the statements of student leaders, who emphasised the spontaneous nature of their
1989 Tiananmen Square protests of 17 April, three thousand PKU students marched from the campus towards Tiananmen Square, and soon nearly a thousand students from Tsinghua joined. Upon arrival, they soon joined forces with those already gathered at the Square. As its size grew, the gathering gradually evolved into a protest, as students began to draft a list of pleas and suggestions (Seven Demands) for the government: On the morning of 18 April, students remained in the Square. Some gathered around the Monument to the People's Heroes singing patriotic songs and listening to impromptu speeches by student organizers, others gathered at the Great Hall.