90-738: Imperial China Republic of China (before 1949) People's Republic of China (Mainland) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Hong Kong (centrist) Hong Kong (pro-ROC) Macau (pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Republic of China (Taiwan, pro-Beijing) Republic of China (Taiwan, other) Hong Kong (pro-Beijing) Hong Kong (pro-ROC) Republic of China (Taiwan, pan-Blue) Republic of China (Taiwan, other) People's Republic of China (Mainland) Hong Kong Republic of China (Taiwan) Overseas Former The Sing Tao Daily (also known as Sing Tao Jih Pao ; Chinese : 星島日報 )
180-503: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
270-545: A clear-cut stand against disturbances ". The language in the editorial effectively branded the student movement to be an anti-party, anti-government revolt. The editorial invoked memories of the Cultural Revolution, using similar rhetoric that had been used during the 1976 Tiananmen Incident —an event that was initially branded an anti-government conspiracy but was later rehabilitated as "patriotic" under Deng's leadership. The article enraged students, who interpreted it as
360-611: A concerted attempt to achieve material prosperity. To oversee his reform agenda, Deng promoted his allies to top government and party posts. Zhao Ziyang was named Premier , the head of government, in September 1980, and Hu Yaobang became CCP General Secretary in 1982. Deng's reforms aimed to decrease the state's role in the economy and gradually allow private production in agriculture and industry. By 1981, roughly 73% of rural farms had been de-collectivized, and 80% of state-owned enterprises were permitted to retain their profits. While
450-411: A deep chasm within the central leadership. The reformers ("the right", led by Hu Yaobang) favored political liberalization and a plurality of ideas as a channel to voice popular discontent and pressed for further reforms. The conservatives ("the left", led by Chen Yun ) said that the reforms had gone too far and advocated a return to greater state control to ensure social stability and to better align with
540-457: A direct indictment of the protests and its cause. The editorial backfired: instead of scaring students into submission, it antagonized the students and put them squarely against the government. The editorial's polarizing nature made it a major sticking point for the remainder of the protests. Organized by the Union on 27 April, some 50,000–100,000 students from all Beijing universities marched through
630-586: A guideline, detailed steps to be taken for political reform, including promoting the rule of law and the separation of powers , imposing de-centralization, and improving the election system. At this Congress, Zhao was elected to be the CCP General Secretary. During the demonstrations, protesters received a significant amount of support from domestic and outside sources. The Chinese University in Hong Kong donated HK$ 10,000 by early May, and groups such as
720-501: A highly inefficient bureaucracy that gave power to officials who had little expertise in areas under their jurisdiction. Facing a dismal job market and limited chances of going abroad, intellectuals and students had a greater vested interest in political issues. Small study groups, such as the "Democracy Salon" ( Chinese : 民主沙龙 ; pinyin : Mínzhǔ Shālóng ) and the "Lawn Salon" ( 草地沙龙 ; Cǎodì Shālóng ), began appearing on Beijing university campuses. These organizations motivated
810-405: A market with chronic shortages, price fluctuation allowed people with powerful connections to buy goods at low prices and sell at market prices. Party bureaucrats in charge of economic management had enormous incentives to engage in such arbitrage . Discontent over corruption reached a fever pitch with the public; and many, particularly intellectuals, began to believe that only democratic reform and
900-684: A meeting held among the CCP's top leadership on 1 June concluded with a decision to clear the square. The troops advanced into central parts of Beijing on the city's major thoroughfares in the early morning hours of 4 June and engaged in bloody clashes with demonstrators attempting to block them, in which many people – demonstrators, bystanders, and soldiers – were killed. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The event had both short and long term consequences. Western countries imposed arms embargoes on China, and various Western media outlets labeled
990-570: A quick resolution to the crisis and framed the protests as a conspiracy to overthrow China's political system and prominent party leaders, including Deng Xiaoping. In Zhao's absence, the PSC agreed to take firm action against the protesters. On the morning of 25 April, President Yang Shangkun and Premier Li Peng met with Deng at the latter's residence. Deng endorsed a hardline stance and said an appropriate warning must be disseminated via mass media to curb further demonstrations. The meeting firmly established
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#17328872362041080-491: A return to more confrontational tactics. They settled on a plan of mobilizing students for a hunger strike that would begin on 13 May. Early attempts to mobilize others to join them met with only modest success until Chai Ling made an emotional appeal on the night before the strike was scheduled to begin. Students began the hunger strike on 13 May, two days before the highly publicized state visit by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev . Knowing that Gorbachev's welcoming ceremony
1170-716: A speech titled "On the Reform of the Party and State Leadership System" (" 党和国家领导制度改革 ") at a full meeting of the CCP Politburo in Beijing, launching political reforms in China. He called for a systematic revision of China's constitution, criticizing bureaucracy, centralization of power, and patriarchy, while proposing term limits for the leading positions in China and advocating " democratic centralism " and " collective leadership ." In December 1982,
1260-798: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
1350-587: Is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
1440-585: Is among Hong Kong 's oldest Chinese language newspapers. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation , of which Kwok Ying-shing ( Chinese : 郭英成 ) is chairman. Its English-language sister is the free newspaper The Standard . Sing Tao's Toronto edition is partly owned by Star Media Group , the publisher of the Toronto Star , a Torstar Corporation company. Sing Tao Daily is the oldest Chinese language daily newspaper in Hong Kong, having commenced publication on 1 August 1938. The first overseas edition of
1530-473: Is another formerly independent Chinese newspaper that has fallen under Beijing’s control. In 2013, an analyst at Freedom House wrote in a report submitted to the Center for International Media Assistance that in recent decades, Sing Tao 's management and owners began practicing " self-censorship ," "high-risk" contributors were terminated, and journalists left due to an "unpalatable editorial policy." Topics such as
1620-483: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
1710-599: The Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of the predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such
1800-499: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre , human rights in Tibet , and Taiwanese independence were minimized or avoided. Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan , the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in
1890-584: The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were founded in support of the protests. Funding also came from the United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and countries across Europe. When Hu Yaobang suddenly died of a heart attack on 15 April 1989, students reacted strongly, most of them believing that his death was related to his forced resignation. Hu's death provided
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#17328872362041980-638: The Jamestown Foundation claimed that two of Sing Tao 's owners were members of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and one editor had previously worked for China Daily . According to a Hoover Institution report, Sing Tao was purchased by a pro-Beijing businessman in May 2001, who soon after partnered with the Xinhua News Agency to establish a joint venture, leading to the formation of an information-service company named Xinhua Online. It
2070-789: The Kensiu language . 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre [REDACTED] Chinese Communist Party Demonstrators Deng Xiaoping ( CMC chairman ) Hardliners: Moderates: Student leaders: Workers: Intellectuals: The Tiananmen Square protests , known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident , were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing , China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between
2160-508: The May Fourth Movement and repeated demands from earlier marches, many students were satisfied with the government's concessions. On 4 May, all Beijing universities except PKU and BNU announced the end of the classroom boycott. Subsequently, most students began to lose interest in the movement. The government was divided on how to respond to the movement as early as mid-April. After Zhao Ziyang's return from North Korea, tensions between
2250-622: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
2340-499: The one-party system and opposed the implementation of Western-style constitutionalism . In October 1987, at the 13th National Congress of the CCP , Zhao Ziyang gave a report drafted by Bao Tong on the political reforms. In his speech titled "Advance Along the Road of Socialism with Chinese characteristics " (" 沿着有中国特色的社会主义道路前进 "), Zhao argued that socialism in China was still in its primary stage and, taking Deng's speech in 1980 as
2430-419: The " iron rice bowl ", i.e., social benefits such as job security, medical care, and subsidized housing. In 1978, reformist leaders had envisioned that intellectuals would play a leading role in guiding the country through reforms, but this did not happen as planned. On one hand, the massive New Enlightenment movement led by intellectuals promoted a variety of liberal philosophies and values that challenged
2520-547: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
2610-515: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
2700-491: The administration. After police restrained the students from entering the compound, they staged a sit-in . On 19 April, students hold aloft a banner "Freedom & Democracy Enlightenment" on the Monument, under a giant portrait of Hu Yaobang. On 20 April, most students had been persuaded to leave Xinhua Gate. To disperse about 200 students that remained, police used batons; minor clashes were reported. Many students felt abused by
2790-406: The areas of agriculture, light industry, services, and foreign investment. The job market was especially limited for students specializing in social sciences and the humanities. Moreover, private companies no longer needed to accept students assigned to them by the state, and many high-paying jobs were offered based on nepotism and favoritism. Gaining a good state-assigned placement meant navigating
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2880-468: The arrest of the Gang of Four . That movement, spearheaded by Mao, had caused severe damage to the country's initially diverse economic and social fabric. As a result, the country was now mired in poverty as economic production slowed or came to a halt. Political ideology was paramount in the lives of ordinary people as well as the inner workings of the party itself. In September 1977, Deng Xiaoping proposed
2970-407: The case for further dialogue. In preparation for dialogue, the Union elected representatives to a formal delegation. However, there was some friction as the Union leaders were reluctant to let the delegation unilaterally take control of the movement. The movement was slowed by a change to a more deliberate approach, fractured by internal discord, and increasingly diluted by declining engagement from
3060-713: The city's Xihua Gate. In Changsha, 38 stores were ransacked by looters. Over 350 people were arrested in both cities for looting. In Wuhan, university students organized protests against the provincial government. As the situation became more volatile nationally, Zhao Ziyang called numerous meetings of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). Zhao stressed three points: discourage students from further protests and ask them to go back to class, use all measures necessary to combat rioting, and open forms of dialogue with students at different levels of government. Premier Li Peng called upon Zhao to condemn protestors and recognize
3150-482: The country. In response, Deng Xiaoping warned that Fang was blindly worshipping Western lifestyles, capitalism, and multi-party systems while undermining China's socialist ideology, traditional values, and the party's leadership. In December 1986, inspired by Fang and other "people-power" movements worldwide, student demonstrators staged protests against the slow pace of reform. The issues were wide-ranging and included demands for economic liberalization , democracy, and
3240-485: The crackdown a " massacre ". In the aftermath of the protests, the Chinese government suppressed other protests around China , carried out mass arrests of protesters which catalyzed Operation Yellowbird , strictly controlled coverage of the events in the domestic and foreign affiliated press , and demoted or purged officials it deemed sympathetic to the protests . The government also invested heavily into creating more effective police riot control units. More broadly,
3330-515: The crackdown is commonly referred to in Chinese as "June Fourth Massacre" ( 六四屠殺 ; liù-sì túshā ) and "June Fourth Crackdown" ( 六四鎮壓 ; liù-sì zhènyā ). To bypass censorship by the Great Firewall , alternative names have sprung up to describe the events on the Internet, such as May 35th, VIIV ( Roman numerals for 6 and 4), Eight Squared (since 8 =64) and 8964 (in yymd format). In English,
3420-618: The crowd as they waited for the Premier to emerge. However, no leaders emerged from the Great Hall, leaving the students disappointed and angry; some called for a classroom boycott. On 21 April, students began organizing under the banners of formal organizations. On 23 April, in a meeting of around 40 students from 21 universities, the Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation (also known as the Union)
3510-455: The death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989 amid the backdrop of rapid economic development and social change in post-Mao China , reflecting anxieties among the people and political elite about the country's future. The reforms of the 1980s had led to a nascent market economy that benefited some people but seriously disadvantaged others, and
3600-528: The demonstrators and the Chinese government to find a peaceful resolution, the Chinese government declared martial law on the night of 3 June and deployed troops to occupy the square in what is referred to as the Tiananmen Square massacre . The events are sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement , the Tiananmen Square Incident , or the Tiananmen uprising . The protests were precipitated by
3690-484: The editorial, the Xinhua Gate incident, and freedom of the press, they achieved few substantive results. Independent student leaders such as Wu'erkaixi refused to attend. The government's tone grew increasingly conciliatory when Zhao Ziyang returned from Pyongyang on 30 April and reasserted his authority. In Zhao's view, the hardliner approach was not working, and the concession was the only alternative. Zhao asked that
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3780-403: The elite intellectual community that thought China's poverty and underdevelopment, and the disaster of the Cultural Revolution, were a direct result of China's authoritarian political system and rigid command economy. The view that political reform was the only answer to China's ongoing problems gained widespread appeal among students, as Fang's recorded speeches became widely circulated throughout
3870-413: The feasibility of political reform was established in September 1986; the members included Zhao Ziyang , Hu Qili , Tian Jiyun , Bo Yibo and Peng Chong . Deng's intention was to boost administrative efficiency, further separate responsibilities of the Party and the government, and eliminate bureaucracy. Although he spoke in terms of the rule of law and democracy , Deng delimited the reforms within
3960-416: The first official evaluation of the protests, and highlighted Deng's having "final say" on important issues. Li Peng subsequently ordered Deng's views to be drafted as a communique and issued to all high-level Communist Party officials to mobilize the party apparatus against protesters. On 26 April, the party's official newspaper People's Daily issued a front-page editorial titled " It is necessary to take
4050-400: The fourth and current Constitution of China, known as the " 1982 Constitution ", was passed by the 5th National People's Congress . In the first half of 1986, Deng repeatedly called for the revival of political reforms, as further economic reforms were hindered by the original political system with an increasing trend of corruption and economic inequality . A five-man committee to study
4140-413: 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 student organizers' impromptu speeches. Others gathered at the Great Hall. Meanwhile, a few thousand students gathered at Xinhua Gate , the entrance to Zhongnanhai , the seat of the party leadership, where they demanded dialogue with
4230-513: The idea of Boluan Fanzheng ("bringing order out of chaos") to correct the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution. At the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee , in December 1978, Deng emerged as China's de facto leader . He launched a comprehensive program to reform the Chinese economy ( Reforms and Opening-up ). Within several years, the country's focus on ideological purity was replaced by
4320-523: The incident involved libel and it would seek legal actions. The Sing Tao has a long pro-government history. Before the handover of Hong Kong to China, it supported the Kuomintang and British Hong Kong government; and once Hong Kong was transferred and turned into a special administrative region , the paper turned its support to the Beijing government. Sing Tao’s reporting on China now aligns with that of state-run media from Beijing. A 2001 article by
4410-458: The initial impetus for students to gather in large numbers. On university campuses, many posters appeared eulogizing Hu, calling for honoring Hu's legacy. Within days, most posters were about broader political issues, such as corruption, democracy, and freedom of the press. Small, spontaneous gatherings to mourn Hu began on 15 April around the Monument to the People's Heroes at Tiananmen Square . On
4500-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
4590-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
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#17328872362044680-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
4770-975: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
4860-409: The most crucial factor in success. There was widespread public disillusionment concerning the country's future. People wanted change, yet the power to define "the correct path" continued to rest solely in the unelected government's hands. The comprehensive and wide-ranging reforms created political differences over the pace of marketization and the control over the ideology that came with it, opening
4950-404: The most sensitive and most widely censored topics in China . The Chinese government has used numerous names for the event since 1989. As the events unfolded, it was labeled a " counter revolutionary rebellion", which was later changed to simply "riot", followed by "political turmoil" and "1989 storm". Outside mainland China, and among circles critical of the crackdown within mainland China,
5040-441: The need to take more serious action. Zhao dismissed Li's views. Despite calls for him to remain in Beijing, Zhao left for a scheduled state visit to North Korea on 23 April. Zhao's departure to North Korea left Li Peng as the acting executive authority in Beijing. On 24 April, Li Peng and the PSC met with Beijing Party Secretary Li Ximing and mayor Chen Xitong to gauge the situation at the square. The municipal officials wanted
5130-665: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
5220-463: The one-party political system also faced a challenge to its legitimacy. Common grievances at the time included inflation, corruption, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and restrictions on political participation. Although they were highly disorganized and their goals varied, the students called for things like rollback of the removal of " iron rice bowl " jobs, greater accountability, constitutional due process, democracy , freedom of
5310-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
5400-457: The overthrow of the Communist Party gained traction due to the 26 April editorial. The stunning success of the march forced the government into making concessions and meeting with student representatives. On 29 April, State Council spokesman Yuan Mu met with appointed representatives of government-sanctioned student associations. While the talks discussed a wide range of issues, including
5490-552: The paper was launched in 1963 in San Francisco, where the group’s first overseas office was set up in May 1964. In 1992, Sing Tao Daily , encountering financial difficulties, established a joint publication with the International Culture Publishing Corporation, a front organization for China's Ministry of State Security according to Alex Joske . Until 2002, the parent company of Sing Tao Daily
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#17328872362045580-476: The party leadership. By May, a student-led hunger strike galvanized support around the country for the demonstrators, and the protests spread to some 400 cities. On 20 May, the State Council declared martial law , and as many as 300,000 troops were mobilized to Beijing. After several weeks of standoffs and violent confrontations between the army and demonstrators left many on both sides severely injured,
5670-405: The party's socialist ideology. Both sides needed the backing of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to carry out important policy decisions. In mid-1986, astrophysics professor Fang Lizhi returned from a position at Princeton University and began a personal tour of universities in China, speaking about liberty, human rights, and the separation of powers . Fang was part of a wide undercurrent within
5760-502: The police line. Three of these students, Zhou Yongjun , Guo Haifeng , and Zhang Zhiyong , knelt on the steps of the Great Hall to present a petition and demanded to see Premier Li Peng . Standing beside them, a fourth student ( Wu'erkaixi ) made a brief, emotional speech begging for Li Peng to come out and speak with them. The larger number of students still in the square but outside the cordon were at times emotional, shouting demands or slogans and rushing toward police. Wu'erkaixi calmed
5850-571: The police, and rumors about police brutality spread quickly. The incident angered students on campus, where those who were not politically active decided to join the protests. Additionally, a group of workers calling themselves the Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation issued two handbills challenging the central leadership. Hu's state funeral took place on 22 April. On the evening of 21 April, some 100,000 students marched on Tiananmen Square, ignoring orders from Beijing municipal authorities that
5940-448: The press , and freedom of speech . Workers' protests were generally focused on inflation and the erosion of welfare. These groups united around anti-corruption demands, adjusting economic policies, and protecting social security. At the height of the protests, about one million people assembled in the square. As the protests developed, the authorities responded with both conciliatory and hardline tactics, exposing deep divisions within
6030-413: The press be allowed to positively report the movement and delivered two sympathetic speeches on 3–4 May. In the speeches, Zhao said that the students' concerns about corruption were legitimate and that the student movement was patriotic in nature. The speeches essentially negated the message presented by 26 April Editorial. While some 100,000 students marched on the streets of Beijing on 4 May to commemorate
6120-456: The progressive camp and the conservative camp intensified. Those who supported continued dialogue and a soft approach with students rallied behind Zhao Ziyang, while hardliner conservatives opposed the movement rallied behind Premier Li Peng. Zhao and Li clashed at a PSC meeting on 1 May. Li maintained that the need for stability overrode all else, while Zhao said that the party should show support for increased democracy and transparency. Zhao pushed
6210-435: The reforms were generally well received by the public, concerns grew over a series of social problems which the changes brought about, including corruption and nepotism on the part of elite party bureaucrats. The state-mandated pricing system, in place since the 1950s, had long kept prices fixed at low levels. The initial reforms created a two-tier system where some prices were fixed while others were allowed to fluctuate. In
6300-421: The rule of law could cure the country's ills. Following the 1988 meeting at their summer retreat of Beidaihe , the party leadership under Deng agreed to implement a transition to a market-based pricing system. News of the relaxation of price controls triggered waves of cash withdrawals, buying, and hoarding all over China. The government panicked and rescinded the price reforms in less than two weeks, but there
6390-456: The rule of law. While the protests were initially contained in Hefei , where Fang lived, they quickly spread to Shanghai, Beijing, and other major cities. This alarmed the central leadership, who accused the students of instigating Cultural Revolution-style turmoil. General Secretary Hu Yaobang was blamed for showing a "soft" attitude and mishandling the protests, thus undermining social stability. He
6480-578: The same day, many students at Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University erected shrines and joined the gathering in Tiananmen Square in a piecemeal fashion. Small, organized student gatherings also took place in Xi'an and Shanghai on 16 April. On 17 April, students at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) made a large wreath to commemorate Hu Yaobang. Its wreath-laying ceremony
6570-479: The socialist ideology, ranging from democracy, humanism , universal values such as freedom and human rights, to Total Westernization ; as response, since the beginning of the reforms, Deng Xiaoping in 1979 proposed the " Four Cardinal Principles " to limit the political liberalization . On the other hand, despite the opening of new universities and increased enrollment, the state-directed education system did not produce enough graduates to meet increased demand in
6660-454: The square was to be closed for the funeral. The funeral, which took place inside the Great Hall and was attended by the leadership, was broadcast live to the students. General Secretary Zhao Ziyang delivered the eulogy. The funeral seemed rushed, lasting only 40 minutes, as emotions ran high in the square. Security cordoned off the east entrance to the Great Hall of the People, but several students pressed forward. A few were allowed to cross
6750-445: The streets of the capital to Tiananmen Square, breaking through lines set up by police, and receiving widespread public support along the way, particularly from factory workers. The student leaders, eager to show the patriotic nature of the movement, also toned down anti-Communist slogans, choosing to present a message of "anti-corruption" and "anti-cronyism", but "pro-party". In a twist of irony, student factions who genuinely called for
6840-404: The student body at large. In this context, a group of charismatic leaders, including Wang Dan and Wu'erkaixi, desired to regain momentum. They also distrusted the government's offers of dialogue, dismissing them as merely a ploy designed to play for time and pacify the students. To break from the moderate and incremental approach now adopted by other major student leaders, these few began calling for
6930-484: The students to disperse. Starting on the night 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 (the Seven Demands) for
7020-431: The students to get involved politically. Simultaneously, the party's nominally socialist ideology faced a legitimacy crisis as it gradually adopted capitalist practices. Private enterprise gave rise to profiteers who took advantage of lax regulations and who often flaunted their wealth in front of those who were less well off. Popular discontent was brewing over unfair wealth distribution. Greed, not skill, appeared to be
7110-469: The suppression ended the political reforms begun in 1986 as well as the New Enlightenment movement , and halted the policies of liberalization of the 1980s, which were only partly resumed after Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour in 1992. Considered a watershed event, reaction to the protests set limits on political expression in China that have lasted up to the present day. The events remain one of
7200-684: The terms "Tiananmen Square Massacre", "Tiananmen Square Protests", and "Tiananmen Square Crackdown" are often used to describe the series of events. However, much of the violence in Beijing did not actually happen in Tiananmen, but outside the square along a stretch of Chang'an Avenue only a few miles long, and especially near the Muxidi area. The term also gives a misleading impression that demonstrations only happened in Beijing, when in fact, they occurred in many cities throughout China. The Cultural Revolution ended with chairman Mao Zedong 's death in 1976 and
7290-627: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
7380-970: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
7470-509: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
7560-571: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
7650-551: Was Sing Tao Holdings ; since then it has been Sing Tao News Corporation . In June 2021, a real estate developer's daughter from mainland China purchased a majority stake in the company. In August 2021, the U.S. branch of Sing Tao Daily started to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) at the order of the United States Department of Justice . The company said
7740-489: Was a pronounced impact for much longer. Inflation soared; official indices reported that the Consumer Price Index increased by 30% in Beijing between 1987 and 1988, leading to panic among salaried workers that they could no longer afford staple goods. Moreover, in the new market economy, unprofitable state-owned enterprises were pressured to cut costs. This threatened a vast proportion of the population that relied on
7830-454: Was denounced thoroughly by conservatives and was forced to resign as general secretary on 16 January 1987. The party began the "Anti- bourgeois liberalization campaign", aiming at Hu, political liberalization, and Western-inspired ideas in general. The campaign stopped student protests and restricted political activity, but Hu remained popular among intellectuals, students, and Communist Party progressives. On 18 August 1980, Deng Xiaoping gave
7920-512: Was formed. It elected CUPL student Zhou Yongjun as chair. Wang Dan and Wu'erkaixi also emerged as leaders. The Union then called for a general classroom boycott at all Beijing universities. Such an independent organization operating outside of party jurisdiction alarmed the leadership. On 22 April, near dusk, serious rioting broke out in Changsha and Xi'an . In Xi'an, arson by rioters destroyed cars and houses, and looting occurred in shops near
8010-470: Was on 17 April, and a larger-than-expected crowd assembled. At 5 pm, 500 CUPL students reached the eastern gate of the Great Hall of the People , near Tiananmen Square, to mourn Hu. The gathering featured speakers from various backgrounds who gave public orations commemorating Hu and discussed social problems. However, it was soon deemed obstructive to the Great Hall's operation, so police tried to persuade
8100-510: Was scheduled to be held on the square, student leaders wanted to use the hunger strike to force the government into meeting their demands. Moreover, the hunger strike gained widespread sympathy from the population at large and earned the student movement the moral high ground that it sought. By the afternoon of 13 May, some 300,000 were gathered at the square. Inspired by the events in Beijing, protests and strikes began at universities in other cities, with many students traveling to Beijing to join
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