The Hong Kong Umbrella Revolution

On June 5, 1989, soldiers and tanks from China's People’s Liberation Army physically oppressed the student led protesters. The events surrounding this day are referred to as the Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989, a democracy movement calling for political and social reforms in the Republic of China. The deaths that occurred as a consequence of the Tiananmen Square Protest was not the fault of the students, but rather, the disastrous situation of China beforehand, the common belief that demonstrations would succeed, and the government’s obstinate decisions.

(Larsson, 1997). Would Hong Kong’s role as a door to China strengthen with the liberation?

The Chinese just like the Russian revolution both became communist governments in the end. In the positions that

Mao and Deng’s tyrannical reign proved that China had remained similar to a dynasty with some differences that Mao used to prevent an overthrow. To understand what Mao and Deng created, one must first understand how a dynasty had worked in the past and how China ran under the CCP. Based on a traditional Chinese dynasty, a new dynasty will come into power through a political, cultural and economic summit. The new leader will receive the Mandate of Heaven, and things during the beginning will thrive. This is a time of advancements and satisfaction in the proletariat. Then, the dynasty will begin to decline due to corruption within the government. The people will decide that through a rebellion, they will end the tyranny and they come

On 23 April 1989 students of the twenty-one universities in Beijing participated in their first congress in the Summer Palace to discuss ways to improve the country, the CCP and to commemorate Hu. The protesters called for government accountability, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the restoration of workers' control over industry, rallying together in Tiananmen Square. On the 2nd June, 350,000 soldiers circled Tiananmen Square and, between 10pm on 3 June and dawn on 4 June, soldiers took the Square and the surrounding

China is in a state of foreign dominance. Europeans and Japanese are taking over its territory. The people have lost faith in their government and they want to start a new one. Revolutionary parties begin to rise and expand. They want their government to get rid of the Europeans and Japanese but they aren’t able to. They have to take matters into their own hands. The people are started to learn from the westerners and they want to modernize. They want the power to defend themselves. They want the power to be able to control their own people and reinforce their own laws. They don’t want Europeans or Japanese to think that China is a part of their own country. Peasants

On 23 April 1989 students of the twenty-one universities in Beijing participated in their first congress in the Summer Palace to discuss ways to improve the country, the CCP and to commemorate Hu. Hu Yaobang was a high-ranking official of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC). Hu was a prominent and active representative of the educated in China and with his death, these people lost a passionate advocate for their freedoms and rights. The protesters called for government accountability, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the restoration of workers' control over industry, rallying together in Tiananmen Square. On June 2nd, 350,000 soldiers circled Tiananmen Square and, between 10pm on 3 June and dawn on 4 June, soldiers took the Square and the surrounding

Contrary to the Ying and Yang’s dependence on each other in Chinese philosophy, the people of China and their government could not depend on each other. The Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989 was a democratic movement calling for political and social reforms in China. This student led protest had been going on for many months but was forcefully oppressed by China’s People’s Liberation Army on the night of June third and fourth, 1989. The deaths that occurred as a consequence of the Tiananmen Square Protest was not the fault of the students, but rather, the disastrous situation China was in beforehand, the common belief that demonstrations would benefit the people, and the government’s obstinate decisions.

Notably, there is a protest by the Chinese student population occurring now. They want unrestrictive choosing of the next leader of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Protest Leader).While the revolution and protests have not shown their success in the direct form wanted yet, they share similar characteristics to the French revolution. The thought to be lower class, the students do not have a say even though they have the potential to be leaders in their country in the future. This has sparked protests in the financial and business districts halting actives and operations. In comparison to the French Revolution, both lower classes are calling for change. Students want a change in the election process, where currently government has to approve a candidate resulting in an often-biased process that does not allow for progression as a whole (Rauhala, A New Generation).This has been an ongoing issue, and when it had built up over the years among a group it finally caused these protests. The government was the cause as were they in the French Revolution. The students want a change in how their government operates that has been central to the running of government for

Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village by William Hinton is based on Hinton’s visit to the village of Long Bow, China, in 1948, which was one year before the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) victory in the Chinese Civil War. In Fanshen, Hinton shares stories of peasants who were subjected to abuse and exploitation by landlords, as well as how peasants started an uprising against landlords to establish a Communist village in response to the CCP’s rise in power and popularity. The value in its purpose is Hinton’s narration of multiple peasants’ stories because the various narratives present different perspectives regarding their experience of oppression and their own reasons and motivations for a revolution. For example, Hinton

China has been a communist country since the communist revolution took place in 1949, since then China has been ruled by the dictator Mao Tse-Tung. However the Chinese dictator died in September 1976, he was hailed abroad as one of the worlds’ great leaders. Certainly one of the more impressive aspects of the Chinese communist government, has been the willingness of the people to protest against it (3, pg. 4).

September 26, 1984 – the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China release the Joint Declaration, a document detailing the then future handover of the island of Hong Kong and its surrounding territories from British colonial rule, to rule by the PRC. Exactly thirty years later, hundreds of students rush over the security barricades of the central government building in Hong Kong with anger, tenacity, and fear in their eyes. Many are still youths, students from local secondary schools exercising their disappointment of modern Hong Kong in the only way they believe they can: protest, beginning a series of events now known as “The Umbrella Movement.” Four days earlier, however, hundreds had begun gathering around that building, unhappy with the current political system in place in Hong Kong, furious at the way the Beijing government of the PRC seemed to be closing in and suppressing their social and political freedoms. Though the protests were meant to be relatively peaceful demonstrations, the large collections of people disrupted traffic and business throughout Hong Kong. Soon Hong Kong police forces were called in to disperse the crowds, and when protesters refused to leave, the police resorted to the use of pepper spray and tear gas, causing an uproar among witnesses. In response, to protect themselves from the tear gas, protesters began carrying umbrellas to use as shields, thus the movement was dubbed “The Umbrella Movement.” In the following months, the series

The movement that conveyed Hong Kong people’s discontent with the British colonial government is the Hong Kong Leftist riots in 1967. After the breakout of the Cultural Revolution in China, pro-communist leftists in Hong Kong actively found opportunities to cause conflicts against the colonial government. The labor disputes at the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Factory were a perfect time to instigate Hong Kong people to oppose its colonial government. Along with the success of leftists demonstrations in Macau and Hong Kong’s social conflicts stemmed from poor working conditions, the disputes developed into large-scale demonstrations against British colonial rule. Many pro-communist demonstrators shouted Mao’s slogans with Little Red Books held in their hands. At the end of the demonstrations without the supports of Hong Kong citizens, the riots failed and were discontinued by the first Premier of the People 's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai.

The Tiananmen Square Uprising also known as the “June Fourth Incident” was a student-led demonstration in Beijing. This regarded the more popular movement in Beijing protest during this period. Also, known as the “89 Democracy Movement” The protest was by force blocked after the government had declared Martial Law. Troops would ultimately kill several hundred protestors who tried to stop the military blockage with tanks and assault rifles. The civilian death rate was estimated between a few hundred to thousands. Soon a rapid economic development and social changes would follow in the post Mao-era China. These protesters would soon reflect the anxieties about the soon future for China. There was a reform in the 1980’s that had led a nascent

Considered as one of the largest city squares in the world, Tiananmen Square is situated in the heart of Beijing, China, having witnessed the ebb and flow of Chinese politics. With each brick drenched in blood, it is a solid, sprawling testament of the social and political developments that have occurred, with none being as prominent as the Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989.