Question

All of the following are true of the Tianamen Square Massacre in China EXCEPT

A. College students were happy about the changes being made in government and protested for more democracy and less corruption with a hunger strike.

B. The massacre began because of a violent outburst by protesters toward passersby that supported the current government.

C. The Chinese government sent in soldiers and tanks to remove the protesters.

D. Hundreds of people died and thousands were wounded or arrested.

Answer 1

I think its B.

Answer 2

You're totally right! All of these were true except for (B).

The reasons why are many. By 1989, a lot had happened in China that eased a number of restrictions and controls that the government had over businesses and daily life since the 70s. Hu Yaobang was the General Secretary of China's Communist Party (essentially their leader) who supported a number of these reforms (such as the free market reforms of his ally, Deng Xiaoping), but hardliners in the government were always looking for ways to undermine him and eventually ousted him from power.

When he died, many of the students who supported Hu's work marched on Tianenmen Square as a show of remembrance, eventually turning into an outlet for those protesting for more reform. Eventually, the hardliners imposed martial law and used the military to forcibly disperse what they defined as a counterrevolutionary movement. In China's political terminology, that's essentially their way of saying that the people involved were a threat to the state -- and anything that threatens the state has to be crushed.

Even today, no one in China openly talks about the Tianenmen Square Massacre or even uses the term "massacre" in any official capacity. To the political machinery there, it's merely an 'incident'.

Answer 3

Thank you!! :)