The protests that sparked the Tiananmen Square massacre

Summary

Podcast Summary: “The Protests that Sparked the Tiananmen Square Massacre”

Podcast: Witness History
Host: Tom Bonnet
Date: June 4, 2026
Guest: Wu Kaishi (1989 Student Leader)
Duration: ~9 minutes

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Episode Overview

This powerful episode revisits the student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989, culminating in the Tiananmen Square massacre. Through vivid eye-witness recollections, especially those of student leader Wu Kaishi, listeners gain a personal perspective on the frustrations, hopes, and escalating tensions that characterized the protests—a watershed moment in Chinese history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Build-up to the Protests

• Growing Discontent and Hope (00:25–01:38):
  • Wu Kaishi describes the immense turnout for the May 4 demonstration, highlighting support both from students (at least 100,000 in Beijing alone) and local citizens, numbering over a million.
  • The momentum for protests grew out of a decade-long period of reform (“the 10 golden years”) in China. Students were inspired by openness, global exchanges, and the dream of democracy.
    • Quote:

    “You can imagine. I mean, the whole world is pouring in. Everything seemed new all of a sudden. Everything seemed possible. So we wanted...to live the life that the same age young students in the United States or United Kingdom were living. But we know we need to get democracy.”
    —Wu Kaishi (01:58)

Catalyst: The Death of Hu Yaobang

• Sparking the Movement (03:16–03:51):
  • The death of Hu Yaobang, a reform-minded senior Communist Party leader sympathetic to student movements, galvanized the students. His removal two years earlier for being “too liberal” was remembered with bitterness.
    • Eyewitness reaction:

    “The wrong man has died, said one bluntly.”
    —Eyewitness/Protester (03:51)

Mobilizing the Masses

• Gathering in Tiananmen Square (04:12–05:20):
  • Hu Yaobang’s funeral in April brought massive crowds to the square, signaling the start of continuous protests over the next 50 days.
  • Students expected government suppression, but were buoyed by a sense of hope:
    • Quote:

    “Suppression for the student leaders like people in my position, we were thinking could be prison terms...for the general participant is getting a very lousy job assignment. Nevertheless...you have to be somewhat hopeful. And we were hopeful.”
    —Wu Kaishi (04:25)

The May 4 Protest: A National Movement

• Unprecedented Scale and Solidarity (05:20–06:40):
  • The May 4 demonstration surpassed even the Cultural Revolution in size and spirit.
  • Demonstrations spread nationwide—over 300 cities took part, and Wu estimates “at the very least...100 million people” supported them.
    • Quote:

    “Every city that has a university had demonstration that day. ...I would say the main force movement is one of the high points of the student demonstration.”
    —Wu Kaishi (05:58)

  • Government’s initial response was indecisive: offering dialogue but excluding student leaders, leading to hunger strikes and intensifying protester resolve.

Media Attention & International Spotlight

• The World Watches (07:05–07:28):

  • The arrival of international journalists for the Gorbachev–Deng Xiaoping summit drew global eyes to the Square.
    • Quote:

    “We came to cover a summit and we walk into a revolution.”
    —Wu Kaishi (07:20)

• Protesters Inspired and Empowered (07:28–07:43):

  • Broadcasts swelled crowds further. The sense of possibility and triumph was palpable:
    • Eyewitness:

    “Huge crowds of people were pouring onto the streets in a triumphant mood, sensing, it seemed that the tide of hatred against the regime was unstoppable.”
    —Eyewitness/Protester (07:34)

Government Crackdown & Aftermath

• The Turn to Violence (07:43–08:55):

  • In late May, Deng Xiaoping ordered the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of helmeted troops and tanks to forcibly disperse the demonstrators.

    • Quote:

    “Deng Xiaoping decided, okay, I’m going to say no to those peaceful demonstrators… To do what? To remove worn out hunger strikers in the Tiananmen Square.”
    —Wu Kaishi (07:43)

  • The scene turned tragic as violence erupted.

    • Observer:

    “They thought they never would fire on their own people.... You are Chinese People's army killing the Chinese people. Stop it. Stop it.”
    —Observer/Commentator (08:19)

  • Wu describes being hospitalized after a hunger strike and hearing gunfire resonate throughout the city, witnessing casualties flooding in.

    • Quote:

    “It was a massacre. ... Even in the hospital I hear gunshots and everything. And then also the casualty poured into the hospital. So yes, it’s loud, it’s bloody, it’s visible.”
    —Wu Kaishi (08:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wu Kaishi, recalling the scale of the protest:

  “...the march lasted longer than 10km. And we were welcomed by Beijing’s citizens wherever we go.” (00:38)

• On dreams of democracy:

  “We want from that day on the voice of people to be heard in China. So we want press freedom and then maybe in future take part in China’s free election. Democracy.” (01:22)

• On the emotional tenor among protestors:

  “Nevertheless, when you are in a movement like that scale, you cannot afford just to be totally pessimistic. You have to be somewhat hopeful. And we were hopeful.” (04:25)

• On confronting violence:

  “You are Chinese People’s army killing the Chinese people. Stop it. Stop it.” (08:19, Observer/Commentator)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:25 – Wu Kaishi describes leading the May 4 protest.
• 01:22 – Protesters’ hopes for democracy and press freedom.
• 03:16 – Hu Yaobang’s death as the catalyst.
• 04:12 – Protesters gather at Tiananmen Square for the funeral.
• 05:35 – Marches grow on the May 4 anniversary.
• 05:58 – Nationwide spread of protests.
• 07:05 – Arrival of world media; Gorbachev–Deng summit.
• 07:43 – Government mobilizes troops and tanks.
• 08:32 – Wu’s recollections of massacre from the hospital.

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is both intimate and analytical, blending personal memory with historical context. Wu Kaishi’s candid testimonies, blended with archival clips and narration, evoke both the feeling of hope that carried the movement and the shock and tragedy of its brutal suppression.

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This episode delivers a gripping first-hand narrative of collective courage, state power, and a pivotal moment in modern Chinese history, making it essential listening for those seeking to understand the lead-up to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Transcript

[Tom Bonnet]

Hello. Welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service with me, Tom Bonnet. I'm taking you back to 1989 and one of the biggest demonstrations in China's history. Exactly one month before the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.

[Wu Kaishi]

I remember on May 4, the student demonstration was massive.

[Tom Bonnet]

Leading the demonstrators that day was our witness, Wu Kaishi.

[Wu Kaishi]

I was the general commander of that mass demonstration. I recall at least 100,000 students in Beijing took the street and the march lasted longer than 10km. And we were welcomed by Beijing's citizens wherever we go. So it has to be. More than a million Beijing citizens were on the street welcoming us.

[Tom Bonnet]

Wu Kaishi and his fellow students were urging China's leaders to listen to them because they wanted progress.

[Wu Kaishi]

We want from that day on the voice of people to be heard in China. So we want press freedom and then maybe in future take part in China's free election. Democracy.

[Tom Bonnet]

That huge protest of May 4 had been born out of smaller demonstrations that were happening on university campuses throughout the 1980s. It was a time of reform. China was opening up and embracing technology from the west and global trade. For the students, it was an opportunity for political reform too.

[Wu Kaishi]

Throughout those 10 years, there were student movements almost every year. College students were encouraged for a decade that this is a time of change and open and reform and for better China. People remembered 80s as the 10 golden year, like a wonderful 10 years, beautiful 10 years. You can imagine. I mean, the whole world is pouring in. Everything seemed new all of a sudden. Everything seemed possible. So we wanted to be in control of our own lives, to be able to, you know, live the life that the same age young students in the United States or United Kingdom were living. But we know we need to get democracy.

[Tom Bonnet]

In 1989, with the decade drawing to a close, the demonstrators were no closer to political reform. So how did Wu Kai Xi and the student leaders galvanize a generation and gather that enormous crowd in Beijing on May 4? Well, it began with the death of a key ally.

[Narrator]

The former Communist Party leader in China, Hu Yaobang, has died of a heart attack at the age of 73, who once considered the most likely successor to Deng Xiaoping as the country's senior leader, was forced to step down two years ago after being accused of aiding the spread of so called bourgeois liberal ideas.

[Wu Kaishi]

He has been removed from his general secretary position because he was supporting to the student movement. And two years later we learned that he had a heart attack. In a meeting, students came running up

[Eyewitness/Protester]

saying they'd just heard the news and couldn't believe it. The wrong man has died, Said one bluntly.

[Tom Bonnet]

The seeds of the May 4 protest had been sown. And at Hui Yaobang's funeral in mid April, crowds began to gather in large numbers in Tiananmen Square.

[Eyewitness/Protester]

100,000 students and workers in the world's largest square, in defiance of government plans to seal off the area for whose official funeral shouting down with dictatorship.

[Wu Kaishi]

From the death of Weilburg on April 15 to June 4, it lasted 50 days, but ended in June the fourth. It was a massacre. Let me tell you what's in our mind. During the 50 days of protest, every student were thinking, we know we're going to meet a suppression. The suppression for the student leaders like people in my position, we were thinking could be prison terms for the demonstrators, could be beat the hell out of us police clubbing and for the general participant is getting a very lousy job assignment. Nevertheless, when you are in a movement like that scale, you cannot afford just to be totally pessimistic. You have to be somewhat hopeful. And we were hopeful.

[Tom Bonnet]

Then comes May 4, a public holiday in China that commemorates a student protest 70 years ago to the day. So it's on this significant anniversary that the line of demonstrators gets longer and longer.

[Wu Kaishi]

It was one of the biggest demonstration that the People's Republic had ever seen, including during the Cultural Revolution Red Guard demonstration. None of them have reached the level of that demonstration that day, May 1, 1989.

[Tom Bonnet]

And the marches weren't just happening in Beijing.

[Wu Kaishi]

We know that the movement have spread it to the whole country. Every city that has a university had demonstration that day. There's more than 300 cities. And we say, wow, we have reached 100 million people at the very least in supporting us. So I would say the main force movement is one of the high points of the student demonstration. And then the Chinese regime responded very poorly. They said, okay, okay, we're going to have a dialogue. We were excluded from dialogue. So the next logic step for us to escalate hunger strike. Today we are holding a hunger strike. We protest the government's postponement in carrying on dialogue. Almost every Beijinger took the street to show their support to the student teachers, intelligentsia, journalists, editors. One of our most important ally was

[Tom Bonnet]

the media workers and Wu Kai Xi and the demonstrators were hunger striking. Just as the world's media arrived for a crucial political summit. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was meeting Chinese ruler Dong Xiaoping.

[Wu Kaishi]

So the journalists came in and saw, wow, there's a mass sit in. We came to cover a summit and we walk into a revolution.

[Tom Bonnet]

With the demonstrations being broadcast on television screens, the protests swell even more.

[Eyewitness/Protester]

Huge crowds of people were pouring onto the streets in a triumphant mood, sensing, it seemed that the tide of hatred against the regime was unstoppable.

[Wu Kaishi]

By the end of May, the pressure to the Chinese regime have reached to such a high point. Deng Xiaoping decided, okay, I'm going to say no to those peaceful demonstrators, but I'm going to make sure the whole country can also hear our answer. They start to mobilize troops coming to Beijing. Hundreds of thousands of troops wearing helmet. And then there were tanks. To do what? To remove worn out hunger strikers in the Tiananmen Square.

[Observer/Commentator]

There is shock, there is bewilderment, there is utter rage. They thought they never would fire on their own people. It was one of the things they were shouting at them last night. You are Chinese People's army killing the Chinese people. Stop it. Stop it.

[Wu Kaishi]

In June Force, it was a massacre. I was in a hospital due to my heart condition, triggered by hunger strike. But even in the hospital I hear gunshots and everything. And then also the casualty poured into the hospital. So yes, it's loud, it's bloody, it's visible.

[Tom Bonnet]

Wu Kai Xi was speaking to me. Tom Bonnet for Witness History from the BBC World Service. If you've enjoyed listening, why not leave us a review? Please share it with anyone you think would like to hear it. It really helps us let people know about the amazing stories people tell us on Witness History. Make sure you hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts.