The Voice of Protesters

Fax Machines

With the crackdown on protesters, the Chinese government was adamant in blocking all communication channels. They wanted to not only isolate the protesters but make sure that the rest of China was in the dark. China didn't want international attention and possible global scrutiny. They took great measures in making sure that no news outlets were allowed to broadcast live from Beijing.

In 1989, there were no smartphones. Commercial cellphones, at the time, were not equipped with cameras or the advanced technology we have today. However, even with the extreme measures taken, the government missed the latest widespread new technology of fax machines. Fax machines are devices that can send or receive pictures over a telephone line. In the 1980s, you could find fax machines in most business offices, hotels, schools, hospitals, news rooms, etc.

Many Chinese university students in Hong Kong began to utilize these machines to bypass censorship. They created a network of fax machines and were able to start a "crowd-faxing campaign" of 500 corporate partners that participated in sending messages back and forth about daily protest news. Students were also faxing their petitions and reports to Chinese students, businesses and newsrooms globally. From there most would continue to spread the word or report back to China letting the students know that their voices were being heard. Faxing enabled the students to provide facts and images in real-time and all day. In addition, faxing became an important source of reporting to news outlets outside of China.

Unfortunately, the Chinese government was eventually alerted and fax machines were taken away or guarded by the government. However, news about the protests had already been distributed globally due to the protesters use of this technology!

Hunger Strike

In May, thousands of students went on a hunger strike because their demands for reform had not been met. They were trying to push the government to communicate with them. Protesters were also upset about an article that appeared in the Communist Party Newspaper back in April. It accused protesters of causing turmoil and plotting to overthrow the party.

The hunger strike began when the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was set to arrive in China for a summit. A welcoming ceremony was actually supposed to take place at Tiananmen Square, but this had to be moved with the protests going on to an airport. This was a huge embarrassment for the Chinese government. However, the hunger strike received global attention and public support.

In just a few days, 1.2 million joined the protests to support the students. The protesters also finally met with Communist Party Leader, Zhao Ziyang, and even received a televised meeting in the Great Hall of the People with Li Peng, a Chinese Premier, but nothing was resolved. In fact, martial law was declared.

Some slogans chanted by the protesters or posted on banners were as follows:

''We swear we shall stay on a hunger strike until the end, for the sake of democracy and the prosperity of China. We will not give up.''

''We can stand hunger, but we cannot stand a dictatorship.''

"Patriotism is not a crime!"

"Hungry for democracy!"

Top Photo: Goddess of Democracy in Vancouver

Bottom Photo: Goddess of Democracy in Hong Kong

Pleading with the Troops

When martial law was declared on May 19th, the next day thousands of troops were dispatched in order to occupy Beijing.

They were quickly blocked by protesters and residents before even making it to the square. The protesters pleaded with them to hear their demands and join their cause. They fed the soldiers and brought them water. They even used their children to gain sympathy.

This went on for three days before they departed never making it to the square. However, this did not go over well with the Chinese government, who once again viewed it as an embarrassment.

The days that followed would end tragically for thousands of protesters.