On June 4, 1989, the Chinese government responded with military force to students and other civilians protesting in Tiananmen Square and surrounding neighborhoods in the heart of Beijing. While the government reported 319 deaths due to the operation, some estimate the total to be as high as several thousand victims. According to some reports, no deaths occurred in Tiananmen Square itself. What actually took place there that day? One journalist continued to report from the square until the military took full control after 6:00 a.m. Today, we present again his invaluable account of this fateful event.
This video is an excerpt from the news special program (Hodo Tokushu) originally broadcast at June 4, 1989.

The conflict begins late at night, when students and other civilians start screaming and throwing rocks at soldiers.

After midnight, soldiers of the People's Liberation Army approach Tiananmen Square from the west.

For a while, the students and citizens face off against the soldiers and hold them back by throwing rocks.

The agitation of the civilians and students reaches an initial peak after 1:30 a.m. At that moment, a tank arrives. Coming from Chang'an Avenue to the east, it crashes through the barricades the civilians have erected. It then continues toward Tiananmen Square.

The tank is quickly surrounded by students and other civilians. The soldiers are drawn out of the vehicle, and the civilians attack it with Molotov cocktails, setting it on fire. Until this point it has seemed as though the civilians might be able to hold back the People's Liberation Army. Then, from the west, over a thousand soldiers arrive at Tiananmen Square, repeatedly firing warning shots. Taken by surprise by the heightened aggression of the troops, the civilians pull back.

The soldiers and civilians continue to face off. Then, a lone student holding a Molotov cocktail begins to walk toward the soldiers. Other civilians scream at him to stop and come back, but he continues to advance step by step toward the soldiers. At a distance of 10 meters, the student is suddenly shot in the right arm, the one holding the Molotov cocktail. It breaks with a dull sound at his feet.

Then, waiting soldiers crowd into Tiananmen Square from Chang'an Avenue. They block off this exit route and once again fire warning shots that echo in the air.

From 3:00 to 4:00 a.m., the soldiers form a tighter and tighter ring around the square. Unlike the civilians on Chang'an Avenue, the students in Tiananmen Square seem to have made up their minds to stay. They suppress their fears and wait with apparent calm for the soldiers to arrive.

At 4:30 a.m., the moment has come. Dozens of soldiers approach the Monument to the People's Heroes, where the students have their headquarters. The soldiers occupy the space, continuously firing warning shots.

At 4:40 a.m., a final warning is delivered via the loudspeakers in the square. At 5:00 a.m., several hundred soldiers rush into the square, and tanks crash through the students' camp.

Thrown into chaos, the students flee via the southeast corner of the square. Some of the students have detached look, but the anguished face of one student from the countryside is unforgettable.

By 6:00 a.m., the military has regained complete control of Tiananmen Square.

By Junichi Taniguchi, TBS(Tokyo Broadcasting System)