Tiananmen Square: 20 years later

Nation & World News

Foreign journalists were barred from Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday as police fanned out across the vast plaza on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on 1989 pro-democracy protests. This photo is the most enduring image of the Chinese crackdown. An anti-government protester stands in front of artillery tanks in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, at the height of the pro-democracy protests. To this day, no one is sure whether "Tank Man" is still alive.

A mime artist dressed as a Chinese PLA soldier stands next to a cutout of a tank during a street drama in a downtown street in Hong Kong Wednesday.

A Chinese honor guard welcomes Malaysian prime minister to Tiananmen Square on Wednesday.

One week before the 1989 Chinese crackdown, student leader Wang Dan in Tiananmen Square Beijing calls for a citywide march.

A protester wears mask, painted "6.4, " shorthand for the June 4 crackdown date, during a march to the government office in Hong Kong Sunday.

A member of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) stands guard in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Authorities blocked social networking and image-sharing Web sites such as Twitter and Flickr and confined dissidents to their homes or forced them to leave Beijing, as they ramped up efforts to prevent online discussions about or commemorations of those who died in the military assault on demonstrators on the night of June 3-4 1989.

Runners cross by Tiananmen gate and a portrait of the late Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong near the start of the men's marathon during the Beijing 2008 Olympics in August 2008.

Sun Liyong (ri9ght) and Sun Yi pose for a photo in their home in the Sydney suburb of Campsie, Australia. Sun Yi's father was a Tiananmen-era dissident who was imprisoned for openly criticizing the crackdown. She admires her father, but wonders if his sacrifices, a broken marriage and seven years in jail, were worth it.

A young Chinese boy visits Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Beijing has never allowed an independent investigation into the military's crushing of the 1989 protests, in which possibly thousands of students, activists and ordinary citizens were killed. And young Chinese know little about the events, having grown up in a generation that has largely eschewed politics in favor of nationalism and economic development.

Students from the University of Hong Kong attend a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong.

A man arranges candles as supporters of the victims of the 1989 Chinese government crackdown hold a candlelight vigil ahead of its 20th anniversary in Taipei, Taiwan.

Artist Rachel Wong reads a Bible on Wednesday in Hong Kong. Wong is part of a group of young artists who painted their bodies yellow as a means of representing the skin color of Chinese and to also symbolize freedom.

Candles are lit Wednesday in support of the Chinese victims in Taipei, Taiwan.

A student from the University of Hong Kong attends a candlelight vigil Wednesday in Hong Kong.

A young woman in Taipei, Taiwan, views images of the Chinese government crackdown on protesters ahead of 20th anniversary of Beijing's Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.

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Foreign journalists were barred from Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday as police fanned out across the vast plaza on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on 1989 pro-democracy protests. This photo is the most enduring image of the Chinese crackdown. An anti-government protester stands in front of artillery tanks in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, at the height of the pro-democracy protests. To this day, no one is sure whether "Tank Man" is still alive.

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