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Beijing • Tiananmen Square in the middle of Beijing has long been the center of political activity in China. But it is most well-known outside of China as the place where a student-led pro-democracy movement was crushed by the People's Liberation Army in 1989.
Hundreds of students and residents were killed when the army pushed into the city to retake the square from the student protesters.
China's official verdict is that the protests aimed to topple the ruling Communist Party and plunge the country into chaos. Protest leaders said they were seeking greater democracy and freedom, along with an end to corruption and favoritism within the party.
Wednesday is the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, crackdown that is a taboo subject in China banned from textbooks and websites.
Here are images from Tiananmen Square in 1989 and now: