Introduction

30 years ago, in 19 89, the capital city of china was gripped by mass protests led by university students and factory kers. The results were as tragic, horrific and unforgettable as could be with images and video of the brutal crackdown sent across the world. Yet for much of the subsequent three decades, the ruling party of china has enforced increasingly stringent measures on its own populace to limit and even to erase entirely the memory of june fourth, 19 89 from the collective memory of the chinese citizenry.