-Source-ABC-
This year marks the 29th anniversary of China’s violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
More than a generation later, this pivotal event in modern Chinese history still remains one of the most taboo subjects in China and one the Chinese Communist Party wishes could be forgotten to the pages of history.
Every year as June 4 approaches -- the date the military retook the square from pro-democracy protesters -- security is stepped up, journalists are barred from the vicinity and internet censors block any references to the incident.
Even references as oblique as "May 35" or emojis of a tank next to a man are scrubbed from the Chinese domestic internet.
Here’s why the events of June 4, 1989, continue to haunt the Chinese.
The site
Tiananmen Square is the public square in front of the Tiananmen Gate, or the "Gate of Heavenly Peace," where Mao Zedong’s portrait has hung since he proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949.
First built in the 17th century by the invading Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and greatly expanded under the Communist government, the square at the heart of the Chinese capital has been the site of several historically significant events in Chinese history. Prior to 1989, the most significant protest occurred after the death of China’s first premier, Zhou Enlai, in 1976, when students initially gathered in the square to mourn the late Chinese leader. Read more