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| 1988 |
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| Reforms continued apace, and the economy was developing so rapidly that Chinese inflation soared to 20 percent early in the year. This and other problems resulting from the Four Modernizations program were discussed intently late in the year at the Central Committee plenum and the National People's Congress (early 1989). | 1 |
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| 1989, April 15 |
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| Hu Yaobang died suddenly of a heart attack. | 2 |
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| April 17 |
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| A massive demonstration of students from various Beijing campuses was held in Tiananmen Square to eulogize Hu Yaobang. A sit-in took place nearby (April 18) at the Great Hall of the People. | 3 |
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| April 24 |
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| A widespread strike of university classes began in Beijing, demanding that the government listen to the students' demands. | 4 |
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| May 4 |
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| On the 70th anniversary of the May Fourth Incident (1919), over 100,000 students gathered peacefully at Tiananmen Square. | 5 |
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| May 19 |
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| Zhao Ziyang went out to talk with students and exhorted those of them enduring a hunger strike (about 300) to put an end to it. Li Peng denounced the demonstrators—nearly 1 million at this point—as “counterrevolutionaries.” On the next day (May 20), martial law was declared. When troops attempted to enter the square (May 21), the students blocked them. | 6 |
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| May 30 |
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| A statue of the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom was brought into Tiananmen Square. | 7 |
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| June 3–4 |
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| PLA TROOPS ENTERED TIANANMEN SQUARE DURING THE NIGHT AND FIRED DIRECTLY INTO THE SLEEPING CROWD. Even more were killed at Muxidi, west of the square. In all, several thousand died. Sympathy demonstrations erupted elsewhere. Deng Xiaoping lambasted the students (June 9) and praised the army. | 8 |
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