Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier

Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun on June 5, 1989 as tanks took position at Beijing's key intersections next to the diplomatic compound. A series of pro-democracy protests was sparked by the April 15 death of former communist party leader Hu Yaobang. In a show of force, China leaders vented their fury and frustration on student dissidents and their pro-democracy supporters. Several hundred people have been killed and thousands wounded when soldiers moved on Tiananmen Square during a violent military crackdown ending six weeks of student demonstrations, known as the Beijing Spring movement. According to Amnesty International, five years after the crushing of the Chinese pro-democracy movement, "thousands" of prisoners remained in jail. AFP PHOTO CATHERINE HENRIETTE (Photo credit should read CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP via Getty Images)