Tiananmen were student-led pro-democracy demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing starting in April 1989. Overnight on June 3, 1989, soldiers fatally shot hundreds, maybe thousands, of protesters and bystanders in Beijing in a crackdown ordered by Deng Xiaoping. . It remains one of the most censored topics in China today.
Tsien addressed a meeting of leading scientists to study and discuss Deng Xiaoping’s speech on Tiananmen. He called Fang Lizhi, a prominent astrophysicist who supported the students, “scum of the nation” and condemned him for a treasonable act. Tsien called the students nothing more than common ruffians.
Tsien received many awards and accolades from the Chinese government after his support of their suppression of the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement.
An annual candlelight vigil is held in Hong Kong on June 4 to remember the Beijing students. Up to 200,000 people have attended. 2020 was the first year it was banned and tens of thousands of people attended in defiance.