logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2024
22m 13s

Special - Tiananmen Square: The Declassi...

CHRIS STEWART
About this episode

Doc 1: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, A Student Demonstration of Sorts in Tiananmen Square (11/21/85)

Doc 2: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Government Arrests Student Demonstrators (11/25/85)

Doc 3: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, More Student Demonstrations (12/23/85)

Doc 4: From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Student Demonstrations Update (12/24/86)

Doc 5: IPAC Daily Intelligence Summary 1-87, China: Student Demonstrations (01/02/87)

Doc 6: IPAC Daily Intelligence Summary 10-87, China: Hu Yaobang Resigns (01/17/87)

Doc 7: Memorandum of Conversation, [George Bush] Meeting with Wan Li, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Member of the Politburo, People’s Republic of China (05/23/89)

Doc 8: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/0289, China: Stalemate Continues

Doc 9: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/03/89, China: Police Use Tear Gas on Crowds

Doc 10: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 27: Martial Law with Chinese Characteristics (06/03/89)

Doc 11: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 28: Ten to Fifteen Thousand Armed Troops Stopped at City Perimeter by Human and Bus Barricades (06/03/89)

Doc 12: Cable, From: Department of State, Wash DC, To: U.S. Embassy Beijing, and All Diplomatic and Consular Posts, TFCHO1: SITREP 1, 1700 EDT (06/03/89)

Doc 13: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/04/89, China: Troops Open Fire

Doc 14: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 32 (06/04/89)

Doc 15: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 33 (06/04/89)

Doc 16: Cable, From: Department of State, Wash DC, To: U.S. Embassy Beijing, China Task Force Situation Report No. 3 (06/04/89)

Doc 17: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/05/89, China: After the Bloodbath

Doc 18: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 35 (06/05/89)

Doc 19: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/06/89, China: Descent into Chaos

Doc 20: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01--SITREP No. 37 (06/06/89)

Doc 21: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/07/89, China: Tense Standoff Continues

Doc 22: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01--SITREP No. 38 (06/07/89)

Doc 23: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/9/89, China: Uneasy Calm

Doc 24: Department of State Intelligence Brief, "Current Situation in China: Background and Prospects" (Ca. 06/10/89)

Doc 25: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/10/89, China: Mixed Signals on Purge

Doc 26: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, SITREP No. 49, (06/11/89)

Doc 27: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/14/89, China: Back to Business, But Crackdown Continues

Doc 28: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/15/89, China: Accusation over Fang Lizhi

Doc 29: Secretary of State's Morning Summary for 06/21/89, China: Swift Justice

Doc 30: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, Eyewitness Account of June 4 PLA Tank Crushing 11 Students and Related Early Morning Events in Tiananmen Square (06/22/89)

Doc 31: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, What Happened on the Night of June 3/4? (06/22/89)

Doc 32: Cable, From: U.S. Embassy Beijing, To: Department of State, Wash DC, TFCH01: SITREP No. 65 (06/27/89)

Doc 33: State Department document entitled "Themes" (06/29/89)

Doc 34: State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, "Status Report on Situation in China as of 07/ 26/89"

Doc 35: State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, "China: Aftermath of the Crisis" (07/27/89)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Jul 31
#301 - Qing 36: And I Think It's Gonna Be a Qianlong Time
In the wake of military victory, Qianlong turns inward—launching literary purges, rewriting history, and curating an image of himself as the enlightened ruler of a Confucian empire. Through censorship, spectacle, and the manipulation of memory, the Qing court fights a new kind of ... Show More
33m 43s
Jul 26
#300 - Qing 35: Empire of Images
What does it take to hold an empire together when conquest alone isn’t enough? In this sweeping episode, we explore how the Qianlong Emperor fused culture, coercion, and Confucian performance to stabilize a multiethnic empire—crafting an imperial image as powerful as his armies. ... Show More
38m 49s
Jul 19
#299 - Qing 34: Remember to Remember to Forget You Forgot Me
This was no peace borne of reconciliation; this was silence, enforced by amnesia. Time Period Covered: ~ 1739-1759 CE Major Historical Figures: Qing Empire: The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735–1796] Minister Fuheng General Bandi [d. 1755] General Yongchang Khalka M ... Show More
41m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 8
The First Emperor of China
In the third century BC, China was a land fractured by war - a patchwork of rival kingdoms struggling for dominance. Out of this chaos rose a single, extraordinary figure who would reshape the course of history: Chin Shrr Hwong, the First Emperor of China. His achievements were m ... Show More
58m 24s
Aug 2024
181. The Dragon Empress: China’s Game of Thrones
The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked co ... Show More
36m 14s
Nov 2024
204. Babur: The First Mughal Emperor
“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur Before he became the father of the Mughal dynasty, and the author of one of the most important memoirs in world history, Babur was a provincial young prince in modern-day Uzbekistan. ... Show More
52m 59s
Feb 2025
Legacy: Genghis Khan
After victory in China, Genghis Khan goes west and takes on the Khwarezmians, surprising his enemy with a daring assault. He conquers all in his path and now controls the biggest empire the world has ever seen. But whose shoulders are broad enough to become his successor? Listen ... Show More
7m 58s
Jan 2025
Empress Wu Zetian of China
Empress Wu Zetian rose from royal concubine to become the only female ruler in China’s 2,000 years of imperial history. Today she is seen as ruthless, tyrannical and willing to murder her own family to hold onto the throne. However this female leader has suffered from a millenniu ... Show More
22m 20s
Jan 2025
221. War of Succession: The Battle That Shook India (Ep 2)
With their father in very bad health and rumours of his death swirling around the empire, Shah Jahan’s four sons decide it is their time to take his place. Only one has been chosen by Shah Jahan… The accomplished oldest son Dara Shukoh. However the war of succession has begun, an ... Show More
54m 32s
Mar 2025
Genghis Khan and the Mongols, Part 2 of 2
The leader brings reforms to his newly unified Mongol nation. The man formerly known as Temüjin will now conquer an empire bigger than any before in recorded history. But what are the innovations that underpin his supremacy? And how will history judge him - as a cruel tyrant, or ... Show More
51m 59s
Jun 22
Episode A5 - The Cupbearer
Synopsis: Sargon of Akkad forges the world’s first Empire. “After Enlil’s baleful glare Had slain Kish like the Bull of Heaven, Had slaughtered house and land of Uruk in the dust, like that monster bull, And Enlil had then and there given Sargon, king of Agade, Lordship of Uruk, ... Show More
49m 25s
Mar 2025
Genghis Khan and the Mongols, Part 1 of 2
We're in the Mongol lands of Central Asia in the late 1100s. This is a place of nomadic warriors, a region divided between tribes. But one man will emerge to unite them. Armed with the greatest military mind of his age, he will lead the Mongol peoples far beyond their own borders ... Show More
53m 44s