Did the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown happen in 1989?

Yes, the Tiananmen Square protests and the subsequent military crackdown occurred in 1989.[1]

Student-led pro-democracy demonstrations began in mid-April 1989 in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (and spread to other cities), sparked by the death of reformist Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang. Protesters called for political reform, democracy, free speech, an end to corruption, and other changes. The gatherings grew to include hundreds of thousands (estimates reached over a million at peak) of students, workers, and citizens.[2]

After weeks of protests, the Chinese government declared martial law in May. On the night of June 3–4, 1989, People’s Liberation Army troops and tanks forcibly cleared the square and surrounding areas, using live ammunition. This is widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or June Fourth Incident. Death toll estimates vary: the Chinese government reported around 241 deaths (including soldiers), while independent and contemporary accounts from journalists, diplomats, and others range from several hundred to several thousand civilians killed, with many more injured and thousands arrested.[3]

This is a well-documented historical event, confirmed by contemporaneous reporting, eyewitness accounts, declassified materials, and sources including Britannica, History.com, AP, Reuters, BBC, CNN, Amnesty International, and academic records. The Chinese government has suppressed discussion of it domestically and refers to it in more limited terms (e.g., as “political turmoil”), but the occurrence in 1989 is not in serious historical dispute.[4]