Did the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown happen in 1989?

Yes, the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown occurred in 1989. The protests began in April 1989, centered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and were primarily led by students calling for political reform, greater freedoms, and anti-corruption measures in China. The demonstrations grew to include hundreds of thousands of participants over the following weeks.

The crackdown came on the night of June 3–4, 1989, when the Chinese government sent military troops and tanks into Beijing to clear the square and suppress the protests by force. This resulted in a significant number of deaths, though the exact death toll remains disputed and has never been officially confirmed by the Chinese government, with estimates ranging from several hundred to possibly thousands of people killed.

The event remains one of the most sensitive topics in China, where it is heavily censored, and is commemorated annually by activists and human rights groups around the world, particularly in Hong Kong (historically) and among the Chinese diaspora.