World News for Students of English

10-06-2019 15:00

In 1989, the Tiananmen Square protests were protests for democracy and human rights in China. The Chinese government responded violently to these protests.

It is not known how many people died, but people say that it is something between a few hundred to a few thousand of people.

Now it is 30 years after the events at Tiananmen Square. Recently, China’s defence minister said that the violent response was the right move and that it was good for the stability of the country.

The US Secretary of State also talked about the Tiananmen Square protests. He said that the protesters were heroes, and he criticised China for not respecting the human rights. One of the examples that he gave was that China arrested more than 1 million Muslims recently.

Difficult words: human rights (for example, the idea that all people are free and that it is not OK to kill people), respond (answer, do something because of something else), violently (by fighting), Secretary of State (a person in the government who represents the USA in international events).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.