By Mike Seccombe
Prime Minister Bob Hawke crying at a Chinese Memorial at Parliament House 9.6.89 at the height of the Chinese Democracy Movement following the events at TiananmenCredit: Graham Tidy
First published in the Sydney Morning Herald on June 10, 1989
CANBERRA: His voice breaking with emotion, the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, yesterday wept along with hundreds of Chinese students and other mourners at a memorial service at Parliament House for the slain of China.
More than 4,500 people, among them 500 Chinese students, entered Parliament House for the service. Only about half that number fitted into the Great Hall
Mr Hawke insisted on changing his prepared speech to include a cable he had received during the day from the Australian Embassy in Beijing. He shook and wept uncontrollably as he read it.
"The troops who first arrived attempted to drive the people away, and to separate the students from the ordinary citizens.
"A last warning was given and the students prepared to leave. They had expected to be given an hour. But within five minutes the anti-personnel carriers of the 27th entered the square, firing their machine guns as they came. When all those who had not managed to get away were either dead or wounded, foot soldiers went through the square, bayonetting or shooting anybody who was still alive.
'Massacre in Beijing': front cover of The Sydney Morning Herald, 05 June, 1989Credit: SMH
"They had orders that nobody in the square be spared, and children ... young girls were slaughtered as mercilessly as the many wounded soldiers from other units there.
"Tanks then ran backwards and forwards over the bodies of the slain, until they were reduced to pulp, after which bulldozers moved in to push the remains into piles, which were then incinerated by troops with flame throwers."
Mr Hawke spoke of the "acts of indescribable bravery" by protesting students which Westerners had seen on their television sets since then.
After it was over, a red-eyed Mr Hawke embraced the overwrought Ms Jin Zhefei, who spoke as representative of the Chinese students.
Speaker after speaker broke down as they talked of the atrocities committed in China over the past week. In the crowd - the Chinese wearing white flowers, and others black arm bands - many also wept.
* About 750 people, many standing, attended a memorial service at the University of Sydney yesterday to mourn those who lost their lives in the Beijing massacre.
The speakers included the Premier, Mr Greiner and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Carr.