i was in my first year in peking university. i was 20 years old.g role from the very beginning of the protests. we went onto the streets to demand democracy. although the communist party had tried to reform, it hadn't done enough, and we wanted to pay tribute to the communist party leader, hu yaobang, who had just died. we students love him deeply, because he was open—minded. i left tiananmen square around noon onjune 3. although we all knew we were surrounded by troops, people were smiling. everyone was so optimistic that we were going to win. 0n the evening ofjune 3, i was in my dormitory in peking university with other students, discussing the future of our protests. tanks and troops are patrolling the streets of central peking after the bloody operation to crush student—led protests. some reports say more than 2,000 civilians were killed in last night's army assault on tiananmen square, held for seven weeks by students demanding greater democracy and an end to corruption. translation: other student told me i have to hide. they hid me in the oth