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Tiananmen protest leader: ‘I never expected a massacre’

Twenty-five years ago, weeks of protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square ended with a violent crackdown by the Chinese military. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested - the exact number is still unclear. Many of the student leaders fled China to escape persecution, and remain in exile to this day. One of them is Chai Ling, who was then 23 years old. As one of the leaders of the movement, she ended up on the Chinese government's most wanted list. Chai Ling now lives in Boston in the United States. She looks back at her role in the protests.

(Photo: Protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989)

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8 minutes