Erin O’Toole releases statement commemorating the tragedy of Tiananmen Square in 1989

"Canada’s Conservatives will always stand up for freedom, democracy and human rights. Today, I join Chinese people around the world in remembering and honouring those who were murdered by the Chinese Communist Party in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989," tweeted the Conservative leader.

Jun. 4 1989 was the day when the Chinese authorities put a bloody end to student demonstrations, by sending the military in with full force to Tiananmen Square, which was full of students demanding human rights and a transition to democracy.

Tanks rolled in, often crushing demonstrators in the process. The police and military used real bullets in ending the protests in the most brutal manner possible. Witnesses recount blood flowing in the streets, and disfigured and incinerated corpses being washed down drains.

Nobody is really sure how many people died or were severely injured that day, but estimates range from several thousand to tens of thousands dead at the hands of Chinese police and military in one of the most grisly and brutal incidents in all of recorded human history.