How did the Chinese government respond to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests?

The Chinese government responded to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests with a forceful crackdown. After weeks of demonstrations calling for political and economic reforms, the government declared martial law in Beijing. On the night of June 3-4, 1989, troops and tanks cleared Tiananmen Square of demonstrators, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands wounded, though the official death toll was lower. The government labeled the protesters "counterrevolutionaries" and has since suppressed references to the incident. This event severely damaged the Chinese Communist Party's international reputation.123