An Australian man who watched the events of Tiananmen Square from a Beijing hotel has retold what he saw that horrifying day.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the massacre that killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese student-led protesters on June 4 1989.

They were brutally killed by government troops after they were deemed a threat by the Communist government for demanding rights to democracy and free speech.

John Flitcroft was there on the day everything unfolded, and tells Chris Smith he was in the square itself just before the carnage began.

John Flitcroft pictured in a newspaper article about the massacre

He says he realised the seriousness of the situation when he had a sobering conversation with a protester.

“This guy, he just said to me, “I’m ready to die for this”. And that’s when it really hit me.

“Probably only a few minutes after that everyone started racing towards the north-west corner of the square, and that was basically when the troops were mobilising and getting up ready to march into the square.”

He tells Chris how he watched the events unfold from the balcony of a hotel room that borders the square, and how he lent a roll of film to the photographer who took the iconic ‘tank man’ photo.

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