cce blog

tiananmen

Today is "六四" (6/4), the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which, as massacres go, was pretty brutal (and recent!), but is still a hush-up affair in China, as The Economist put it:

The government has tried hard to dull memories of the upheaval of 1989 and its violent suppression. Public discussion of what happened between April 15th and June 4th that year is completely taboo. Notwithstanding the supposed power of the internet to provide uncensored information, Chinese outside Beijing, and even younger residents of the capital, often appear unaware of the scale and ruthlessness of the military action that left hundreds of unarmed protesters and bystanders dead. This week's 15th anniversary of the crackdown will likely pass unnoticed by most Chinese, except in Hong Kong where thousands were expected to attend an annual candle-lit vigil on Friday.

Today's NYTimes editorial was also good (plus Kristof's):

After 15 years, China's leaders still pretend that the Tiananmen movement was a violent counterrevolutionary rebellion that endangered China's security and its future. By not acknowledging that the brutal suppression was a tragic mistake, China keeps Tiananmen an unhealed wound. ... It is time for it to honor the idealism and courage of so many Chinese citizens and tell the true story of that terrible night.

There're vigils in many cities (including NYC) today, so you ought to go to one. I ought to go also. I'm too chicken to bring the sign I want ("FUCK YOU DALU!"), though. (Don't get me wrong: I love Chinese people, just not the ones who shoot other Chinese people with dum-dum bullets.)

Alternatively, you should look at these unsettling previously unpublished Tiananmen photographs being exhibited in Flushing right now (found via VOA, HRIC).

Posted by cce at June 4, 2004 12:05 PM | TrackBack