Tiananmen revisited
Although the 4th June anniversary of the Tiananmen protests has passed, there is still a lot of discussion about the significance of the twentieth anniversary: how has China changed? Is that change meaningful or superficial? Could the Tiananmen protests occur today, and if so how would today’s Chinese government respond? How would our governments respond?
I’ve been reading a book called “Prisoner of the State: The secret journal of Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang”, which describes in vivid and often depressing detail the conspiracies and dirty power struggles that took place behind the scenes during those weeks before the Tiananmen protests were crushed. Some, like Zhao, argued that the protesters had valid concerns and that the government should talk with them, while others (including Deng Xiaopeng) saw the students as a rabble whose dissent should be shut down using whatever means necessary. One can’t help but wonder how China might have altered over 20 years had Zhao’s position been the triumphant one.
Also over the past week, The Economist online has been running a series of photos from Tiananmen by photographer Stuart Franklin, who was in Beijing during 1989 and captured one version of the iconic ‘Tankman’ photos of a lone man blocking a row of tanks from progressing out of Tiananmen Square. The photos make for really interesting viewing and I was struck by his description of the atmosphere on the square as “a Chinese Woodstock”.
It’s useful to remind ourselves of just how close China came to a dramatic shift in its political system that summer of 1989.
Source: www.economist.com
2 Responses to “Tiananmen revisited”
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It is sad, that such domination over China and North Korea by the Political Powers continues, isolating and breaking the will of the people being governed. These examples of abusive Powers should only strengthen (not anger) our resolve to stand together and represent “freer” societies around the globe, and open dialogue to overcome such oppression. We as human beings should struggle fervently to rid our glorious planet of such inhumane acts, and try to solve the serious issues (such as Global Warming and its potential destruction of a “livable” environment) TOGETHER, and not antagonistically!
We have much to Live for, and much to gain if we work together to overcome such adversity!
Thank you for the very interesting slide show – the more information put out on the air and netwaves regarding this event, the better. And as many Tibetans on the net have stated, there are striking similarities between these protests and those of March ‘08 – namely, that people living under the rule of the Chinese state were and still are incredibly dissatisfied with state policies, but completely and utterly unable to make changes.
Until the govt of China serves the people it governs, instead of simply perpetuating its own power, I believe large scale protests will continue to be widespread.