| Tiananmen Square, 15 Years After |
Website by Suzanne MacNevin, June 4th / 2004.
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Tens of thousands mark Tiananmen anniversary
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG - Angered by China's hard line against democracy in Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people waved candles, sang and chanted today to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. "Hong Kong should be democratic," university student Rocker Tsui said at an annual vigil that was highly charged as a result of the recent bitter dispute over the territory's political future. "Hong Kong people should be ruling Hong Kong ourselves." Beijing shocked and outraged Hong Kong by deploying tanks and troops on June 4, 1989, to stop the unarmed students who sought to bring democracy to the authoritarian mainland. Hundreds if not thousands were killed, and one million Hong Kong people spontaneously took to the streets in protest, fearful for what lay ahead as they waited for Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997. Bitter memories linger, along with admiration for the students who gave their lives in Beijing. "The people's republic should be for the people, not for killing the people," said a woman who identified herself only by the surname, Pau, at the rally in a sprawling downtown park. A monument was set up that said: Democracy's heroes stand forever. The crowd bowed three times in a traditional Chinese funeral gesture, then chanted slogans including "demand accountability for the massacre." In Beijing, police kept the Tiananmen Square area free of demonstrators today, detaining at least 16 people while activists abroad marked the 15th anniversary of the deadly attack on pro-democracy protesters and pressed their demands for political change. In Hong Kong, people have grown increasingly frustrated and unhappy with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who took control when the British left and is seen by many as a puppet of Beijing. Tensions escalated when China decreed last April that Hong Kong people cannot elect Tung's successor in 2007. "He doesn't know how to deal with political problems or the economy - I wish we had a choice," said teacher Pat Sy. "Democracy is good for people. It's more important than the economy."
Although critics accuse China of stripping away Hong Kong's guaranteed autonomy, Beijing has stressed economic growth for the territory in hopes that it will mute demands for more democracy. The Tiananmen Square vigil attracted numerous ordinary citizens, elderly people and young couples who brought small children so they could teach them about China's crackdown. The annual event typically attracts tens of thousands of people. Beijing says its troops were needed to break up a counter-revolutionary riot but Hong Kongers believe the real intent was stopping dissent that challenged China's one-party rule. Politics in Hong Kong have grown more turbulent since last July 1, when 500,000 people marched against an anti-subversion bill they viewed as a threat to their freedoms and Tung had to withdraw it. Emboldened by the success of the "people power" movement, many began clamouring for universal suffrage. Beijing ruled in April that it won't happen any time soon. "This year it's important for people to show they will not be silenced," said Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, a non-governmental organization.
Many in Hong Kong feel a duty to speak out, because they enjoy free speech rights - unheard of in the authoritarian mainland - under a government arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems" put in place at the handover. While ruling out the direct election of Hong Kong's next leader in 2007, Beijing also said ordinary Hong Kong citizens cannot choose all legislators in 2008. In September, voters will pick just 30 of 60 seats, with the rest chosen by special interest groups such as business leaders who tend to side with Beijing and Tung. Tung was chosen by an 800-member committee loyal to Beijing.
Personal testimonies of some of those who witnessed the protests and bloodshed in Beijing in 1989
"A tank came upon us like a gust of wind"
"He was shot in the front"
"It is very difficult for me to forget"
"We felt an uneasy sense of foreboding"
"I felt that the people had truly stood up"
Tiananmen no longer a deep secret
Beijing—Fifteen years after Chinese tanks crushed the student-led pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, students are being cast as central characters in a political battle over information. They are both the main beneficiaries of an information explosion and a focus of an authoritarian government redoubling its efforts to control the flow. Thanks to China's economic opening up, and growing use of the Internet, students are able to access more information than ever about what happened during the June 4, 1989, crackdown, which they colloquially refer to now as "6-4." Hundreds, perhaps thousands of student protesters were killed when government troops and tanks moved into Tiananmen Square, but in China, such information was forcefully suppressed. As foreigners flood China, locals are also learning more from them. "I have had conversations with my arts friends" about Tiananmen, said Australian student Jamie Coates, 21. "Their knowledge was mostly of the official type." Some students, raised on a diet of Communist party propaganda and nationalism, don't believe the information now within their grasp. But for those who do, it's a dangerous challenge to the party's monopoly over information and a primary means of maintaining control over its citizens, especially democracy advocates, many of whom security police have reportedly placed under house arrest in preparation for today's anniversary. Yesterday, giant, windswept Tiananmen Square, which sits docked at the mouth of the Forbidden City, was quiet, save for a few groups of young people attracting the attention of police. The army's assault against the protesters was centred around here. After the death of Communist party liberal Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989, mourners took to the square and stayed there, demanding democratic reform. On June 4, according to witnesses and rights groups, the protests came to a bloody end when the tanks rolled in. To this day, high-school textbooks make only the briefest mention of the killings. While they blame unruly students poisoned by liberal, capitalist thought from the West, they omit naming either Tiananmen or that it happened here in China's capital. But through a growing number of creative means, students have been able to learn more than ever. "Now in the international community, a hot word is `human rights,'" said Wang, a student at Beijing's Language and Culture University. "Even unconsciously, we will relate the (Tiananmen) incident to human rights." The Internet, for which China now has 80 million users, is a primary information tool. Though hundreds of Web sites related to the Tiananmen massacre have been blocked or shut down, a simple Google search in Chinese will reveal a handful that can still be accessed, including court judgments of protesters and even the famous picture of the man who single-handedly held back a column of tanks. Some online discussion boards have escaped shutdown. One posting yesterday said the government "treated students the way hunters treat rabbits." E-mail and instant messaging services, such as MSN, are also a new means to exchange information. "Many friends who go to other countries to study can know information from there, and by MSN or e-mail, tell us," said finance student Du Cheng Ye, 21.
Howard Balloch, former Canadian ambassador to Beijing, said China's political rights have not progressed as far as civil rights and yet, "there is no question that in every area of human endeavour and engagement, the Chinese are better off and freer and more protected in their rights than probably at any time in their historical past." In some ways, the government's suppression of information about Tiananmen has been successful: It is at risk of becoming an afterthought by some younger students. Many interviewed knew few, if any, details. "If we don't understand it, how can we talk about it?" said Qu Zuoliang, a 22-year-old student from Hebei province studying at Beijing University. He was only 8 when the massacre took place, and only learned about it a few years ago. "There were deaths, but I don't know how many. I'm not sure who is to blame." Many students, including Qu, have seen a fuzzy video recording allegedly of the battle at Tiananmen that's circulating around China's campuses. But Qu said he doesn't believe it's real. "It probably comes from Taiwan or the U.S." And others say outright they don't believe the foreign version of events in Tiananmen, the student, Wang being one of them: "Foreigners use Tiananmen to say human rights in China is bad to the core. It's not true, and it's unfair." |
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