By Kin-ming Liu
Hong Kong -- I just returned from a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park where up to 55,000 people (claimed by the organizers; the police estimated 27,000 people) marked the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. This former British colony has been the only place in China where people have the freedom to commemorate what happened in Beijing on June 4, 1989.
“Release Democracy Activists!” “Revive the 1989 Democracy Movement!” “Put An End To One-Party Dictatorship!” Emotions might have been more subdued almost two decades after one million (out of six million) Hong Kong people poured into the streets in support of their countrymen, but their determination was no less strong when the same slogans were shouted amid the sea of candlelight this year.
This year’s vigil was spiced up a bit by a senior proxy of the Chinese Communist Party. Last month, Ma Lik, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, a pro-Beijing party, provoked a furor when he said that the events of June 4 didn’t constitute a massacre and crudely questioned whether ranks had, in fact, run over people and turned them into “mincemeat.”
Tiananmen, to some in my generation, is like Vietnam to many who grew up in the 1960s. The event shaped our lives. I, for better or worse, will always view the Chinese regime through this prism; I can’t share the orgy of optimism toward a peaceful rise of China, especially among those who are not Chinese and don’t live in China. I tend to agree with James Mann, in his brilliant new book The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression (Viking 2007), who argues that China isn’t headed for democracy or far-reaching political liberalization. Please allow me to quote him:
Indeed, in some respects Chinese politics is no more open now than it was in the late 1980s. During the period from roughly 1984 to 1989, under the two Communist Party general secretaries Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, China gradually began to explore the idea of creating an independent press, or at least a critical one, and of giving its legislature, the National People’s Congress, some independent authority to provide a check and balance on the power of the leadership. With the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989, these ideas were abandoned, and today they are barely in the exploration stage once again. So, too, back in the 1980s, the Chinese leadership had gradually begun to create independent factory managers and had begun to strip Communist Party officials of their authority in the workplace. Two decades later, the party has attempted to reassert its authority in the factories once again.
In the last 18 years, as long as I’m in town, I have always gone to the vigil on June 4. I intend to attend this annual ritual as long as Beijing doesn’t repent. And I’m prepared to do so for the rest of my life.
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Comments (11)
I partly agree with SHIRLEY. The Vatican admitted its fault in persecuting Galileo Galilei (the founder of modern science) only some decades ago. But the central point of the discussion is that Chinese leaders SHOULD ask people's pardon for what they did in 1989.
How can Chinese people believe in their cauntry without this explanation?
How can they continue to act as patriots?
How can they claim the glory of China?
Best regards
June 6, 2007 3:07 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 6, 2007 03:07
i'm a university student major in history.i think, we should look at the Tiananmen issue against the specific historical settings, so far as i know, there were so many factors involved ,what we can see from the surface maybe was the massarce, however, we should try to go further and deeper ,trying to discover more under the surface.
Everyone makes mistakes, parties and goverments consisted by individuals, how can they be the exception. In the bygone days ,ancestors of many nations sacrificed their personel pursuit of freedom or even more for the unification of their country, some greatmen adopted special stratagy and policy under special circumstances. so, sometimes we have to make some trade-offs. No one would be so naive to believe that China ,at that time, can built up democracy very soon only if without the issue.
The vast territory ,large population and long tranditional history make every step of China tough , painstaking and slow. i'm not a defendent of the past or present Chinese gov, and i insist that they should take the responsibility and give a clear explaination to the people for things they did . Just more objective and rational attitude we should adopt toward history, in practice, democracy ,justice or equality are more about compromises , considerations and tolerance between all the individuals.
June 5, 2007 6:47 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 5, 2007 18:47
We know the currently political system in China cannot sustain itself, we know it is already showing cracks in its armor. We may not know how this current system will meet its end, but we DO know that the next one will be free.
June 5, 2007 4:17 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 5, 2007 16:17
The Tiananmen protestors were Chinese patriots. Most people applauded their courage eptitomized by the solitary pedestrian who challenged the army tank. The Chinese are a great people. Their system requires major renovations including the foundation.
June 5, 2007 9:42 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 5, 2007 09:42
Democrady! Freedom! How many crimes are committed under thy names ? Just look at what US has done in Iraq!
June 5, 2007 7:47 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 5, 2007 07:47
fools
June 5, 2007 2:15 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 5, 2007 02:15
Because of my long list of grievances with PRC China I avoid buying PRC Chinese made goods, this has become increasingly difficult in the past 15 years! But I can not in good conscience buy goods from a country like China! I encourage everyone to look a little before buying, I have managed to almost always find products not made in China that are as good and same price, it can be done if you look!
June 4, 2007 10:41 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:41
I covered the Tiananmen Square Massacre as a reporter.
Despite the efforts of the rewriters of history the event will live in my memory and my work.
June 4, 2007 10:01 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:01
I covered the Tiananmen Square Massacre as a reporter.
Despite the efforts of the rewriters of history the event will live in my memory and my work.
June 4, 2007 10:01 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:01
I covered the Tiananmen Square Massacre as a reporter.
Despite the efforts of the rewriters of history the event will live in my memory and my work.
June 4, 2007 10:01 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:01
It doesn't matter what the subject is, the Communist leadership disgraces itself with an unwillingness to accept responsibility for its actions and just move on. There are 1000s of scandals that plagued the nation from 1949 onwards and yet... the vast majority of the population is brainwashed with disinformation at every turn.
HK's "leadership" (or should I say "followership") consists of a majority of petty representatives of wealth with no concern for people or principles, only for stuffing their pockets. Every ranking member of the HK government should have been at the vigil if they have any decency or honor.
Tiananmen was a massacre, but so is every distortion made by either Beijing or HK. Ever notice how the police in HK always claim lower turnouts when there is protest? I wonder why? Let's enjoy our one country, no system...
Oh... and I believed in the principles of the revolution... silly me...
June 4, 2007 9:34 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on June 4, 2007 21:34