Normally, each year, only a couple million people would go to this memorIAL service, but last year, there were over 150,000 people included me, went to this memorIAL activity because it was the 20th anniversary of the accident.
I'm pretty sure you have absolutely no clue what I am talking about here.. what Tiananmen Square Protest in 1989? That's okay. Not many people know about it, not even some of the Chinese themselves because the Chinese government never wanted to talk about it. They even wouldn't admit that it has ever happened. It is also another reason why we had to go to the memorIAL activity each year, is to show the Chinese gorvernment that we want them to admit the history and by admitting it, remember it and educate the new ages through it. It is actually pretty good to be living in Hong Kong, because we are different with China, we have the freedom of speech and are allow to tell our own Hong Kong Government what we really want. Although things have been changed a little bit these years, since the Chinese Government is trying to take controls over on some of the things which we don't want, there has been a lot of tensions between Hong Kong and China.
I was never a politic kind of person, and I never get to learn the Chinese modern history since I was pretty much educated in England. But through stories and things that my parents told me since I was a child, I have a brief picture of what kind of government and history we Chinese people have, and people do learn from history. I think I have the responsibility to know what's going on, and maybe to pass it on also.
So... I went on wikipedia and found you these.. hope you enjoy knowing what does June 4th really means to us.
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, referred to in much of the world as the Tiananmen Square massacre and in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the June Fourth Incident (officially to avoid confusion with two prior Tiananmen Square protests), were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the PRC beginning on 14 April 1989. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world. An intelligence report received by the Soviet politburo estimated that 3,000 protesters were killed, according to a document found in the Soviet archive.
The protests were sparked by the death of a pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn.By the eve of Hu's funeral, 100,000 people had gathered at Tiananmen Square. The protests lacked a unified cause or leadership; participants included disillusioned Communist Party of China members and Trotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government's authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change and democratic reform within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered in Tiananmen Square to begin with but then later in the streets around the square, in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which remained peaceful throughout the protests.
The movement lasted seven weeks after Hu's death on 15 April. The number of deaths is not known. There is no video footage or evidence of any kind showing violence in the square itself. All video evidence shows violence in the streets around the square.
Following the conflict, the government conducted widespread arrests of protesters and their supporters, cracked down on other protests around China, banned the foreign press from the country and strictly controlled coverage of the events in the PRC press. Members of the Party who had publicly sympathized with the protesters were purged, with several high-ranking members placed under house arrest, such as General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. There was widespread international condemnation of the PRC government's use of force against the protesters.
On 4 May, approximately 100,000 students and workers marched in Beijing making demands for free media and a formal dialogue between the authorities and student-elected representatives. A declaration demanded the government to accelerate political reform.
The government rejected the proposed dialogue, only agreeing to talk to members of appointed student organizations. On 13 May, two days prior to the highly-publicized state visit by the reform-minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, huge groups of students occupied Tiananmen Square and started a hunger strike, insisting the government withdraw the accusation made in the People's Daily editorial and begin talks with the designated student representatives. Hundreds of students went on hunger strikes and were supported by hundreds of thousands of protesting students and part of the population of Beijing, for one week.
Protests and strikes began at colleges in other cities, with many students traveling to Beijing to join the demonstration. Generally, the demonstration at Tiananmen Square was well-ordered, with daily marches of students from various Beijing area colleges displaying their solidarity with the boycott of college classes and with the developing demands of the protest. The students sang The Internationale, the world socialist anthem, on their way to and within the square. The students even showed a surprising gesture of respect to the government by helping police arrest three men from Hunan Province, including Yu Zhijian, Yu Dongyue, and Lu Decheng who had thrown ink on the large portrait of Mao that hangs from Tiananmen, just north of the square. The three young men were later sentenced to prison for, respectively, life, 20 years, and 16 years.
Although the government declared martial law on 20 May, the military's entry into Beijing was blocked by throngs of protesters, and the army was eventually ordered to withdraw, which it did on 24 May.
Meanwhile, the demonstrations continued. The hunger strike was approaching the end of the third week, and the government resolved to end the matter before deaths occurred. After deliberation among Communist party leaders, the use of the military to resolve the crisis was ordered, and a deep divide in the politburo resulted. General Secretary Zhao Ziyang was ousted from political leadership as a result of his support for the demonstrators. The military also lacked unity on the issue, and purportedly did not indicate immediate support for military action, leaving the central leadership scrambling to search for individual divisions willing to comply with their orders.
Soldiers and tanks from the 27th and 38th Armies of the People's Liberation Army were sent to take control of the city. The 27th Army was led by a commander related to Yang Shangkun. In a press conference, US President George H. W. Bush announced sanctions on the People's Republic of China, following calls to action from members of Congress such as US Senator Jesse Helms. The President suggested[vague] intelligence he had received indicated some disunity in China's military ranks, and even the possibility of clashes within the military during those days.
Intelligence reports also indicated that 27th and 28th units were brought in from outside provinces because the local PLA were considered to be sympathetic to the protest and to the people of the city[citation needed]. Reporters described elements of the 27th as having been most responsible for civilian deaths. After their attack on the square, the 27th reportedly established defensive positions in Beijing – not of the sort designed to counter a civilian uprising, but as if to defend against attacks by other military units.
As word spread that hundreds of thousands of troops were approaching from all four corners of the city, Beijingers flooded the streets to block them, as they had done two weeks earlier. People set up barricades at every major intersection. Protesters threw molotov cocktails and burned vehicles. At about 10:30 p.m., near the Muxidi apartment buildings (home to high-level Party officials and their families), protesters threw rocks and molotov cocktails at police and army vehicles. As can be seen in numerous photographs many vehicles were set on fire in the streets all around Tiananmen some with their occupants still inside them. There were reports of soldiers being burned alive in their armoured personel carriers while others were beaten to death. Then the soldiers started firing live ammunition at some of the protesters. Some people were hit in the apartment blocks.
The battle raged in the streets surrounding the Square, with protesters repeatedly advancing toward the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and constructing barricades with vehicles, while the PLA attempted to clear the streets using tear gas, rifles, and tanks. Many injured citizens were saved by rickshaw drivers who ventured into the no-man's-land between the soldiers and crowds and carried the wounded off to hospitals. After the attack on the square, live television coverage showed many people wearing black armbands in protest of the government, crowding various boulevards or congregating by burnt out and smoking barricades. In a couple of cases, officers were pulled from tanks, beaten and killed by protesters.
Meanwhile, the PLA systematically established checkpoints around the city, chasing after protesters and blocking off the university district.
Earlier, within the Square itself, there had been a debate between those who wished to withdraw peacefully, including Han Dongfang, and those who wished to stand within the square, such as Chai Ling.
At about 1:00 a.m., the army finally reached Tiananmen Square and waited for orders from the government. The soldiers had been told not to open fire, but they had also been told that they must clear the square by 6:00 a.m. – with no exceptions or delays. They made a final offer of amnesty if the few thousand remaining students would leave. About 4:00 a.m., student leaders put the matter to a vote: Leave the square, or stay and face the consequences.
APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers) rolled on up the roads, firing ahead and off to the sides, perhaps killing or wounding their own soldiers in the process. BBC reporter Kate Adie spoke of "indiscriminate fire" within the square. Eyewitness reporter Charlie Cole also saw Chinese soldiers firing Type 56 assault rifles into the crowd near an APC which had just been torched and its crew killed, killing and wounding many that night.
Students who sought refuge in buses were pulled out by groups of soldiers and beaten with heavy sticks. Even students attempting to leave the square were beset by soldiers and beaten. Leaders of the protest inside the square, where some had attempted to erect flimsy barricades ahead of the APCs, were said to have "implored" the students not to use weapons (such as Molotov cocktails) against the oncoming soldiers. Meanwhile, many students apparently were shouting, "Why are you killing us?" Around four or five the following morning, 4 June, Charlie Cole reports to have seen tanks smashing into the square, crushing vehicles and people with their tank treads. By 5:40 a.m. 4 June, the Square had been cleared.
The number of dead and wounded remains unclear because of the large discrepancies between the different estimates. Some Beijinger and journalists reported that troops burned the bodies of many citizens to destroy the evidence of the killings.
Some of the early estimates were based on reports of a figure of 2,600 from the Chinese Red Cross. The Chinese Red Cross has denied ever providing such a figure. According to a PBS Frontline report, this figure was quickly retracted under intense pressure from the government.The official Chinese government figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded.
According to an analysis by Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times, "The true number of deaths will probably never be known, and it is possible that thousands of people were killed without leaving evidence behind. But based on the evidence that is now available, it seems plausible that about fifty soldiers and policemen were killed, along with 400 to 800 civilians." An intelligence report received by the Soviet politburo estimated that 3,000 protesters were killed, according to a document found in the Soviet archive.
The Chinese government has maintained that there were no deaths within the square itself, although videos taken there at the time recorded the sound of gunshots. State Council claimed that the basic statistics were: "Five thousand PLA soldiers and officers wounded, and more than two thousand local people (counting students, city people, and protesters together) also wounded." Chinese commentators have pointed out that this obvious imbalance in casualties questions the military competence of the PLA. They also said no one died on Tiananmen Square itself. Yuan Mu, the spokesman of the State Council, said that a total of 23 people died, most of them students, along with a number of people he described as "ruffians". According to Chen Xitong, Beijing mayor, 200 civilians and several dozen soldiers died. Other sources stated that 3,000 civilians and 6,000 soldiers were injured. In May 2007, CPPCC member from Hong Kong, Chang Ka-mun said 300 to 600 people were killed in Tiananmen Square. He echoed that "there were armed thugs who weren't students."
According to Jay Mathews who was The Washington Post's first Beijing bureau chief, "A few people may have been killed by random shooting on streets near the square, but all verified eyewitness accounts say that the students who remained in the square when troops arrived were allowed to leave peacefully. Hundreds of people, most of them workers and passersby, did die that night, but in a different place and under different circumstances."
A strict focus on the number of deaths within Tiananmen Square itself does not give an accurate picture of the carnage and overall death count, since Chinese civilians were fired on in the streets surrounding Tiananmen Square. In addition, students are reported to have been fired on after they left the Square, especially in the area near the Beijing concert hall.
I remember my parents telling me how shocking the whole thing was to them, when they read the news that year the Six-four happened. Everyone was so angry and mad at what had the Chinese soldiers done to the students, saying that they were just young people who wanted their voices to be listened, and all of them were without weapons and were just sitting there doing nothing. It's so heart breaking watching documentaries about it and seeing the parents of those who died sobbing and asking the Chinese government to admit the whole history.
We were on our way to the Victoria Park, where the memorIAL service was held every year. Some people were with hand made banners saying that they want to have an open Chinese government who would listen to their voices.
The train was PACKED.
Heading to the park
People were already there. All six football (soccer) fields were full. Some people had to sit outside and look at the screen.
We found a place that would let us to be at the front, but had to face the crowds instead of the stage.
But I was okay with not being with the crowed. People can get really crazy with these politic thingy and I don't want to get in any of these troubles..
Like this one. Somehow the Taiwan flag managed to get there.. it is ridiculous because this service is nothing to do with the whole tension thing between China and Taiwan, but still people just like to be ridiculous and link everything together. The flag got taken by the police for a while because it was kinda disrespectful, but somehow it got hung back up after a short while. Many people treat this memorIAL activity as a way to show their political views and complain to the government how much they dislike whatever they think is wrong.. but hello, it's a MEMORIAL SERVICE. Get over it.
People with candles :) And there were students sitting in the front in their uniforms.. I think they were at a class outing thing. That's really nice of the teachers, because it is not allowed to mention the June 4th tragedy in school books, so there's really no way to educate students nowaday unless their parents were willing to. It is because, as I said, the CHinese government still wouldn't admit this history and obviously wouldn't want the next generation to know about it also. They wouldn't let any media or websites to mention the Six-four either, so I was surprised I could find things on wikipedia. Some said it was actually written by people from the government, so that the real terrible things wouldn't be up on it. And they have people who check it once in a while to make sure it is still the way they wrote it. Wow.
These are more teenagers who went on stage with a torch saying they want a government who would listen to their voices. I was actually worried for them.. mum said if their faces got caught on the TV, they might not be allowed to work for the government after they grow up. Yep, RIDICULOUS.
The light went off and people sitting with the candles.
More people at the area where we were sitting at.
:)
This is this year's memorIAL service picture I stole from the News. They say 150,000 people went this year also.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.