The Chinese government wants you to forget entirely. The US government would like you to remember but only within the larger context of its foreign policy..
Yet, the world cannot afford to forget the events that occurred in Tiananmen Square from April to June 1989 - ever.
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When Hu Yaobang, a former high-level official who had advocated for reform prior to his dismissal two years earlier, died on 15 April, hundreds and then thousands of mourners began congregating in Tiananmen Square (Beijing) to express their collective sense of loss and frustration. Over the next few weeks, the crowd got larger and larger, and their grief turned to hope for a better future.
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Most but not all of the protesters were university students. Despite the efforts of the Chinese state-run propaganda machine (which still operates today), these young people were aware of the open debate and reform occurring in the Soviet Union under Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931). Two weeks before people began entering the square, the Polish trade union Solidarity had achieved a watershed victory by forcing the Soviet puppet government in Warsaw to recognize its union as a political party and schedule free elections. Undoubtedly, at least some of the Tiananmen protesters had heard of Poland's remarkable triumph over Communist dictatorship - and those who knew would likely have passed on the information to rally the gathering crowd.
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When the political authorities asked them to disperse, they refused. When requests turned to threats, the crowd ignored them. When the Politburo declared martial law on 20 May and attempted to send in the army to clear the area, protesters blocked their passage, and the soldiers went back to their barracks. In scenes that would be re-enacted in Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague, Sofia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe only months later, the protesters in Tiananmen Square became intoxicated with dreams of a free society. Day after day, they remained in the square - laughing, singing songs, chanting slogans of liberty and sharing friendship and food. The concept of 'stranger' all but disappeared. The people were the nation - one family with one voice.
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After forcing the military to back down, some protesters began leaving for fear of a second and more concerted attempt to break their demonstration. Still, approximately 10,000 people remained in the square. How to revitalize the crowd? A few weeks earlier when their numbers began to dwindle, several people went on a hunger strike to demonstrate their commitment and galvanize support. On 27 May, a few art students had another idea. Out of papier-mache, foam and other materials, these creative protesters constructed a white statue of a female and dubbed her the 'Goddess of Democracy.' Standing opposite of the portrait of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the founder of the Chinese Communist state in 1949, the 'Goddess,' which symbolized truth, hope and the power of the people, stood in stark contrast to Mao's rule of tyranny, lies and murder.
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Rumors abounded that the Chinese military was split over the question of how to handle the situation, and the possibility of a civil war loomed. Somehow, the government was able to rein in most if not all of its wavering commanders at a critical moment.
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In the late evening of 3 June, several military units attacked the square. Tanks rolled through the streets. Cries of joy and hope now turned to screams of fear and agony. While the exact figure may never be known, hundreds - and more likely - thousands of people were murdered and wounded over the next forty-eight hours by the armed forces. Many other protesters, who were fortunate to escape physically unharmed, were rounded up and sent to prison. More than one hundred Tiananmen protesters remain in jail today.
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In recent years, the annual candlelight vigils held in Hong Kong to honor the courage and the sacrifices made by the protesters have experienced record attendance, but a whole new post-Tiananmen generation of Chinese, now just graduating university, has little to no knowledge of the inspiring movement or the crimes carried out by their government in Tiananmen Square from April to June 1989.
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For the sake of all those who are fighting for economic, social and political justice around the world, we must emphatically proclaim with one united voice,
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'I Remember Tiananmen, Spring 1989'
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(Photo: The 'Goddess of Democracy' stands opposite to the portrait of Mao in Tiananmen Square, Spring 1989. Soldiers destroyed the monument to freedom a few days later.)
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To view a chilling, live report from BBC NEWS on 4 June 1989 in Tiananmen Square, click onto the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBnHMpHGRY
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J Roquen