June 4, Twenty Years Since Tiananmen Square

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre – when China’s communist leaders sent military tanks into the peaceful protests of Beijing students calling for political reform and democratic freedoms. The Chinese government opened fire on its own citizens, killing thousands of innocent people, gunned down in the streets by soldiers. Leaders of the student protests were jailed and others forced into exile. My professor, Mike Chinoy, reported live from Tiananmen as the events unfolded in 1989. He and his news crew were in the throng of the chaos – charged with the responsibility of reporting Tiananmen to the rest of the world and all the while their own lives at risk as gunfire hailed overhead, stampedes rocked them on the ground, and police attempted to destroy their cameras and confiscate their tapes. Hearing the story through Mike’s memories has been a powerful experience – and especially meaningful as we found ourselves in Hong Kong on the 20th anniversary of that tragic day.

The Chinese government still does not take accountability or even recognize the horrific events of June 4, 1989 – and for millions of Chinese citizens, they do not know the story of Tiananmen as the government controls the public information. Old habits die hard in communist China:
In the weeks and days leading up to the 20th anniversary, pro-democracy organizers and exiled students were denied entry back into China. Tiananmen Square was blocked off and secured by police – no one was allowed near the square. Journalists in China had their broadcast transmissions blocked and news feeds cut off. The government limited internet access, blocking several news sites, blogs, the hotmail email server, and social networking sites including Twitter and Flickr. Internet message boards at China's universities were also closed down. Families of students who died in the pro-democracy protests were held prisoner in their homes. The Chinese government refused to comment on the security crackdown or even admit its existence, while China’s people are forbidden (and always have been) from talking openly about the events of Tiananmen. The South China Morning Post echoed the pleas of the people – begging the government to face up to the truth about June 4th and to make amends so that the country can move on after 20 years of pain.

Hong Kong is the only region in China in which people are allowed to talk about Tiananmen and commemorate the massacre. As said by Xiong Yan, the first exiled former leader of the student protests in Beijing, “Hong Kong is the pride of all Chinese – because you have people who dare to defend freedom.” Last night, an estimated 150,000 people gathered in Victoria Park for the candlelight vigil and commemoration – roughly the same number that gathered for the very first vigil in 1990. My classmates and I were privileged to join the commemoration in Victoria Park.

Though the ceremony was in Cantonese, we didn’t need to hear the words in order to understand the significance. I watched as thousands of people sang songs of prayer and remembrance, lit candles, and openly wept for the people they lost, the leadership that betrayed them, and the ideals and freedoms that for today, are still out of reach. As Americans, we take democracy for granted – it is like the air that we breathe. I will not forget standing in the park and being forced to imagine what it would be like to have that taken away from me. In the faces of those people there was injustice and pain but there was also hope…and it’s that hope that I would like to remember most.