China: Tiananmen's Unhealed Wounds (VIDEO)

By Minky Worden

Twenty years after the Chinese army killed untold numbers of unarmed civilians in Beijing and other cities on and around June 3-4, 1989, the Chinese government continues to victimize survivors, victims' families, and others who challenge the official version of events. And inside China, the concerns raised by the protesters in 1989 -- corruption, workers' rights, press freedom and the need for democratic reform -- are still the great unresolved challenges in the country today.

Watch:

Read the full report here.

Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[Eriq]

So many, many thanks for publicizing and honoring the day of this historic event and for honoring the victims and the Chinese population. This happening changed my own life in a deeper way than most people might understand, and many people like me had to restructure their plans and their hopes.

I no longer have any wish to return to my original plans of so long ago, or indeed to live in the People's Republic of China, but this memory of twenty long years ago brings hot tears to my eyes.

[markand]

I think the defenders of Tiananmen must be govt. officials from China trying to look like regular folk trying to distort the facts. Pathetic. Regular folk from China have no access to comment on Tiananmen: they're locked out.

Don't buy Chinese goods.
That's going to be hard to do...

[AtomicSplash]

The communist party bought itself some time. But it's days are numbered

[Emerald1943]

I think it's quite interesting that every time there is an article criticizing China, the defenders come out in droves! Recently, there was an article about the Chinese aggression in Tibet. I was totally stunned at the dialog (I use the term loosely) on the thread. Most of the posters were Chinese and it was suggested that they are paid by the Chinese government to come on sites like this one to defend their government.

[jitsusoji]

Actually, the Huffington Post is blocked in the People's Republic of China. There really aren't nearly as many western sites blocked in China as are reported, but this one is blocked. It's unlikely many in China would be posting on this site.

I do think that many living in China at the time saw an entirely different side of the story unfolding, so their perspectives differ,. They saw footage on the news of soldiers that were yanked off of military trucks and beaten to death (and sometime set on fire) at the intersections along Chang An Road as the military made it's procession on June 3. They saw images of the procession coming under attack (bricks and molotov cocktails) from protesters at each intersection along Chang An Road, leading into Tiananmen. Western media wasn't nearly as keen on showing this side of things.

[wereeverywhere]

The government called out the army on its own unarmed civilians and is entirely responsible for the mayhem that followed. The soldiers were backed up by the armed might of the state including tanks, machine guns, and other accouterments of the Ministry of Love. Hopefully the next time round the army will revolt on their masters and join the rebellion.

[ModernTimes1]

Tiananmen protest has to be understood within the context of Yin and Yang of Chinese politics.
This was not a pretty incident by any means.
Yang side-- Protest was put down, brutally.
Yin-- Chinese society made a truly great leap forward in economic freedom and prosperity. In that extent the protest succeeded beyond all dreams. Chinese state remained intact and coherent.
Soviet result was averted.
Al-in-all a fairly good deal for the Chinese in China, Taiwan and the Diaspora.

[frantaylor]

You speak of economic "progress" as if that were the measure of human progress.

The world has yet to learn the concept that the engine of the economy does not need to be driven with the gas pedal depressed completely to the floor. Even your "sage" Chinese do not understand how to control their markets and cause crashes that will put everyone right back where they were.

China is growing way too fast and is headed for disaster. Not a good deal at all.

[Dr Manhattan]

Nothing works better than the blood of the people when greasing the wheels of propersity, right? Quite frankly, people that think like you do are contemptible.

[VictorianNovel]

Fairtalk, your Tiananmen Massacre myth theory is the equivalent of denying the Holocaust. Every student of East Asian history knows that people were killed, but since it was covered up and repressed by the government, we don't know the numbers. There were eyewitnesses, and live footage of the event as recorded by journalists.

YOU ARE DELUSIONAL, AND THIS KIND OF SUPPRESSION OF HISTORY MAKES ME SICK. If the nothing really happened, then explain to me why there is so much effort to deny it happened. If China is so confident about this, then why when anyone googles the search word in China: Tiananmen Square , you get no results on the protest, and only get results of photos of tourists visiting the Square. This is clearly an effort to forget history. Anywhere else in the world if you google this, the FIRST SEARCH RESULT is usually on the massacre, but in China you get no such result.

[cardineau]

China bashing ... the favorite pastime of the US government controlled media. Why don't you feature an article about the time the US government sent small pox infected blankets to the Indians of the midwest so that the populations would die out and the US could then grab their territory. See how popular you'll be then!

[wereeverywhere]

"China bashing." That's the topic alright. When China went about bashing the Chinese people. When the Chinese government bashed in its democracy movement. If you're going to toss out red herrings, please make them a little less stale than the 19th century please.

[FairTalk]

On May 15th, China declared martial law, and the unions ended their strike and returned to work. Students in Tiananmewn Sq took a vote, and ended their protest and returned to their college classes.

Some protesters did not like the democratic prosess of voting on how to respond to the rule of law, and ignored both the democratic vote, and the rule of law, and decided to remain in the Sq.

This did emvbarrass the Chinese Government during Gorbachov's visit. But China did not shoot and kill those who remained in the Sq. Instaed, on the night on June 3rd, the morning on June 4th, the protesters were led peacefully and safely out of the Sq.

No one was shot, no one was killed, no one was run over by a tank in Tiananmen Sq.

The MSM has been selling lies about this for 20 years now.

BTW: The US gov has issues a decision after a thourough investigation that no massacre occured, The NSA document is on line.

[VictorianNovel]

You write no one was killed. Are you kidding me? It is common knowledge that people were killed. It is historical fact and taught in every history course on East Asian history.

What you wrote is complete propaganda.

[Crezyl]

Aiya! So where do the pics of dead and wounded bodies come from then? Was it all mocked up by the West? I have spent a lot of time in China - including (wrongly) being arrested by police at Pudong Airport and held for 2 hrs before being released. I saw some things that a western businessman should not have seen in your country. Of course it happened, the only debate is whether the body count is in the hundreds or thousands.The CCCP were losing face because Gorbachev couldnt be received at Tiananmen and had to be received at Honquiao airport instead and this they found to be intolerable so they set the (untrained undisciplined uneducated) troops in.

[confidance government]

"No one was shot, no one was killed, no one was run over by a tank in Tiananmen Sq."

And I am guessing the Cultural Revolution was a spontaneous and peaceful outpouring of appreciation for Mao Zedong?

[peterg76]

You know it's on film, right?

[JTHC75]

Get it right, the British used smallpox blankets in the American northeast.

[booboo111]

So.......................and this makes the Chinese govt. o.k....how?

[Dr Manhattan]

Hey genius. The fact you and I know this happenned and can debate about shows that in this respect the U.S. and West are leaps and bounds ahead of the P.R.C. No intellegent person makes excuses for what was done the Native Americans, just as know one can make excuses to what was done the the students in Tiananmen or ethnic and cultural cleansing happenning now in Tibet. Try talk about Tiananmen in China and see what happens.

[Mogamboguru]

America can be happy that there were no cameras at the Wounded Knee, in My Lai and Falidjah.

The USA has long since lost the Moral High Ground to bring such stories, HP.

Try a different approach every once in a while.

Try relevant NEWS - like THAT one, for example:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060200947_pf.html

[wereeverywhere]

The other side of the coin of chauvinistic nationalism- make every thing about the US. Who said anything about US government? Why change the subject at the expense of those brave enough twenty years ago to stand up to totalitarianism? This article reflects on the sorry condition of labor and press freedom in China, seems like those working to such ends deserve solidarity.

[globalwarmingisafraud]

Extreme leftists out today. Must be jumping over from the abortion articles.

[splott]

I think you'll find that FairTalk is not a leftist but a wumaodang.

[Dr Manhattan]

Yeah they been around for long time. Before the web took off they were pushing their PRC propaganda on the Usenet newsgroup. You can spot them a mile away.

Wumaodang

They have been called the “Fifty Cent Party,” the “red vests” and the “red vanguard.” But China’s growing armies of Web commentators—instigated, trained and financed by party organizations—have just one mission: to safeguard the interests of the Communist Party by infiltrating and policing a rapidly growing Chinese Internet. They set out to neutralize undesirable public opinion by pushing pro-Party views through chat rooms and Web forums, reporting dangerous content to authorities.

[wereeverywhere]

Seems to me it's the responsibility of leftists to champion labor rights, a clean environment, free press. China's state capitalists have made a mess of all those.

[confidance government]

Replace state capitalists with either fascists or corporatists and you will be getting closer.

China's system resembles captialism the same way P.F. Chang's resembles authentic Cantonese cuisine.

[Usama]

This timeline was not accurate and the complete political event and depth of the story was superficially reduced to a propaganda piece. The protests lasted 7 weeks in the Square, from April 15 to June 4-5. Seven weeks of illegal protests that defied government and police commands and instructions in the nation's capital in its most prestigious location.

How long would the US govt allow 10s of 1000s of people to protest illegally in Washington DC? In front of the White House or the Capitol buiding? And what if they called for a new government and political system that defied and overturned the existing system?

What would America do? What would any other country do?

Im not Communist, nor Chinese, nor excusing what happened, but this matter is not put in proper frame of reality. Would you want your kids to do the same thing in your town, let alone the nation's capital?

[wereeverywhere]

"Would you want your kids to do the same thing in your town, let alone the nation's capital?"

From Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence:
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

If China is ever to be free, it's going to take their sons and daughters making their rulers and those comfortable with tyranny very uncomfortable. What project would bring more credit to humanity than deposing an abusive government? Should we hope that our kids become bankers or sweatshop owners instead?

[Emerald1943]

Fanned! Good post! And that's what we're trying to do....the criminals in the previous administration who committed war crimes need to be brought to justice. Keep up the pressure folks!

[FairTalk]

You are right, and since I lived there, I know what happened.

One thing that those who perptrate the Tiananmen myth do not want anyone to know is that the students voted to end the protest in mid May, and they returned to classes.

Those who stayed had a completely different agenda. And they were led out of the Sq peacefully and safely, not a single one was shot, killed nor run over by tanks.

[Dr Manhattan]

Complete utter lie.

http://www.notmytribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/tiananmen-square-crushed.jpg

[Dr Manhattan]

No you are making excuses for what happen. Pathetic.

[TJCole]

I remember Reagan sending Scowcroft to toast the murders of Tiananmen 2 weeks after it occurred that was the day America was betrayed and betrayed all of it's core principles, and taught Red China that we would betray them for a price, it's been downhill since that day and there is a photo of it...

We were betrayed with a toast, this time not a kiss...

[FairTalk]

Eyewitness on the ground...
http://tiananmenmyth.blogspot.com/

[TJCole]

Oh well then I guess it's all Ok then...

Over 3,000 were killed and thousands arrested and held for years...

[JTHC75]

That must be some memory, considering that Reagan wasn't President then.

[CalGoldenBear]

Once again, the caption headline writer(s), who for another article didn't know the difference between "reign" and "rein," strikes again.

The Chinese names in the photo captions are surname first, followed by the given name. In contrast, in the West, the given name is followed by the surname: Barack OBAMA, for example.

So in Photo 1, DENG Xiaoping and HU Yaobang should be referred to as "Deng" and "Hu": "... the progressive Hu was forced from office by Deng..."

Similarly, in Photo 6, ZHAO Ziyang and LI Peng, the surnames are followed by the given names. Zhao's secret memoir, "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang," was published a couple of weeks ago.

[peterg76]

As I recall, when trade was opened up with China, the prediction was greater prosperity for us and better human rights in China, and the skeptics were laughed at.

[booboo111]

Peter has nailed it!

[ModernTimes1]

Wel peterg. China has now total economic freedom, in some ways more complete than U.S.
While under Communist party's care the country remained united, independent of foreign pressure and is fast becoming global leader in tech. science and culture. All without wars.
This is AN ASTONISHING progress by any measure. Stop your kneejerking and look at reality.

[frantaylor]

Yes, blocking access to news from the outside world is "progress" In the past they had no way to do this effectively but now they can keep their entire population in the dark by adding a few firewall rules to a router. This is "progress"?