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Thursday, June 4. 2009
June 4 Remembered
Twenty years ago today China brutally crushed the protests of Tiananmen Square. I was reading a report by journalist Richard Roth who had been working for CBS at the time and was under arrest by the Chinese when the attack occurred. After the assault was completed, he and his colleague Derek Williams were finally released and at that point the square had been cleared of protesters and was occupied by the Chinese Army.Roth doesn’t call the weekend a massacre and doesn’t believe there was any killing on the square itself. He just reports what he saw, after the fact. But I remember watching the entire protest, which started nearly two months before, dragging on as students negotiated for a democratic China, building a replica of the Statue of Liberty in the process.
And it was quite clear that in the early morning hours of June 4, 1989, troops were firing into the crowds in and around Tiananmen Square, killing thousands of protesters. It was actually the afternoon of June 3 here, roughly 12 hours behind the time in Beijing. Millions of Americans watched as the Chinese government indiscriminately killed its own citizens, reporters from every news outlet on television describing the carnage, groups of students carrying away the wounded and the bodies of the murdered.Richard Roth may not have seen what was happening when it happened, but there is still plenty of news footage available on YouTube from various news outlets that were able to get their footage out of China. Certainly, the Chinese Peoples Army was killing people all around the city’s center, but the crackdown in Tiananmen Square was brutal. Thousands were killed, tens of thousands wounded, no one knows for sure because the Chinese government, to this day, denies it happened.
Adding to the distress was the rather tepid response from our government who saw giving most favored nation status to China more important than human rights violations. The protesters barely received any sympathy from the Bush Administration. President George H.W. Bush (41) was determined to make sure the massacre in Beijing would not get in the way of business.
When he was defeated in 1992 and President Clinton took over in January of 1993, that attitude didn’t change. Scant concern was given the events that had taken place less than four years earlier. The Chinese government won that round, as it was like the massacre hadn’t even occurred.
Twenty years later we are deep in debt to China, our crumbling economy being financed by the regime that got away with murdering thousands of its own citizens. It’s interesting that our government hasn’t squeaked word one about the anniversary of this event. They don’t wish to anger the Chinese who play so crucial a role in not only our economy, but our foreign policy as well, as it relates to North Korea. Like many Americans, I am guilty too. Six years ago when I bought the Trusty Trek, I thought of the brutal events of June 4, 1989. My bike was assembled in China, so I nearly passed on it, but I wanted a Trek and my desires outweighed social and political concerns. Well, at least Trek is an American company.
For now, the Chinese government continues to get a pass from the U.S. government, but thanks to the internet and the people who have saved footage from that day, the truth of Tiananmen Square will not be forgotten.
One of the sad notes of this anniversary is that there is an entire generation of Chinese who have no knowledge of those events. The Chinese government censors the Internet and television so most are unable to access outlets like YouTube to view the footage. But the more enterprising of China’s young have found ways to circumvent government control. Kids, they will always find a way around the rules!
As we citizens mark this anniversary, our president has embarked on his own journey of reconciliation to the Middle East. President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world, given at a university in Cairo, was televised live at 3:10 a.m. Pacific Time. Eight years of the previous administration have made the United States a pariah in the Muslim world. Granted, the attackers on September 11, 2001 were Muslims, mostly from Saudi Arabia, but they do not characterize the majority of Muslims any more than the man who murdered Dr. George Tiller represents all Christians. All are terrorists though.The president made no apologies for attacking those who attacked us, forceful in his promise to continue fighting Al Qa’ida, but he made clear we would not be engaging in wars of choice, we would not torture and the prison at Guantanamo Bay would be closed.
He addressed the nuclear threat from Iran, telling the Muslim audience nuclear arms in the hands of Iran were a threat to them as well. He addressed the major, defining issue of the Middle East: Israel and the Palestinians, telling his Muslim audience Israel would remain a favored ally of the U.S. But he tempered it with the idea that a two state solution must be fulfilled and that the Israelis would have to stop new settlements in the West Bank.
The president’s trip to Egypt was important, vitally so, but we must not let it completely overshadow the events of the past. Millions of Chinese are still waiting for justice, but so far, the global community of governments is ignoring them. Thanks to our global, 21st Century technology, we won’t forget what happened and we can keep reminding our government we support, with most favored nation status, one of the most brutal regimes in modern history.Today president Obama talked about speaking truth, as directed by the Holy Koran; one wonders if President Obama will ever address the facts of Tiananmen Square. Call me a pessimist, but I doubt it.
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