6/4 THIRTY YEARS LATER

The Chinese Government does not want to acknowledge the Tiananmen Massacre and the only reference one can find on the Chinese internet is under the designation 6/4 which stands for June 6, l989, just 30 years ago. As I read the articles and look again at the photos my heart sinks and my total being recalls the feelings, sights, and sounds of that event.

I recall the incredible FEELING of hope that was alive in the Square those days. Every student we spoke to had the hope of more democracy, more freedom and greater prosperity.  Yet, in the midst of that hope which we shared we also had feelings of TREPIDATION. We knew that China was authoritarian, afraid of its own people and determined not to lose absolute power. Those feelings were quickly justified. On our return to the Peking University campus in the afternoon our bus was stopped. Citizens had heard he army was moving in and shooting to kill any civilians trying to stop them, even shooting and killing people on balconies who were observing the tragedy. The citizens wanted all buses (including the one we were in) to block the military entrance. We were forced to stop in an intersection. Sons John and Tim and I quickly got out and walked back to the campus. Not many hours later we were surrounded by students showing us the nametags of their killed comrades. They confronted us with pleas to contact the US government to intervene and stop the killings. Our hearts overflowed with sadness at the lives of old and young wiped out.

So many SIGHTS come back (without even needing the aid of photos). I can still see the goddess of democracy statue erected in the Square confronting the huge image of Mao Tze Tung just across Chang An Ave. I see the elderly woman brought to the Square in a wheelbarrow by her grandson because he wanted her to get a view of democracy coming to her country. Then I see all the destruction of the day after, the burned busses, the destroyed buildings, and the not-seeing of things we knew were there, bodies hanging from light posts.

I hear the SOUNDS. I hear the sounds coming over the loud speakers that the students had put in place, being careful not to interfere with the official sound system under the control of the authorities. I hear the sounds of exited students talking to son John in Mandarin and to Tim and me in broken English assuring us that for the first time in history China was going to have a peaceful revolution because under no circumstances imaginable would the students resort to violence. Hours later I hear the sounds of students speaking through their devastation and tears recalling classmates lying dead on street or in the morgue. And after more than 48 torturous hours of non-communication I hear Jane’s voice on a long distance call when, with the help of a young Chinese gentleman I finally manage to get through and who then refused to take my financial tip as a reward.

Now 30 years later I REFLECT. Dung Chou Peng who ordered his military to shoot and kill innocent civilians did have some (partially) redeeming actions. He opened up the economy, developing, for example, Shenchen just across the border from Hong Kong which is now exceeding Hong Kong in the volume of its exports. He took some of the manufacturing from very inefficient government run companies and allowed some aspects of capitalism to flourish. Now Premier Xi is again being extremely authoritarian, is removing freedoms, persecuting and killing Christians and Muslims and is engaged in fierce competition with the USA president.

Yet I end with HOPE and the positive belief that the eternal human drive for freedom will eventually be heard and recognized. I am convinced that China will replace the USA as the greatest world power of the 21st Century and I have the belief that it will be a force for good in the world, that the USA and China will not enter into a war against each other and that for many the dream of a more positive future for more people around the world will yet come true.

(See previous blogs: June 5, 2009: “Hope” and “Hope Shattered”.)