Posted on 01/30/2018 10:48:26 AM PST by GoldenState_Rose
Twenty-five years is long enough to reflect on the real impact and consequences of an event. Unfortunately, for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a major event that changed the country’s direction, one won’t find any discussion or reflection in the Chinese media. The Chinese people have a very strong historical consciousness, but their historical memory is always selective. I have given lectures and taught courses at several universities in China where, to my surprise, Chinese students from elite universities knew very little about this incident...However, they cannot be blamed, as there is no access to open resources for them to learn the details of this event.
As its top priority, the CCP has tried every means to maintain stability and social order. The government applies tight social controls and tries unthinkable methods to suppress possible activities by opposition forces. The government’s budget for maintaining social stability is higher than the defense budget. Compared with 25 years ago, today’s China has less freedom of speech. Although social media has created new channels to express opinions, today’s Chinese media control is stricter than that of the 1980s. However, in everyday life the government actually provides citizens with lots of freedom regarding non-political activities. Over 25 years, China has transformed from a Maoist state to an entertainment center.
At the same time, Beijing bravely embraced a market economy and globalization.
Over the past 25 years, China has experienced significant economic development, such as going from the ninth world economy to the second world economy.
The economic reform and opening up have brought China unprecedented wealth and power. However, like the recent story of a young Chinese man who sold his kidney to purchase a new iPad, China has paid a very high price with its environment, morality, and society for its development.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Because GHWB and the Globalists decided that these were Communists whom they DID want oppressing their people.
As a newly minted Ensign I was on my way to Hong Kong enroute to Beijing for language studies and temporary embassy duty when this happened. Naval Attache in HK met me getting off the plane. My job was to meet the rest of the group coming in and stopping them from proceeding further.
30 days in HK when all this was going down was very interesting and very disturbing. The pics and stories smuggled out filled books I still have.
Most Chinese do not look favorably on student protests like those that took place in Tiananmen Square. It is true they are largely unaware of the events that took place there.
Offering a recount of the Tiananmen event to a Chinese national that does not have details about it will result in the reply “not good”. That is not good as in the student protest there wwere not a good thing.
The explanation for this is that it was the students that brought on much of the abuses of the Cultural Revolution. Those times still stings in the minds of Chinese that lived through it.
The event at Tiananmen cannot be viewed through Western eyes if you want to understand Chinese sentiment about it and other student protests.
Wow. What an incredible experience. Thank you for sharing!
Yeah the article is excerpted. The author is Chinese and he finishes with why we won’t be seeing any student protests any time soon for those reasons you mentioned.
10,000 is an estimate - over 2000 are known dead. The 10,000 estimate may be low because no one actually knows the real number.
They called in a mechanized brigade, used heavy machine guns, tanks and troop carriers to shoot the crowds of students, as well as some local troops and their vehicles that got in the way.
They then used tracked vehicles to mash up the bodies, then bulldozers to pile up the body mush which was burned to ash, the ash and any scraps were flushed down the sewers.
Not only unbalanced politics and economics, but extreme brutality as well. Xi (aka Panda Face) is trying to follow in the footsteps of Mao - so in other words we haven’t seen anything yet. Right now he has not completely consolidated all power in his hands, but when he does ...
Thanks. I should have read the article to the end and appreciate the clarifying reply. All the best to you.
The pics in the books are terrible and I believe 10k is too small based on them.
That being said the funny part about my little trip was I specifically offered help to the HK Naval Attache and he said “ I’d prefer to put you on a plane back out of here right now, but I don’t have time to meet the others. Stay out of trouble and stay out of our way - we don’t have time for you guys.”
We all would have preferred to have helped doing anything - coffee, phones, typing, cleaning the shitters..... But I understood why they didn’t want to be bothered with a bunch of wet behind the ear Ensigns. So I took my 3 months advance pay and had one hell of a time in HK for the next 30 days. LOL
Nonsense.
We should have kicked the Chicoms a** in the Korean War but instead they got away with killing our soldiers,getting the bomb and taking a vast portion of our manufacturing/economy as a**hole hypocritical politicians let it all happen.
Good for you! I have heard great things about Hong Kong!
Despite being part of China now, HK still seems to have a contrarian bent and outlook. Protests against govt intrusion more likely there than in the mainland of course.
Having been there before turnover, a couple years after, and 15 years after I can say things are starting to change and the mainland is definitely taking a heavier hand in the last few years. Singapore is the place for freedom in that area now.
The current Chinese Communist elite’s formative experience was during the Cultural Revolution, which was an assault on traditional Chinese values and culture.
They have a healthy distrust of democracy but they don’t mind the market. Their model of a one-party state is Chinese Singapore. The absence of freedom can be lived with as long as people are prosperous and content.
And President Xi is cracking down on endemic corruption to win and maintain popular support. China’s rulers are keenly aware of the importance of public opinion. As long as they remain on the right side of it, CCP rule seems assured for the foreseeable future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.