The "bigger picture."
Posted on 08/03/2019 3:49:59 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
'The attack,' wrote Melinda Liu in Beijing Spring, 'began ignominiously, with a baffling incident after midnight on June 3.
'Five thousand young, inexperienced soldiers suddenly marched from the east, five abreast, down Changan Avenue toward Tiananmen Square.'
The following afternoon, about 5,000 soldiers clashed with civilians west of Tiananmen Square, near the Great Hall of the People. At first, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters. Protesters responded with rocks and bricks and the troops beat them with batons and leather belts.
As the situation deteriorated, the troops began firing live rounds.
'The killing began in earnest around 10pm, when gunfire rang out along the Changan Avenue four or five kilometres west of the square,' said Liu.
'Troops armed with AK-47 assault rifles moved towards the heart of the protest in armoured vehicles and trucks, firing as they advanced. That trigged a paroxysm of carnage and cruelty which lasted until dawn.'
Some of the worst violence occurred between midnight and 2am - west of Tiananmen Square on Changan Avenue. 'Soldiers fought pitched battles with defiant crowds near the Muxidi bridge. Tanks smashed into barriers,' added Liu.
'Buses and military vehicles burned at intersections, highlighting the orgy of violence with orange flames and flickering shadows.'
Journalists reporting the event were stunned by the turn of events. Kate Adie, covering the protests for the BBC, remembered the terror students felt when the army opened fire.
'There was confusion and despair among those who could hardly credit that their own army was firing wildly at them,' she recalled.
'Many were bystanders, perhaps naive about the savagery of the situation,' she added. 'Indeed, it was hard at times to grasp that this army was launching into an unarmed, civilian population, as if charging into battle.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
Chinese people simply call it “June fourth.” Everyone knows what they mean.
We call it “The Tienanmen Square Massacre.”
15 years since the article talking about an event 15 years before that BUMP!
I once met an ER doctor who had been on duty in a Beijing hospital that night. He said they had injured soldiers in one ward, and injured students in another.
He said the soldiers were obviously under the influence of some kind of drug, which they had been given before the attack began or during the attack.
The soldiers that did the killing were all from parts of China far away from Beijing. They were brought in after local military units refused to fire on the students. I recall that one of the generals in charge had a daughter who was among the protestors.
[They were brought in after local military units refused to fire on the students.]
I should say “might”. Because for one dictator to seize power from another is the historical trend.
We will see if the Hong Kong protests continue, and if Beijing decides to crack down. Would president Xi and his fellow communist leaders, crack down in this era of smart phones recording everything that happens? We will find out.
They were mountain troops and they killed the local troops who where earlier stationed there.
Kind of like the Nazi German soldiers being on meth
15 years since the article talking about an event 15 years before that BUMP!
—
15 since 15 since
And some call it 30
The "bigger picture."
“If one of those leaders had Yeltsin’s guts, China would be a democracy today.”
Zhang Ziyang didn’t have the power.
Deng was paramount leader, as they called it. He’d been in the Long Narch. An immortal.
There was no one equivalent in the USSR to Deng in terms of authority when Yeltsin was there.
Today there is no Deng equivalent in China. .
[Zhang Ziyang didn’t have the power.]
The People’s Republic of China was not USSR, there was no chance of success for Chinese Yeltsin.
Now little Britain doesn’t have guts to bark at China about riots in Hong Kong.
[The People’s Republic of China was not USSR, there was no chance of success for Chinese Yeltsin.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin
There’s even a popular saying about it - “The young shouldn’t read Water Margin while the old shouldn’t read The Three Kingdoms”.
Yeltsin? Yeltsin wasn’t there!!! You all are talking about Gorbachev. The great hero who went to China, saw the demonstrators, and didn’t say one F’ing thing in support. Went on home and the tanks came in. To this day, people still praise that yahoo.
I really think the students blew it, by not backing down at some point. They would have accomplished a whole lot.
It was really a remarkable time.
I sort of suspect, the Hong Kong people, may be about to repeat their mistake.
bfl
???
Bump
For
Later.
I want to revisit this post of yours for further review and possible re-posting elsewhere.
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