Posted on 06/05/2007 9:29:23 PM PDT by philly-d-kidder
Brings back memories.. I lived in Hong Kong... I was in Thailand on a Saturday night having Dinner with the owner of a Medical Emergency Evacuation Company. He had been busy using his downtime with his flet of planes repatriating Embassy staff from Beijing the weeks prior to the Tiananmen massacre as the rhetoric intensified against the students. After Dinner I went over to the Lobby and noticed a ticker tape western union type machine running. I started to read the AP UPI Updates on the Tiananmen Massacre and you could see it was coming to a full Boil...starting in the afternoon. It was a surreal moment in my life. This had tragedy written all over it!
I subsequently went to Beijing a few weeks Afterwards when it was still desolate of foreigners... my Friend and his wife actually arrived home that Saturday Night from a countryside weekend get away as this was their last month in China, While the actual Massacre was transpiring.The security was intense. A few weeks later On The Flight to visit my friend in Beijing ,the Airline bumped us up to first Class as all the Business class was occupied by recalled Chinese Ambassadors from all over the world!!
I sat next to some American spook who was living in Europe. He was running the underground to get the Main Activist out of China to HK then Paris...(You hear little of them today)
Security was very tight something like 12 Checkpoints to get from Airport to The Old Soviet Compound where my friend lived. I never saw such Fear on Chinese people’s faces.. As the Old 10 to 1 watch system was now back into effect. (One Person responsible for watching ten people and reporting to handler any anti Government activity)
My friend’s apartment had 4 checkpoints for me as a Visitor to his Compound with a security guy sitting 24/7 at the landing of a 6 apartment Building. The Living room had a security camera disguised in a fan.(Not very well) we used to speak in a Foreign Language not English figuring I'll be gone and they were Transferring out before they Can translate what we said..haha
A Military Attaché from a developing Nation was living within site of the Square with Binoculars and said they surrounded with tanks the students then as the tanks tightened the formation they forced the Kids out of the Circle and they were run over by the tanks... The Corpses were Piled High into a Funeral Pyre and set ablaze.. The fires scorch marks were still evident to me weeks later on my visit! We drove By Tiananmen and went to the Infamous KFC on the square the largest in the world at that time.. And nobody was in there...only westerners were now permitted!Many Chinese were arrested if they drove By The Massacre site.
The Main Drag leading up to Tiananmen was repaved but you could still feel the Bumps from where the tank treads tore up part of the Road. It was an eerie feeling.
My friend bought from a third world embassy a surplus PLA Army Jeep.... and when we pulled up to the USA Embassy all the backs Straightened of the PLA Guards surrounding the USA embassy with DR Z the architect of the Revolution Hiding inside.They Thought we were Military with The sound of the Jeep then the Beach Boy Music Blaring away definitely confused them. Our Little personal bravado for Freedom! haha My friend told me normally this was a party like No other for the 4th of July in Beijing... 4 Blocks around the embassy still couldn't hold the Throngs of people wanting to celebrate freedom and democracy. This year however it was celebrated in June... and sad to say No Chinese participated out of Fear and decree!
We went inside to have a brief get together as Americans ...88 in total... We watched Ted Koppel’s bootlegged tape on Tiananmen...and some other Contraband tapes. You always felt like the PLA were going to rush the compound... Jimmy carter and Iran still freshly lurked in my memory!
We went to The Holiday Inn That Sunday... and we had the Entire Buffet to ourselves for two Hours! It was sad to see these people who learned to speak English and try to learn our etiquette and no customers their to entertain...Even though my Female waitress Name tag said Kevin!
We went to their Bowling alley and we each got a lane.Normally you reserved a week in advance.
The Checkpoints from Downtown back to the Compound were 12 in total. They rotated the troops in from the Country side because the others elite ones were too obvious Pro democracy... However during our return at Night when I presented my USA Passport 60 % Saluted or wanted to hug me! It was really a Bittersweet moment. They could get in real trouble as Communism was back in Charge!
The Airport departure was high security. We were frisked 5 times. Even leaving the Gift shop. I was previously asked to help smuggle some video tape out but declined...luckily.
Hong Kong Simultaneously went nuts... They Had a Million plus demonstrate in support of the democracy Movement.
I remember while a Million plus that one Sunday were marching The HK Streets. The HK Off Track Betting Authority (The largest Network in ASIA) took in a Record one Day US$ 600 Million for racing in Shatin New Territories...later Most US Companies had a plan worked out with the Embassy they were given a negotiated Number of US Passports issued to their Key staff! This was in the event China got a Little Rambunctious and tried to take back HK before 1997....
Quite an adventure quite a period in China's history I hope No One ever forgets...
Interesting read.
Great post!
Thank you for the interesting personal reflections of that horrible event.
Bravo... That Picture sent chills down my spine seeing that statue it was so Powerfull.! Democracy was front and Center!
A Military Attaché from a developing Nation was living within site of the Square with Binoculars and said they surrounded with tanks the students then as the tanks tightened the formation they forced the Kids out of the Circle and they were run over by the tanks... The Corpses were Piled High into a Funeral Pyre and set ablaze.. The fires scorch marks were still evident to me weeks later on my visit! We drove By Tiananmen and went to the Infamous KFC on the square the largest in the world at that time.. And nobody was in there...only westerners were now permitted!Many Chinese were arrested if they drove By The Massacre site.
= = =
I have read the Tienanmen Papers and most other books on the topic. Was in-country at the time of the festivities.
The above detail was not in any of my reading though there was something similar as an unsubstantiated rumor. I wonder if you should get your Western Friend to send his observation to some authors of the various books on the topic. Such things need to be compiled in some central places.
Being in-country at the time . . . was heart-wrenching . . . and unforgetable in a long list of ways.
Certainly folks who haven’t lived in such situations are
mostly . . . clueless.
THANKS TONS FOR THIS POST.
PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH IF YOU PLAN TO GO BACK.
The scorch marks of where they burned the bodies was there. I saw it.... What was Missing and Nobody knows what happened with the Video Tape on the Two Light Poles in the Proximity of where the Slaughter took Place in the square.
The Tank Tread Marks were paved over on the Main Road and that was a strange reminder of what had transpired!
Maximum ruthlessness of top leaders has long been a Chinese tradition . . . which many approve of, sadly.
Thanks and thanks again for this post. It was chilling enough to view it on TV in California. To have been there-part of me wishes I had been there to witness the ‘glory of Communism,’ part of me is glad there were people like you to record some of what happened.
Thanks for the thoughts... I actually had a friend who was a drinking Pal who I later found out was the translator for the Democracy group as they Passed through Hong Kong...on their way to Europe...for safe haven..
I remember trying to keep up with all of those events on the TV at the time but I also had 2 small children at the time and my attention was divided. Your story puts a face to events that I knew was going on but missed details of.
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