i left China two weeks before it happened and a friend that had to stay said there were More tanks facing out than there were inside the square because they didn't know if they would have to fight other units sympathetic to the freedom movement.
Posted on 06/04/2009 7:15:57 PM PDT by boxlunch
The Tiananmen generation Out of post-massacre despair, Chinese demonstrators learned not only that communism is crushing but that democracy alone cannot save | Jamie Dean
Type "Tiananmen Square massacre" into the Chinese-language version of the popular Chinese search engine Baidu, and the first link leads to a video with this title: "The Myth of Tiananmen Massacre." A subhead describes the massacre as "a popular Western myth," and the video features a Chinese man claiming he saw no government violence against civilians in Tiananmen Square on the morning of June 4, 1989. Zhou Fengsuo tells a different story. The Chinese activist now lives in San Francisco, but he remembers the night he spent in Tiananmen Square with thousands of other university students gathered to demand freedom from Communist oppression during the spring of 1989. ....(excerpt)...
Chinese textbooks don't mention the event. Chinese censors block internet access to much information on the massacre. Government officials forbid state-run media from reporting about it. And in recent weeks, Chinese officials have jailed at least one dissident for speaking out against the military's actions at Tiananmen Square—a common fate for outspoken opponents of the government.
Despite modern technology and the benefit of time and research, it's possible that today's Chinese students know less about the historic event than those of 20 years ago, when word of mouth spread news of the massacre like wildfire.
....(excerpt)... For Chinese Christians present at the Tiananmen Square massacre, the anniversary carries an added meaning: They remember one of the worst days in modern Chinese history as the turning point for the one of the most exciting trends in China: the unexpected growth of Christianity. ... Read more at http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15447
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
Why are you excerpting FR? We don’t have an embargo against ourselves.
What do you mean?
Sorry, you made a posting error. I clicked “This article is an excerpt” and I got FR.
Here's a key excerpt:
" Hand-picked by their elders for their manifested zeal in keeping the Communist Party in power, the new leaders pledged to adhere to Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong thought and Deng Xiaoping theory for 'a long time to come'.
But, added new party chief Hu Jintao, the new leadership will also work hard to 'project a fine image of a party that advances with its times'...".
Communist Party goes modern
By Antoaneta Bezlova
Nov 16, 2002
BEIJING - China's Communist Party - the world's largest political movement, with 66 million members - has bid to cast off its harsh image as a revolutionary party committed to violent class struggle in favour of the more mellow image of a conventional ruling party.
At its week-long congress that ended on Friday, the Party redefined itself from the "revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat" to a representative party of the whole nation, embracing capitalists - the class enemies it loathed in the past - and electing a younger generation of leaders.
Hu Jintao, 59, an enigmatic party apparatchik who, under the outgoing party chief Jiang Zemin was deputy general secretary and vice president, heads the new party leadership.
The Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest ruling body, was expanded from seven to nine members, all men in their 50s and early 60s who are deeply committed to turning China into an aggressive, high-technology market economy.
Hand-picked by their elders for their manifested zeal in keeping the Communist Party in power, the new leaders pledged to adhere to Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong thought and Deng Xiaoping theory for "a long time to come".
But, added new party chief Hu Jintao, the new leadership will also work hard to "project a fine image of a party that advances with its times".
Although he is not ranked alongside the late paramount leaders Mao and Deng, whose ideas have already been enshrined in the party constitution, outgoing Communist Party chief Jiang is credited with fostering that "fine image" by introducing his "Theory of the Three Represents".
Jiang's theory means that the Party now formally welcomes not only workers, farmers, soldiers and intellectuals but also "any advanced element of other social strata", clearly referring to the emerging forces of private businessmen, professionals and other social elite.
The change in ideology was sealed on the last day of the congress, when more than 2,000 delegates voted in favor of changing the party constitution to accommodate Jiang's theory - a clear sign that the Chinese Communist Party finally sees itself as a party in power as opposed to a revolutionary party.
"A ruling party has different goals than a revolutionary party," said Wang Changjiang, a professor of party building at the Central Chinese Communist Party School. "A revolutionary party fights to seize power by violent means while a ruling party has to find the best way of using this power."
There are other differences too, argued Hu Wei, a political scientist at the Shanghai Jiaotong University. "Class enemies play an important role in the ideology of the revolutionary party, but almost none in the ideology of the ruling party. Quite opposite, a ruling party strives to emphasize harmony and cooperation between different classes of the country," Hu explained.
While some Chinese pundits are grappling to present the current transfer of power as a watershed for the Communist Party in the new century, other watchers are hunting for clues on whether the change in the leadership faces is anything more than just a generational change for the same old party. "As long as there is no political reform, there is no real political change," said one Western diplomat here.
It is uncertain whether the retiring generation of leaders will form a National Security Council - a secretive ruling council that could influence party decisions behind the scenes and may try to block any chance for genuine political reform.
Hu Jintao is not Jiang's candidate for successor, but had been selected by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to take over eventually. Jiang has actually been promoting his own protege, Zeng Qinghong, who emerged as No 5 in the new leadership lineup.
An earlier report by the influential International Institute for Strategic Studies in London asserted that the presence of Jiang's protege in the politburo would serve to circumvent Hu's rule. "China is therefore entering a period of heightened political instability," the think-tank said in its annual strategic survey.
To complicate the power-jockeying even further, Jiang has opted to retain his key position as chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, a post that Deng Xiaoping held on to after he had given up his other formal titles.
Jiang remains as China's head of the state until March, when the National People's Congress or parliament meets to vote on government posts. Retiring with Jiang are five other elder leaders, including the hardliner Li Peng, much hated for his decision to dispatch tanks against the unarmed students in 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, and the no-nonsense premier Zhu Rongji, respected for his ambitious drive that finally brought China into the World Trade Organization last year.
In with the new leaders are mainly technocrats, bureaucrats and a few local party officials who have excelled in their respective provinces. Among them are Vice Premier Wu Bangguo, who emerged as No 2 and is expected to take over the chairmanship of the National People's Congress from Li Peng, and Vice Premier Wen Jiabao, third in line, who will probably take over the premiership from Zhu Rongji in March.
Little is known about the new party chief Hu, who has been at the peak of China's political power for 10 years but revealed few of his true political colors. An engineering graduate from the prestigious Qinghua University, he stayed on as a political instructor during the violent political clashes that took place there during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) but fought against the radicals.
He served in poor Gansu province and troubled Tibet before being promoted to the party politburo in 1992. He was party secretary in Tibet in 1989 when soldiers opened fire on Tibetans protesting against Chinese rule. Hu became vice president in 1998 and was named Jiang's deputy chairman the next year on the Central Military Commission that controls the army.
Hu's rise is credited to his ability to keep a low profile and avoid political infighting behind the scenes. However, his ascendance to power means he will have to abandon his humble ways and grapple with some tough political choices in the next five years.
Ok, I made a mistake. I thought I copied the link to the World article, guess I clicked and copied the wrong one. You are such a kind and nice person to point out that error.
[2009] Russia, China plan new joint military exercises
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst
Published: March 26, 2009
WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- The continuing tensions over Russia's refusal to sell its state-of-the-art land warfare advanced weapons systems to China hasn't interrupted the rhythm of major joint military exercises between the two major land powers on the Eurasian landmass. The latest in the regular, biennial series of exercises between the two nations has been confirmed for this summer.
The next in the now well-established series of exercises called Peace Mission 2009 will be carried out in northeastern China, the Russian Defense Ministry announced March 18, according to a report carried by the RIA Novosti news agency.
The first bilateral Peace Mission maneuvers -- described at the time as counter-terrorism exercises -- were held in Russia and the eastern Chinese province of Shandong in August 2005. As we reported at that time, they were a lot bigger than mere counter-terrorism exercises. Warships, squadrons of combat aircraft and more than 10,000 troops were involved carrying out landings against hypothetically hostile shores. The maneuvers also involved large-scale paratroops drops. The scale and nature of those exercises suggested a trial run for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan with Russian support. ..."
http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2009/03/26/Russia_China_plan_new_joint_military_exercises/UPI-25021238094858/
_____________________________________________________________
From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
_____________________________________________________________
From National Public Radio (NPR):
August 29, 2006
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been visiting countries such as China, Iran and Russia as part of an effort to build a 'strategic alliance' of interests not beholden to the United States. He considers the United States his arch enemy.":
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5729764
Thanks, great article!
Thank you!
i left China two weeks before it happened and a friend that had to stay said there were More tanks facing out than there were inside the square because they didn't know if they would have to fight other units sympathetic to the freedom movement.
Since 2005 I’ve been saying China and Russia are up to no good.. I get “There is nothing to fear..China needs us” responses.
We must never forget or let the world forget what happened there.
roger that...
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