VS’is the most important political movement that China has known since the cultural revolution launched by Mao Zedong in 1966. Between April 15 and June 4, 1989, Chinese students, intellectuals and workers mobilized in favor of democratic reforms and for liberalization of the communist regime.
If the demonstrations were initially peaceful, the situation worsened when Deng Xiaoping, then in power, signed the order of martial law on May 19, in order to assist an overwhelmed police force. And for good reason, students from all over China are converging on Beijing to join the protests.
Urban clashes
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is at an impasse, talks are not moving forward, its senior dignitaries are choosing repression. On June 4, 1989, around 4 a.m., People’s Liberation Army tanks entered Tiananmen Square and indiscriminately crushed vehicles and demonstrators. Beijing becomes the site of urban clashes between students and soldiers causing hundreds of deaths, perhaps thousands, the exact number of victims remaining unverifiable.
Any mention of these events is strictly prohibited by the Chinese government. School programs, press archives, literary works: the massacre of June 4, 1989 is absent everywhere. An imperative that Chinese governments are keen to preserve.
Thus, President Hu Jintao, while traveling in France in October 2004, said about the events in Tian’anmen Square: “The Chinese government acted with determination to calm the political storm of 1989 and allowed China to benefit from stable development. » Young Chinese born after this date have only heard rumors or brief family stories who must not leave the home under penalty of reprisals.
READ ALSO “China will never dominate the world” The only acts of contemplation tolerated are candlelight vigils organized every year in Hong Kong in memory of the victims of June 4. A legacy that ended in 2020, when Beijing imposed a restrictive security law following major pro-democracy protests in the former British colony.
“Responding to autocracy with freedom”
Since then, some have tried to maintain this memory: an eighth person was arrested on Monday June 3 in Hong Kong. The Chinese authorities are fully mobilized to prevent any attempt at tribute, whether in Tian’anmen Square or via social networks.
Newly elected Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te spoke via Facebook: “The memories of June 4 will not disappear in the torrent of history and we will continue to work hard to keep this historic memory alive. » “Because it reminds us that democracy and freedom are not easy to obtain, we must […] responding to autocracy with freedom and confronting the rise of authoritarianism with courage,” he added.
READ ALSO Taiwan, the arm of honor to ChinaAn annual vigil is planned for this Tuesday in Taipei while Chinese military maneuvers have been taking place all around the island since May 23. Lai Ching-te’s progressive Democratic Party takes Taiwan’s independence for granted and must deal with its threatening neighbor every day.
