Forbidden Memories

(Baonghean.vn) - June 4, 2015 marks 26 years since China's crackdown at Tiananmen Square, but visitors to the square will find it difficult to find signs or memorials marking a popular uprising that took place here.

According to experts and many media, the Chinese government has made continuous efforts for more than a quarter of a century to ban the activities of commemorating and marching by the people to commemorate this historical event. On this day, Tiananmen Square still seems to be just a very normal tourist or meeting place.

However, mass demonstrations for democratic reforms were initiated by Chinese students in the square in April 1989, following the death of a liberal member of the Communist Party, Hu Yaobang, who strongly supported reforms. The students gathered in the square and remained there for three days after Hu Yaobang died. The crowd grew and grew to 100,000 people for the leader's state funeral.

The following month, the crowd in Tiananmen Square reached 1.2 million. Unable to force protesters to comply with orders to disperse, the Chinese government, headed by Premier Li Peng, imposed martial law on May 19, 1989. Li also barred foreign media from reporting on the protests, which began on June 1 of that year.

The massacre of protesters by army troops and tanks is said to have taken place on June 3 and 4, hence the name June 4. There have never been any reliable reports of casualties. To this day, the Chinese government only acknowledges the crackdown as an attempt to suppress “counter-revolutionary rebellion.”

A Beijing resident stands in front of a column of tanks on Chang'an Avenue on June 5, 1989. This photo has become a symbol of the Tiananmen protests. Photo: Reuters.

The day after the incident, on June 5, 1989, a protester stood in the way of a column of Chinese tanks. The photograph capturing this moment became the iconic image of the Tiananmen Square uprising.

Now, the only sign of the lingering effects of June 4 are the police officers patrolling the square in central Beijing, the Washington Post reported. Last year, the government’s response tactics on the eve of the anniversary of Tiananmen were even more extensive and comprehensive—evidence that the event may not have been so long in the memory of the Chinese people and the Beijing government.

Thu Giang

(According to International Business Times)