Forbidden Memories

(Baonghean.vn) - June 4, 2015 marks 26 years since China's crackdown in Tiananmen Square, but visitors to the square will find it difficult to find signs or memorials marking the 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 public commemorations and marches to commemorate this historic 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 had strongly supported reforms. The students gathered in the square and remained there for three days after Hu Yaobang died. The crowd grew until 100,000 attended 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 that 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 4th. 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 June 4 aftermath is the police patrolling the square in central Beijing, the Washington Post reported. Last year, the government’s response to the Tiananmen anniversary was even more extensive and far-reaching—evidence that the event may not have been long in the memory of the Chinese people and the government in Beijing.

Thu Giang

(According to International Business Times)