China: Struggle for democracy: World movement for democracy in mainland China remembers Tiananmen Square massacre
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Seventeen years ago, the Communist Chinese regime that runs the mainland country and has now absorbed Hong Kong from the British, established the absence of democracy by using its military, tanks and all, to massacre the the participants in the mass demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. They wanted a multi-party system with free votes for represenation in the national parliament. Today, memorial observances are taking place all over the world, both to remember the dead and to celebrate the survivors, many of whom are now in exile. A report from India gives us a snapshot in words, of the Square today:
Beijing, June 04: Chinese police tore up a protester's poster and detained at least two people on Beijing's Tiananmen square today, as the country marked 17 years since local troops crushed a pro-democracy demonstration at the public space.Memorial events will take place in Toronto today where one of the demonstrators, after ten years in prison, has taken to our local airwaves.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong prepared to hold a large candlelight vigil at an urban park mourning the victims of the crackdown on June 4, 1989, which took hundreds of lives.
China's authoritarian government has stood by the suppression of what it has called "counter-revolutionary" riots, saying it preserved social stability and paved the way for economic growth.
Discussion of the crackdown is still taboo and authorities have banned public commemorations of the incident in most of the country.
The police kept tight watch on Tiananmen square today.
An elderly woman tried to pull out a poster with apparently political material written on it, and had it ripped up by police. They then took the woman off the square.
A farmer tried to stage a protest, apparently unrelated to the 1989 crackdown, and was taken away in a police van.
A group of tourists at the square just after dawn tried to open a banner while posing for a group photo, and police quickly forced them to put the non-political material away.
Chinese television news and major newspapers did not mention the anniversary.
In an editorial Sunday, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper urged Beijing to allow public discussion of the events. Wang Dan, a leader in the 1989 protests who was jailed and exiled to the US, said in a Ming Pao article that he holds out hope China will loosen its political controls.
TORONTO (CP) - For the first time in 17 years, a man arrested in Tiananmen Square in 1989 for throwing paint-filled eggshells at a portrait of Mao Zedong will mark the infamous massacre as a free man.Many younger educated Chinese today do not believe the witness of the members of the former student movement for democracy, sad to say. - Politicarp
Lu Decheng, who was imprisoned and tortured in China for 10 years for being a "counter-revolutionary," said Friday he was feeling a mix of emotions on the eve of the anniversary.
"This is the first time in my life that I am now again a participant of the commemorated events of June 4," he said through a translator. "For me, it is very mixed feelings. It's an exhilarating feeling and also a very moving experience for me."
"I hope by this time next year we can celebrate the anniversary in Tiananmen Square itself. That is my most fervent hope."
Lu will take part in a march and candlelight vigil Sunday in Toronto to commemorate the massacre that occurred when Chinese soldiers entered the square to squash a protest involving thousands of civilians. He said his goal for China is the same today as it was when he hurled eggs at the Communist leader's portrait in 1989: a fully democratic country.
Lu, who has a three-centimetre scar behind his ear from a blow he suffered in prison, said if he could do it over again, he would try to put together a better organized opposition to the Chinese government. He hopes that lobby groups, if not an official opposition, will soon emerge in China.
"I would hope that we would have more direct action in regards to bringing democracy to China," he said.
Lu, who now resides in Calgary, spoke at Toronto's city hall while seated in front of a portrait of a famous photo from the suppression of Tiananmen demonstrators who were demanding democratic reforms.
The photo of a lone protester standing in front of a procession of tanks came to symbolize China's attitude towards dissidents like Lu.
He said he thinks the protests in Tiananmen Square helped push China down the road to democracy.
More than 200 dissidents and human rights activists from more than 20 countries held a conference in Berlin last month to support the democratization of China.
Further Resources:
China's 'Tank Man' Lives
Commencement Address and the Meaning of Tiananmen Square
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