Silent remembrance of a sad anniversary in Beijing. At this time the 4th of June for 20 years, Tian An Men Square looked empty and clean ... but at this same time the hospitals were full, and the Chinese people lamented an unprecedented tragedy.
That same morning, the 3 to 4 June 1989 the Chinese army made its way to the center of Beijing (but not rebel against the civilian population) and headed to the outskirts of the Forbidden City to clear out Protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square for weeks. A bloodbath that pitted an army armed with assault rifles to civilians mostly workers and students in front of the watchful eye of the eternal portrait of Mao Zedong.
But, what they were doing there all those students? Let's do a retrospective of previous events that led to the slaughter.
Weeks earlier, in June to be exact, on April 15, 1989, died one of the most promising reform, and so beloved by students and intellectuals of the time: Hu Yaobang.
many students spontaneously joined in the famous square to mourn his death and support reforms that Hu wanted to accomplish. The Tian An Men Square and then had a special historical significance because it was precisely from the terrace across the street that gives the square, from where Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China, this October will be 60 years.
days later, 18 to April 21, demonstrations spread to the rest of the Chinese.
the occasion of Hu's funeral, April 22, a large group of students who were counted in the thousands, gathered in the square to honor the reformer.
The spontaneous demonstration by the sadness of the loss of a beloved leader, became gradually into a peaceful protest at the situation in the country, which in the eyes of the protesters needed reforms.
How ever seen in a sticky situation, the party nervous. And on April 26, the state publication People's Daily accused the protesters in an incendiary editorial rejecting the Communist Party, which led to more demonstrations.
early next month, on May 4, thousands of students marched to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the May 4th movement. The movement takes its name from that day in 1919 when another student revolution against the Treaty of Versailles, in precisely the same Tiananmen Square, he growing nationalist sentiment in the society of the time, which eventually led to the rise to power and consolidation of the Chinese Communist Party. With this clever celebration of the anniversary of May 4th, 89 students made clear their support for the government. But it did not do much.
The following week, on May 13, 1989, 160 students began a hunger strike in Tian An Men, which attracted the sympathy of much of the population.
But the government began to tire of the students occupying the square when the May 15 Mikhail Gorbachev came to the capital of China on an official visit and the welcome reception planned in Tian An Men was canceled by the manifestations.
the early hours of May 19, the then Secretary General of the Party, and reformist ideas, Zhao Ziyang, knowing that while he was on an official visit to North Korea despite its efforts to prevent this, the party had approved impose martial law in the city, appeared in the plaza with a megaphone and tried to dissuade those present to vacate Tian An Men to prevent further tragedy.
Zhao said: "I have come too late. You can not continue. We were young and also had similar bursts of energy. We have also organized demonstrations and I remember that situation. Neither of us thought of consequences"
But even this did little good, and that was the last appearance at a public event of Zhao Ziyang.
Once declared martial law on 20 June, the troops entered the capital, although the civilians tried to block their way with the means in his power: building barricades with buses or taxis.
troops withdrew four days later, but the demonstrations continued in central Beijing.
Finally, on June 2, the leaders decided to end the protests by force.
The next day, June 3, troops re-entered the capital from the east of the city, and as days before, civilians attempted to stop the passage of tanks to prevent confrontation between military forces and students. But this time, the soldiers responded with gunfire that lasted all night and the next day, June 4, in other parts of the capital, since the square had been forcibly evacuated.
June 5 is resumed full control of the city, and as a culmination of public discontent with the situation that had just taken place, was to remember the name of the man armed with two shopping bags, standing in front of a row of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace, Chang An Jie, which intersects with Tian An Men.
I was very young when this happened, and I have no memory of it, but thanks to the media and new technologies have been able to do an intensive search of dates and facts, stories and events, different views and versions to at least get an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat happened here in that year.
But many Chinese young people now, 20 years later, not so lucky. Most do not know what happened, and those who know do not talk about it.
The government pretends that nothing happened and strives to ignore ... and others to ignore.
In the next post we will see what the legacy of these 2 decades of silence. Is happening and not happening in Beijing on the anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies and secrets to voices of the modern history of China.
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