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Samizdata quote of the day “So well done to them all as they mass on the safe, sunlit and tank-free streets of London in their courageous anti-Trump protest. And on the thirtieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of thousands that the (actual fascist) Chinese government pretends never happened, maybe at least some of the more cerebral protesters will allow themselves a bit of pause for thought. These thoughts in particular: I really ought, in the name of consistency, to have been kicking off about the red carpet for Xi Jinping in 2015; and if there’s just one thing I suppose at a push I will give to Trump, he’s got to be right about the whole Chinese government-Huawei-5G business. Happy Tiananmen Anniversary. Happy, easy, safe protest against the non-fascist President of the United States.”
– Julie Lynn.
In Hong Kong, the gruesome anniversary of the Tianamen Square killings were commemorated yesterday. Given that HK is sort of part of China (its autonomy is being eroded), future vigils to mark this day of infamy may not take place.
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The Chinese have a bit of a reputation for being brusque. But I remember reading that during the days before the Tiananmen Square massacre, when the students thronging the square thought that some of the leaders were sympathetic to them and there was almost a carnival atmosphere, all of Beijing (or Peking as I would have called it then) became a friendly place.
Now they can’t fart with breaking the social credit system….
If Huawei build bits of the 5G network, when will we get the Social Credit system in the West?
I can confirm that Natalie. I arrived in Peking few days before. Hotel staff said demonstrations had died down. CNN news was frequently blanked out. On the last day I was on a bus in the middle of the square when thousands of demonstrators thronged the square from every direction. The atmosphere was electric but not threatening. I flew home that night and horrified to turn on the TV to see the tanks roll.
Since the start of this month, it has widely reported that Twitter has abruptly taken down many Chinese-language accounts. The varied reports speak of ‘hundreds’ or ‘a thousand’ or ‘a large number’ or ‘a huge number’. Some reports say Twitter said it was an ‘accident’. One paper said
but other reports suggest that the timing was, on the contrary, well coordinated with the true reason why it was done.
Natalie Solent (Essex) (June 5, 2019 at 2:21 pm), surprisingly little mentioned in the 30th-anniversary coverage I have seen so far was that Gorbachov was visiting Peking in May, early on in the protests. The demonstrators were encouraged to ask for ‘glasnost’ in China while the Chinese government felt unable to slaughter them in front of him.
A quick web-search for something to cross-check my memories found this BBC timeline and this article on Russian and Chinese responses.
I certainly recall news reports of the time discussing the relationship between the demonstrations and Gorbachov’s visit, how demonstrators were exploiting the diplomatic courtesy shown to a visiting leader to praise him as a pointed message to their own government, and how his presence inhibited a shutdown of the square earlier when things were smaller.
Powerline on Tiananmen:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/06/tiananmen-30-years-later.php
Niall, thanks for the links. Very interesting. Also interesting are several points in this article at Foreign Policy, “30 Years After Tiananmen: How the West Still Gets China Wrong.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/04/30-years-after-tiananmen-how-the-west-still-gets-china-wrong/
The self congratulatory affect of the whole “truth to power” crowd is nauseating.
“Itellyounothing” – of course the “Woke” (including much of Big Business) are pushing for a “Social Credit” system on the Chinese model.
This is the “joke” – the supposedly noble protesters are actually the people in support of CENSORSHIP and TOTALITARIAN SOCIAL CONTROL. And the target of their attacks, President Donald Trump, is AGAINST these things.
Just as it is the “protesters” (and the Corporations that support “Woke” culture) that support the People’s Republic of China against the West.
They are not “brave” – as President Trump will do nothing other than answer their words with words of his own.
And the “freedom” the “Woke” support is the “freedom” to censor, oppress, and MURDER people with whom they disagree.
This is how far “Critical Theory” and the rest of modern Marxism has come – they now control both the education system and much of Big Business.