User Comments

1. 

   6/03/09

   Norski

   Now with an improved 1st paragraph.
   
   The Tiananmen Square confrontation was essentially an anniversary event, commemorating the 1988 protest.

   [reply]
   1. 

      6/03/09

      legendarytoby

      I feel sorry for the students. I live in Hong Kong, and the news is going on and on about how terrible China was to the students.
   2. 

      6/03/09

      Norski

      legendarytoby,
      
      I have sympathy for the students, too. Their methods may not have been well-considered, but the Chinese government's response made Kent State look like a tea party.
2. 

   6/03/09

   NatetheGrate

   The Peoples' Army was not supposed to shoot AT the people!

   [reply]
   1. 

      6/03/09

      Norski

      Possibly: But people died, anyway. And there still doesn't appear to be a publicly available list of the people who were arrested and held. And, presumably, are still being held.
      
      From a public relations point of view, not one of China's shining moments.
3. 

   6/03/09

   Flipnautick

   The new battlefield is the internet; the new form of fighting is through cyber-journalism. There are many Chinese bloggers imprisoned unjustly by the Party.
   
   The internet and new media: People Power reincarnated.

   [reply]
   1. 

      6/04/09

      Norski

      Flipnautick,
      
      I'm inclined to see it that way. Which, I think, accounts for some of the strange coalitions trying to impose net censorship.
4. 

   6/04/09

   clioandme

   Someone in this morning's Diane Rehm Show pointed out that the main protest was initially economic. (wamu.org/programs/dr/09/06/04.php#26844) According to this reading, China had begun reforms that were helping the countryside and causing the cities pain---a dangerous game. Students protested and made economic demands. And then they tacked on some democratic demands. Since then, the economic demands have been met. China shifted its emphasis to the cities, where social and political stability are so important.
   
   Unfortunately, my only Chinese contacts have been young students who know nothing about any of this, a sign of the government's relative, although perhaps temporary success in silencing internal discussion of it.

   [reply]
   1. 

      6/08/09

      Norski

      Markstoneman,
      
      Thanks for the background. The only known public commemoration of the Tiananmen Square events in China this year was held in Hong Kong - and China's leadership seems to have learned something. anotherwaronterrorblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiananmen-square-commemoration-... so have 'China's youth,' it would seem (more of that in my older post).