What happened in Tiananmen Square?
I have visited Tiananmen Square in Beijing on two occasions – once in 2000 and again in 2001. You can read about my first visit here.
Of course, today we remember what happened in the square and surrounding streets on 4 June 1989 – exactly 20 years ago. One woman who was there in the early stages of the protest and has recently made a return visit to Beijing was banned novelist Ma Jian who has written this moving piece. She notes:
“The Chinese have made a faustian pact with the government, agreeing to forsake demands for political and intellectual freedom in exchange for more material comfort. They live prosperous lives in which any expression of pain is forbidden.”
At the conclusion of my visit to China in 2000, I wrote:
“The 19th century was essentially the century of Britain; the 20th century was unquestionably the century of the United States; the 21st century might become the century of China. It depends on many factors.
It depends on the quality of the political leadership and, in the short term, Jiang Zemin is due to be succeeded by the younger Hu Jintao. It depends on the extent to which the economic changes are followed by political changes, including the development of a civil society with a free media, pressure groups, independent trade unions, and ultimately political parties. It depends on how capably and rapidly the economy moves from the bricks and mortar of the industrial society to the clicks and bricks of the information society. It depends on how China uses its growing industrial and military strength at home, specifically in relation to Tibet and Taiwan, and in the global marketplace.”