22nd anniversary of Tiananmen Square - "May 35th"

[pampango]

I have nothing special to add about the events in China 22 years ago, except simply to observe that they happened. It is worth continuing to note this anniversary in the rest of the world, since the authorities have all but effaced its memory within China.

In my experience in talking with college students in China, it's not a question of having to be "careful" when referring to the events in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, or using code like "May 35th." Even if you refer specifically to that time and place, most young Chinese that I've met have no idea what you are talking about. This is just an arbitrary date to them -- not one with resonance, like September 11, 2001, or November 22, 1963.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/06/may-35th/239922/

[Scuba]

1. Just curious - the text on the photo says "may 4". Comment?

[Motown_Johnny]

2. Wiki has the military getting involved on 6/4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

^snip^

The movement lasted seven weeks after Hu's death on 15 April. Premier Li Peng, a hardline conservative, declared martial law on May 20, but no military action took place until June 4, when the tanks and troops of the People's Liberation Army moved into the streets of Beijing, using live fire while proceeding to Tiananmen Square to clear the area of protestors. The exact number of civilian deaths is not known, and the majority of estimates range from several hundred to thousands. There was widespread international condemnation of the government's use of force against the protesters.

[MadHound]

3. And despite the atrocities that the Chinese government committed agains these and other people,

Clinton handed China Most Favored Nation trading status anyway, further gutting our manufacturing sector.