25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square

[Tonkyhonk]

It is not the primary responsibility of Americans and other Westerners to remember the Tiananmen Square massacre and reflect publicly on its meaning. But if we don't, who will? Not the Chinese.

Editorial - 25 years after Tiananmen Square by ChicagoTribune

Collective amnesia prevails in China 25 years after Tiananmen Square by LATimes
Tiananmen Square Massacre Still Off-limits 25 Years Later by ReportersWithoutBorders
Tiananmen Square 25 years on: 'Every person in the crowd was a victim of the massacre' by theGuardian
13 Photos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre That China Wants the World to Forget by Policymic
China Escalating Attack on Google by NYTimes
China disrupts Google services ahead of Tiananmen anniversary
Foreign journalists in China harassed over Tiananmen Square anniversary

when it happened, i was in the states, partying hard every day at my friends condo, and never heard of the news. (tv they had only showed some cable animes(macross), but they never turned on news shows, and not many around me bothered to tell me and my english wasnt good enough to read or hear the news anyways.) i only learned of it when i went back home and felt pretty bad with some strong riptide.

in late 90s, i visited various parts of china alone, mainly backpack traveling from a friends place to another (so half time of my trip with different friends). i visited tiananmen square as well and took a photo with a friend, smiling, little bit wondering if we can see any traces but in vain, no memorials, no signs, nothing at all left but the outstanding mao zedong giant pic, as if nothing happened there in 1989.

i met many chinese passers-by and made friends just for chatting, not like i can speak chinese, but only a survival convo with gestures and exchanging kanji writings in buses and trains or at bookstores, restaurants, hotels or stations. being japanese, many warned me of so many dangers, but to my surprise, all chinese people i met during my trip were extremely nice and sweet and they all tried to help me everywhere and it just made me love china so much. every once in a while, random people nearby just gathered around me when they learned i was japanese, not to throw stones at me nor to steal my passport or money from me, but to talk to me, giving me many different tips and advices on language and how to not get deceived or charged more or to be safe and all. it was a very nice surprise that i never expected before i went there. (maybe it was like that because i mostly visited small towns and didnt spend much time in big cities.) my point here is that im not posting this because i hate china or to cause some hatred towards them. i indeed love china, no matter how i hate the chinese government.

my friends who lived in china back then told me how happy you can lead your life when you have enough money/work to live on and show NO complaints at all, but once you speak of any kinds of criticizms in public, you will be taken away or arrested as there are(were) always amateur spies with dumbo ears everywhere to earn them petty cash by reporting. as a tourist, i couldnt ofc ask anyone of the massacre. i didnt even try back at home either when i met chinese living in my own country; makes me think its rather a taboo or i just didnt want to bother nice people with something you can not do anything with anyways.

recently with internet, many chinese people started talking randomly. yet, tiananmen square incident never seems to see the light. those who try get arrested. its not just uygurs or tibets, but anyone who is against the current dictatorship.
whether they need democracy or not is not my concern, i seriously do not know, the democracy movement was one of the popular waves as USSR fell back then, and too many chinese youths jumped on the wave only to meet the most horrible fate. it went worse than arab spring; nothing happened in chinese official history no matter how many young souls were lost.

trying to seal peoples mouths even after 25 years seems too unreasonable, and i just wish all the people who are currently arrested, captured, or confined as potential mouths are released and freed as soon as possible.
南無観世音菩薩

[Saxony4]

Just a reminder that Communism is bad

[Tonkyhonk]

Just a reminder that Communism is bad

hmmm i dont know if its communism or any system that should be blamed the most. i think we all know its more about the corruption certain party cling to in order to maintain their power.

Springtime in Tiananmen Square, 1989

[cultist]

Just a reminder that there was no communism on earth so far and that every dictatorship is bad.

[Ninijutsu]

Just a reminder that there was no communism on earth so far and that every dictatorship is bad.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A real communism would be utopia.

[cultist]

That's why the earth thingie. Still naming every garbage dictatorship communism is wrong by definition.

[Jomme]

Because capitalism is obviously heaven on earth! You can make a lot of money. If you're privileged. Otherwise, no healthcare for you! Capitalism is just as bad as communism. There is no good/bad -isms (sounds stupid when I say capitalism is just as bad, but you get the point), just a lot of dead people dying for things they believed in. In the end, communism and capitalism even shared the same thing. Eventually someone will take a nice ideal (free market - equality) and use it to gain power and money, whether that's the leader of a country or a leader of a corporation.

But yeah. What happened there was something the communists got better at over the years, let's just make sure we remember them same as we do casualties of all other struggles.

[NOOBY93]

Because capitalism is obviously heaven on earth! You can make a lot of money. If you're privileged. Otherwise, no healthcare for you! Capitalism is just as bad as communism. There is no good/bad -isms (sounds stupid when I say capitalism is just as bad, but you get the point), just a lot of dead people dying for things they believed in. In the end, communism and capitalism even shared the same thing. Eventually someone will take a nice ideal (free market - equality) and use it to gain power and money, whether that's the leader of a country or a leader of a corporation.

But yeah. What happened there was something the communists got better at over the years, let's just make sure we remember them same as we do casualties of all other struggles.

Again, communism isn't bad as an idea, but what happened when people attempted to do it was bad. Capitalism is terrible.

[Jomme]

Because capitalism is obviously heaven on earth! You can make a lot of money. If you're privileged. Otherwise, no healthcare for you! Capitalism is just as bad as communism. There is no good/bad -isms (sounds stupid when I say capitalism is just as bad, but you get the point), just a lot of dead people dying for things they believed in. In the end, communism and capitalism even shared the same thing. Eventually someone will take a nice ideal (free market - equality) and use it to gain power and money, whether that's the leader of a country or a leader of a corporation.

But yeah. What happened there was something the communists got better at over the years, let's just make sure we remember them same as we do casualties of all other struggles.

Again, communism isn't bad as an idea, but what happened when people attempted to do it was bad. Capitalism is terrible.

Excuses if my English was really terrible, but this was exactly what I said. There is no good/bad -isms.

[GrapefruitV]

That's why the earth thingie. Still naming every garbage dictatorship communism is wrong by definition.

Garbage dictatorship is exactly what communism is by definition (there is anarcho-communism ofcourse and similar utopic branches, but still, if we're talking about USSR, China or North Korea style, it is). Unlike other ideologies, communism led to casualties not because it was wrong interpreted or corrupted, but because it is based on idea of bloody revolution and extermination of all the enemies.