Date of 4 June remains one of China’s strictest taboos, with government using increasingly sophisticated tools to censor its discussion
There is no official death toll but activists believe hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed by China’s People’s Liberation Army in the streets around Tiananmen Square, Beijing’s central plaza, on 4 June 1989.
The date of 4 June remains one of China’s strictest taboos, and the Chinese government employs extensive and increasingly sophisticated resources to censor any discussion or acknowledgment of it inside China. Internet censors scrub even the most obscure references to the date from online spaces, and activists in China are often put under increased surveillance or sent on enforced “holidays” away from Beijing.
New research from human rights workers has found that the sensitive date also sees heightened transnational repression of Chinese government critics overseas by the government and its proxies.
As an American I think it’s helpful to put this into some sort of perspective.
Things the US won’t forget:
- Tiananmen Square (thousands dead)
Things the US will forget:
-
Korean War (3mil civilian dead)
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Vietnam War (2mil civilian dead)
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Iraqi War (1mil civilian dead)
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Violent overthrow of East Timor (widely considered a genocide)
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Violent overthrow of Afghanistan (twice, over 1 mil dead)
-
Violent overthrow of Nicaragua
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Violent overthrow of Grenada
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Violent overthrow of Panama
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Violent overthrow of Libya
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Coup d’etat of Guatemala
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Coup d’etat of Iran
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Failed Coup d’etat of Syria
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Failed Coup d’etat of Indonesia
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Many failed Coup d’etat attempts on Cuba
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Coup d’etat of Congo
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Coup d’etat of Laos
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Coup d’etat of the Dominican Republic
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Coup d’etat of Iraq
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Coup d’etat of Brazil
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Successful Coup d’etat of Indonesia (1 mil dead)
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Coup d’etat of Chile
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Multiple Coup d’etat of Bolivia
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Coup d’etat of Haiti
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Multiple Coup d’etat attempts on Venezuela
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Coup d’etat of Palestine
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Mass civilian casualties, destabilization of many governments, people subject to a lifetime of torture without a trial, all under the War on Terror
This list could be so much longer, but I gotta get to work.
Things the US will forget:
Korean War (3mil civilian dead)
Vietnam War (2mil civilian dead)
Iraqi War (1mil civilian dead)
Imagine thinking that the US has forgotten any of these when they’re a constantly pressure on the cultural zeitgeist even literal decades later. Or, for that matter, that the Korean War is in any way comparable.
Violent overthrow of Afghanistan (twice, over 1 mil dead)
Twice? Christ, tell me you aren’t talking about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Not to mention that the ‘overthrow’ of ‘Afghanistan’ the second time would rely on recognizing the Taliban, and not the democratically-oriented Northern Alliance which was fighting them at the time, as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
