It's interesting seeing history repeats itself. Europe bickers. Russia goes back to a strong man and a corrupt clique. China defiesreason and the course of history by trying to block itself off from the 21st century. This is exactly the same behavior is happened 600 years ago when China burned the great fleet. It is an outgrowth of the cultural chauvinism the Chinese engage in which is both irrational and self-destructive. Either the Chinese will fail to shut out the 21st century or they will fail to enter it. The first will mean they must change while the second means that once again change has left them behind.
6
In the summer of 1989, the students protested for weeks as international news media converged on Tiananmen Square. I was also a college student, at the time, glued to the TV, in my parent's house, in the safety of my country, the United States. Most Chinese Americans thought it was impossible that the Chinese military will turn their guns and tanks on the nation's sons and daughters, especially in front of all those cameras broadcasting live. A couple of moments during the peaceful protest made me hopeful that a peaceful resolution can be achieved. Then the shots rang out followed by screams, cries, blurred vision of people running, people falling. I was in shock. I screamed for my parent's to come to the television. This was the day the brutality of an ugly authoritarian regime revealed itself on the global stage, beamed into every television in the West. All this memory came back to me today. Thank you New York Times for covering the story and covering the Hong Kong protest. The Hong Kong protesters made me proud of my Chinese heritage. History shall not be erased.
23
It is not for much longer that the colony of Hong Kong will be used by the Western imperialists to control, restrict and harm China. China's sovereignty over that enclave, unjustly extracted from it by the imperial powers, will be fully restored soon. Meanwhile, the West is just trying to do maximum damage to its emerging rival while it still can. That is completely useless, nothing but petty and impotent vindictiveness of a loser.
2
Tankman. You are the true superhero. You will be remembered forever.
14
Vox populi, vox dei.
My sincerest respect and gratitude goes to Hong Kong on this day every year! You are the bravest Chinese in fighting for freedom and democracy against the Communist tyranny.
Salute to you all for the past 30 years and wish you success.
20
Kudos to the Taiwanese. Freedom springs from violence, or at least the ability to inflict it. The now peaceful Swiss who introduced democracy to western Europe and those who extended it to America were not silent protesters holding candles in the darkness. Tyranny can be peaceful on the surface, yet ultimately intolerable. Those who run countries like China had better wise up soon.
7
The massacre by the stalinist Chinese regime should be remembered, along the all the far greater crimes by the CCP going back to 1927. However, all the moralizing and finger wagging from the US is beyond irony. Let us recall the 1965 massacre of more than 500,000 Indonesians that the US actively supported and defended. It remains the greatest slaughter post-WWII in the world. I could go on and on with a list of the millions killed directly by the US and with its support.
6
Your statement is untrue and ridiculous. You cannot blame the United States for what happened in Indonesia just as you cannot blame the United States for unnamed wrongs which you mention.
in any case, Mao slaughtered 60 million Chinese which happened after World War II so your statement is factually incorrect.
5
30 years have passed and many witnesses of the 1989 massacre have passed away. As many younger Chinese are kept in the dark on the incident, Beijing is trying to restructure the picture as a 'tragedy' that 'all sides have responsibility'. Meanwhile, the HK government is pushing for the Extradition Law that would allow people in HK to be extradited to China if they were found to 'break any Mainland Chinese law'. If succeeded, this may be the last year that a large scale vigil on the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre can be held in Hong Kong.
27
This day should be instructive to our country. The truth cannot only be ignored, indeed it can be erased. Witness, primarily in the south, school boards approving historical texts that distort history and in so doing hinder our ability to learn from it.
24
I was born in Hong Kong in the 60’s, live in Toronto, and I am pragmatic. So Hong Kong should have its democracy! And my question has always been ‘HOW?’. For those, young hot blooded youngsters, who speak of democracy and freedom from Communist China, answer this one question: are you willing to be in the army ? Going to boot camp... cause without an army how could we (HK) be independent? Who is going to fight for ‘the democracy’ for us? So don’t be an ideologue, but think about the true consequences. Has life become truly intolerable under One country and Two system?
5
@George C. Taiwanese serve in their army. Hong Kong isn't allowed to have an army.
12
Many Americans and others in other countries LOVE Taiwan and its 23.5 million democratic and free people. Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese...visit by the thousands every month. Great country independent of Communist China.
7
@George C.
People from Hong Kong are in *jail* not just in the army asking for democracy. I hope this answers your question.
6
China is the Orwellian State come to life. Constant video monitoring of all citizens. Scrubbing the truth and replacing it with lies. Can such a place continue to thrive without basic human freedoms? I should think not. All such countries eventually fail. The Great Wall of China will one day cone tumbling down.
35
US citizens have no ethical supremacy or corner on “good” government. In my lifetime, my country, the US, has instigated more unjust (and unsuccessful) wars, always against some of the poorest people in the world, causing misery and untold numbers of deaths of innocent people. We are told we have the best military in the world, yet we cannot “win” a war, nor can our leaders even define what “winning” is. We have mass shootings on a near weekly basis. 20% of the children in the country have an inadequate diet. A decent education is not available to many, and the rich pay millions to get their children in universities considered “elite.” The wealth gap is getting worse as a “middle class” is getting decimated. Infrastructure is failing. We are also rapidly becoming the “Orwellian State” the equal of China. NONE of these problems, and many others, are being addressed, much less being solved by our congress.
13
@Stephan Off topic. You can cite 200 more examples to prove the US is also an "Orwellian State", but it doesn't help in justifying the CCP's brutal crackdown on students and civilians on that day.
10
He Jiagan: What Mike L, from NY, wrote describes the US today. I suspect he doesn’t understand that. Our leaders “scrub the truth and replace it with lies.” Do we provide basic human freedoms to all of our citizens? The answer is no. Many US citizens feel they are educated and know a lot about the rest of the world when they don’t. Judgements and predictions such as “...all such countries eventually fail” sounds like blindness to our own situation. We are in the midst of the same process of failure. I am suggesting we all, including Mike L, consider these factors when predicting the failure of China.
1
Hong Kong could have been a beacon of democracy for China if China has creeped in all the restrictions and suppression. China definitely is not honoring the “one country, two systems “ principle that they signed.
19
@Friendly
Hong Kong have exactly 1 year of experience with Democracy in 1996 and that's electing a governor. The prime minister in far off London still call the shots
2
@AmateurHistorian
But I don't think the HK governor in far off London Towne was disappearing HK residents to camps or to executions right before the handover. Respect for individuals' human rights and legal protection of such was a thing in HK before the Brits gave China the sovereignty it demanded.
7
It is encroaching on basic freedoms everywhere, buying media radio stations and publications in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Taiwan, New Zealand, feeding its BS to the Chinese diaspora. It secretly, through its proxies, finances and supports local candidates that have a chance of influencing policies deemed good for Beijing. It contaminates our campuses through its Confucius Institutes and Chinese Students and Scholars Associations. Its United Front is busy, financed by OUR consumer dollars buying things from China.
12