Greenpost, Stockholm
Looking at the situation in Hong Kong, it reminded me of June Fourth. According to a Youtube video, it showed a woman skrieking to the police told them to refuse the Hong Kong government order and go home because those students are so young that they are called children. She claimed that if the police go home, they will scatter.
But things didn’t happen as she said. There is a lot of similarities between this and thirty years ago. Thirty years ago, University students in Beijing, mostly bachelor- seekers, went to Tianmen Square to have a hunger strike. They said they wanted to ask the government to fight against corruption, increase the teachers salaries and several others. With good slogans of supporting the communist party and so on, many people began to sympathize with the students and provide food and drinks to them.
After 7 days, the government declared curfew and wanted to clear the Tianmen Square. We observers who were post graduate seekers or Phds went back to the campus waiting for the restart of courses.
However, due to the support from everywhere and there were more people gathering in Tiananmen Square causing the collapse of transport and even the workers began to take part in. When I passed by Tiananmen Square on June 2, I saw Xiaobo Liu and Hou Dejian giving speeches and I heard that they were giving 72 hours hunger strike.
I heard the loudspeaker along the Chang’an Avenue began to change tones. That were not students any more. That was workers who said they were going to take violent action against the government.
I arrived my dormitory about 2 o’clock in the morning of June 3 and when I woke up again, it was lunch time already. Then I heard the loud speaker again and again warned the citizens not to go to the street because a curfew had been implemented. If you went to the street, you had to take the consequences yourself.
I listened the warning and remained at the campus.
On the June 5, when I went out to the Baiyi Film Production Plant, I notice on the way from Gongzhufen to Liuliqiao, many military trucks were burned.
It was a sad story. For thirty years, I just wonder why students must stay in the Tiananmen Square and even wanted to burn themselves for the so called Utopia democracy.
I saw a lot of good tents stationed in the Tiananmen Square on the second of June. I was told that the tents all came from Hong Kong.
Recent Youtube video showed that there were an organization called Zhilianhui or Supporting Tiananmen Federation. This Zhilianhui got a lot of donation from Hong Kong and sent the money to Beijing.
Student leaders such as Cailing at that time cried and shouted that they would stay in Tiananmen Square waiting for bloodshed.
From the very beginning, I didn’t think the students decided to occupy the Tiananmen Square forever even with the price of their lives. They just wanted to give a push to the government to reform and stop corruption.
But later, especially after June 20th, students should have left the Tiananmen Square, but they didn’t because there were such a lure that they were supported by the people and workers. If they withdrew, the movement would just end peacefully. Some people didn’t like to see that, they wanted to change China immediately, if you talked about their good intention.
But reflecting that after thirty years, you could find out that indeed there were a small group of growups who wanted to use the students as a shield. Then the students who received money also said they were already in the blacklist, they would stay to the last minute.
Many Beijing citizens ignore the government’s order of martial law, they even took the antiganism action to block the trucks of the PLA men to enter Tiananmen Square. They seemed to let the Tiananmen Square occupied forever.
It was obvious that there were forces behind some students leaders. It turned out that later these people got their passport of America or France. In an interview with Voice of America, a business man whose family name was Chen admitted that he helped 133 students or professors or teachers to leave the mainland through a boat from Shenzhen and via Hong Kong, they went to America or Paris again.
Chen said he was asked by Zhilianhui.
For many years, we reflected on this issue. How can we avoid bloodshed? How can we let our voice heard and how we should behave under this circumstances?
Those day I thought we were spoiled as the prince and princess of the God. We thought we could change the world within a few days. With such naivety, we caused the damage to the society and other people, especially those who supported us.
Later when I went to New Zealand, I observed how they demonstrated to call for increase of students stipend. They queued a long queue with flags and shouted slogans walking to the city center in Christchurch, the third largest city in New Zealand and the famous university was University of Canterbury. I followed the queue and walked less than half an hour. And then the students went back to their campus or home. I asked them what else they would do, they said, that’s the end. We finished here. The next was for the parliament to discuss this issue. They gave time to the parliament.
Supposed Chinese students really went back to the campus even on May 30th, when students leader Wang Dan declared the hunger strike and activities in the Tiananmen Square came to an end. The conflict would have been avoided.
The students splitted, the radicals gained the wind. They lost the original purpose or they changed the purpose because they were bought out by the Hong Kong or other areas bigger force.
From this point of view, Deng Xiaoping saw very clearly. They demanded him to step down, he understood that they wanted the communist party to step down.
The communist party has struggled for 88 years. They have experienced bloodshed themselves. Through the long march, they gained support of the people. Their struggle was very hard and their goal has been to lead the Chinese people first out of foreign oppression and establishing the new People’s Republic. And then they led the people to conduct socialist construction and built a relatively very equal society. Mao said women could hold half of the sky. This slogan was so sound that many Chinese women became drivers, workers and relied on themselves instead of relying on their husband. Women status advanced substantially.
With Chinese medicine, China built its own medical system and substantially prolonged people’s life expectancy. Baby’s death rate decreased a lot. During Mao Zedong period, China was a relatively poor but also very equal society. Many families in the countryside had more than three children. Many families such as mine had six or seven children. A large Human Resources were accumulated.
This human bonus provided great force of labor and paved a good way for later reform and opening up in China.
Great enthusiasm were shown after reform and opening up. People’s enthusiasm caused over heated economy. That caused people’s disatisfaction, especially the intellectuals because they felt their knowledge didn’t serve them to earn a better salary. Compared with the butchers, their salary was lower.
When Deng Xiaoping thought we could take market economy because poverty was not the purpose of socialism. He called it Socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.
That was to put down the ideological debate and take up development no matter it was socialism or capitalism. China should try to have a new way.
After the June Fourth, China was puzzled for two years. Similar to the time after Mao’s death. But then in 1992, Deng Xiaoping said China should be bold enough to take bigger steps in developing economy. Then private sector became prosperous.
Especially after 2000 when China privatized real estate industry and 2001 after joining in the WTO, Chinese development surged.
Now let’s talk about the Hong Kong students. It is understood that the young students had passions to sacrifice for certain cause. But this was due to their hormons or young enthusiasms. But I think that woman should persuade the students to scatter. Why should they stay there week after week? Any city, people must be aware of order. Without public order, the city will be in chaos. That will do harm to everybody or do good to nobody, except your enemies who wish to see the chaos or to see someone dares to challenge the Hong Kong government or even the central government.
Some people often like to see people challenge the communist party because they simply think they are in power too long. For no reasons, they simply didn’t like the big power. They like to separate others so that it is easy to deal with. Many countries are small and they like small countries because it is easy to deal with.
I don’t rule out outside force support for the students in Hong Kong. Usually the government would not take action against the students because they knew they are young, innocent and sometimes ignorant. But they would likely take action if there is really outside forces. Then they would not be so tolerant.
Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. We were happy that it returned and would like to have a visit. But then I heard that Hong Kong didn’t like the mainlanders to visit. Therefore, there is a pass requirement. However, immediately after that Asian financial crisis took place. Hong Kong SAR came to Beijing and asked Premier Zhu Rongji to help. Premier Zhu Rongji led a large delegation to buy in Hong Kong and thus rescue Hong Kong from the crisis.
To be honest, I think the travel pass limitation should be eradicated. People should be easy to go to Hong Kong, this would be good for trade in Hong Kong.
In fact, as some experts pointed out, Hong Kong benefit from China’s opening up. But when China really opened wider its door, Hong Kong somewhat lost its bride advantage.
But for the current situation, they are against the change of law or judicial procedure for criminals to be able to be sent to the place where they should be tried. This was hard to understand. Some western countries such as Sweden using this as an excuse not extraditing Qiao Jianjun to China. What does it mean? It means you want to harbor criminals right? What do Hong Kong Students mean? Do you want harbor criminals? Do you indicate that you want Hong Kong to be a place to harbor criminal in other areas?
According to the explanation from the Chinese media, this time it was due to a killer suspect from Hong Kong who should be sent to Taiwan for trial, but because Hong Kong doesn’t have such extradition law, they couldn’t do that. This was unfair for the Taiwan victim. But students refused to revise such a law meaning they refuse to send wanted criminal suspect to certain place.
They don’t use normal way to voice their opinion, but take such radical action. I suggest they should go back to their campus and continue to study. They should not stay there all the time affecting the public transport and public order.
Obviously either someone supports them or some of them are radicals or extremists. We shall see.
