Twenty years ago, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Chinese students and pro-democracy advocates protesting in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, were systematically, brutally and cold-bloodedly massacred by their government.
The events of that day are well-known, and there’s material in abundance on the Internet for those who’d like to read more. Try these sources for a start:
BBC: Twenty Years On: Memories of Tiananmen
(click on each link there to go to a detailed memoir of the participant)
There are to this day prisoners in Chinese jails and labor camps who did not receive a fair trial, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and are still being punished for striving for human rights.
The Tiananmen Square massacre ranks with the actions of the Soviet Union in Hungary in 1956, and in Czechoslovakia in 1968, as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity committed by totalitarian regimes. The Soviet Union is, happily, no more: but the regime that murdered hundreds of its own people in Tiananmen Square, and imprisoned tens of thousands, is still in power in China today.
To this day, individual and human rights count for nothing against the Chinese Communist Party’s insistence on preserving its power and authority, and that of the machinery of State, in China.
Let us not forget. Let us never forget.
May the souls of those who died in Tiananmen Square twenty years ago, and in subsequent torture and detention, rest in God’s peace: and may those who still languish in prison for their courage know that they are remembered and honored on this day.
Peter
Amen, Peter. Thanks for reminding us with this post, and for the prayer at the end.
I can't believe it's been 20 years. I must be getting old.
I would never, ever visit China, not even if you paid me.