THE DAILY BLADE: Despite Chinese Censorship, The “Tank Man” Of Tiananmen Square Continues To Inspire
Dan Southerland, The Washington Post's Beijing bureau chief from 1985 to 1990 writes for his former paper about how the Chinese government has ensured that an entire generation of youth has no knowledge of the Tiananmen Square massacre, during which (by his estimates) 700 people were gunned down by the army:
Two years ago I met a Chinese student who was entering graduate school in the United States. I told her I had been in Beijing during "6-4," the Chinese shorthand for the massacre of June 4, 1989.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
At first I thought she might not have understood my Chinese, but it soon became clear that "June 4" meant nothing to her. I probably shouldn't have been surprised.
In the 20 years since that day in 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on unarmed civilians near Tiananmen Square, Chinese censors have managed to erase all mention of that tragedy from the country's textbooks and state-run media. …
It's almost incredible that the Chinese government has succeeded for so long in covering up a tragedy of this magnitude. …
Chinese youths are among the most Web-savvy in the world. But Chinese search engines, chat and blog applications, as well as Internet service providers, are equipped with filters that block out certain keywords incorporated in a blacklist that is continually updated. …
The good news is that the blackout isn't complete. We know from Radio Free Asia's call-in shows that some younger Chinese know just enough about Tiananmen to want to learn more.
Editorial Note: The New York Times asked four photographers to E-mail their recollections of witnessing and capturing on film what is perhaps the most thrilling act of defiance against a totalitarian police state in modern history, when a lone Chinese man - known only as “Tank Man” - turned himself into a human shield the day after the massacre by blocking the progress of four tanks along Changan Avenue (the Avenue of Eternal Peace):
Tank Man was taken into custody, and was never seen or heard from again.
Update: Nicholas Kristof, then Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, recounts another act of heroism:
On the old airport road that same night, truckloads of troops were entering the city from the east. A middle-aged bus driver saw them and quickly blocked the road with his bus.
Move aside, the troops shouted.
I won’t let you attack the students, the bus driver retorted defiantly.
The troops pointed their guns at the bus driver and ordered him to move the bus aside. Instead, he plucked the keys from the ignition and hurled them into the bushes beside the road to ensure that no one could drive that bus away. The man was arrested; I don’t know what happened to him.
Low Speed Chase
Cattaraugus County (NY) sheriff’s deputies Police investigating underaged drinking chased a young man driving a horse and buggy for three-miles before he veered off through several fields and drove the rig into woods, abandoned it and fleeing on foot, reports The Buffalo News. Jonas J. Hershberger, 20, who lived in the vicinity of the wooded area was taken into custody and charged with overdriving of animals, reckless endangerment and obstructing governmental administration.
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