Date of 4 June remains one of China’s strictest taboos, with government using increasingly sophisticated tools to censor its discussion

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.

  • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldEnglish
    78·
    1 day ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre

    Demonstrators attacked troops with poles, rocks, and molotov cocktails; Jeff Widener reported witnessing rioters setting fire to military vehicles and beating the soldiers inside them to death.[178] On one avenue in western Beijing, anti-government protestors torched a military convoy of more than 100 trucks and armored vehicles.[179] They also hijacked an armored personnel carrier, taking it on a joy ride. These scenes were captured on camera and broadcast by Chinese state television.[180]

    Good old peaceful demonstration strikes again. Luckily those students were not doing anything violent such as holding up a Palestine flag. Then the US media would tell us how violence against them is fully justified

    • stephen01king@lemmy.zipEnglish
      73·
      1 day ago

      So because the US media justifies the killing of Palestinians, China is justified in killing student protesters, is that what you want to say?

      Also, you seem to be arguing that since some demonstrators are acting violent, shooting at, running over and oppressing student protesters are also justified? That sounds like the same logic Zionists use to justify killing Palestinians because some of them might be Hamas. You seem to agree with Zionists quite a lot.

      • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        15·
        20 hours ago

        Armed rioters burning cops alive are not “student protesters”.

        The US media somehow manages to switch the two around for their propaganda purposes.

        You apparently cannot tell the difference either.

        • stephen01king@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          19 hours ago

          And yet the student protesters are being run over despite your claim that only armed rioters are burning cops alive. The exact same reasoning Zionists use to justify killing Palestinians. Like I said, you think exactly like a Zionist, which is funny.

    • kshade@lemmy.worldEnglish
      72·
      1 day ago

      Nice use of selective quoting, the situation had already escalated at that point. From your source, one paragraph before yours:

      The advance of the army was again halted by another blockade at Muxidi, about 5 km west of the square. After protesters repelled an attempt by an anti-riot brigade to storm the bridge, regular troops advanced on the crowd and turned their weapons on them. Soldiers alternated between shooting into the air and firing directly at protesters. Soldiers raked apartment buildings with gunfire, and some people inside or on their balconies were shot.

      And, from the beginning of the section:

      At 9:30 p.m, this army encountered a blockade set up by protesters at Gongzhufen in Haidian District, and made an attempt to break through. Troops armed with anti-riot gear clashed with the protesters and began firing rubber bullets and tear gas, while the protesters in return threw rocks and soda bottles at them. Other troops fired warning shots into the air, which was ineffective.

      • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        19 hours ago

        My argument was related to the APC. Which is factually true.

        Your quote however is very selective.

        On the evening of 2 June, an accident occurred in which a PAP jeep ran onto a sidewalk, killing three civilian pedestrians and injuring a fourth. This incident sparked fear that the army and the police were trying to advance into Tiananmen Square.[159] Student leaders issued emergency orders to set up roadblocks at major intersections to prevent the entry of troops into the centre of the city.[160]

        On the morning of 3 June, students and citizens intercepted and questioned a busload of plainclothed soldiers at Xinjiekou. Isolated pockets of soldiers were similarly surrounded and interrogated.[161][56]

        The soldiers were beaten by the crowd, as were Beijing security personnel who attempted to aid the soldiers. Some of the soldiers were kidnapped when they attempted to head for the hospital.[160] Several other buses carrying weapons, gear, and supplies were intercepted and boarded around Tiananmen.[160]

        At 1 pm, a crowd intercepted one of these buses at Liubukou, and several men raised military helmets on bayonets to show the rest of the crowd.[162] At 2:30 pm, a clash broke out between protesters and police.[163][160] The police attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas, but demonstrators counterattacked and threw rocks, forcing them to retreat inside the Zhongnanhai compound through the west gate.

      • lud@lemm.eeEnglish
        72·
        1 day ago

        Who could’ve guessed that people turn violent when you start shooting them 😱

    • lud@lemm.eeEnglish
      52·
      1 day ago

      Has anyone claimed that the protests were entirely peaceful? Of course some turn violent when you roll in with your army and riot police gun blazing.

      And thanks for confirming that it wasn’t a tank.

      There really are no excuses for the killing of dozens if not hundreds of civilians and protestors.

      And the protests were entirely peaceful to begin with but of course China couldn’t let that continue.

      The censorship of the event also speaks a great deal about who’s fault it is.

      • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        15·
        19 hours ago

        The protesters on the square did not get shot. The Western media confirms nobody of the peaceful protesters on the square got killed.

        Violent rioters who stoned and burnt police did get killed. On day4. There weer already multiple police killed on day3. Even Western media acknowledges all of what I am saying happened.

        The censorship of the event also speaks a great deal about who’s fault it is.

        The amazing amount of misinformation being spread here says a lot more about how insane the Western brainwashing machine is.