June Nights

I was six years old, enjoying kindergarten's world of wood blocks and pledges of indoctrination without a care except trying to avoid cooties and learning the lyrics to "Paradise City" by Guns and Roses. On the other side of the globe, one of the most memorable events of the 20th century was happening in the world's largest public, urban "square". The month and a half long demonstration in Tiananmen Square was coming to a savage end in the early hours of June 4th, 1989. When day broke, a man stepped in front of a tank to stop it in its path or be smashed into the asphalt. This is how we remember the Tiananmen movement of 1989. "Tank Man".

Troops stormed in, shots were fired, and the protest was over. Just like that. The government had tried with less forceful, but still armed troops to retake the square before but were unsuccessful due to the students outsmarting them and the blockades of ordinary citizens. Its hard to say how many people died that night because the figures are debated but its most likely in the hundreds. It is also unknown how many people were arrested or executed for being "hooligans" who created "turmoil". However, China's government announced "the last" prisoner from the Tiananmen Square movement was released last month. I don't know if this is the last living, the last incarcerated or the last they will release but at least he's out.

Although China has changed a lot since 1989, many of the same problems that these protesters were addressing still exist. Mainly, rampant corruption and the lack of free speech. Why has no protest risen up since then? Because the opportunity to make money and the power of propaganda, or"education", is a powerful tool. Punishment is harsh for those who challenge the status quo of the political world and are made examples. They usually lose the opportunity to make money and travel abroad. These suffice as good deterants.

Information on June 4th, 1989 is censored in China if it is written in Chinese. Google and Yahoo have agreed to censor this information because apparently, money is more important than people's rights. Remember the tank man.