China-The New Dawn

Student Demonstrations in Tiananmen Square

June 3-4, 1989

A single man against the might of bureaucracy...

Events as they happened

• In April 1989 the Communist  Party Chairman - Hu Yaobang died. 
• A massive demonstration begun in China.
• Student led demonstration was centered at Tiananmen Square. 
• The demonstrators demanded more democratic rights and freedoms.
• The workers joined the students...
• Martial law was declared on May 20.
• The Chinese government tolerated the demonstration till after the funeral of the Chairman.

But,

On June 3-4 a brutal repression began....

Thousands were killed...

This photo impressed me very much at the time...
After 25 years it still has a powerful message...

Even a single man can stop the brutality and halt the traffic of oppression...

Tiananmen Square is a large public square in Beijing on the southern edge of the Inner or Tatar City.

...And the students and workers gathered to demand more freedoms...in April of 1989...

People power was impressive...and the students were eloquent and very patriotic...

The square, named for its Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen), contains the monument of the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the museum of history and revolution, and the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic in the square on October 1, 1949, an anniversary still observed there.

 But now, it will be observed for the massacre of the democracy demonstrators too...

And, as always, the bureaucratic apparatus is brutal and oppressive...

They have the means...But NOT the people...

***

What occurred was an attempt for democratic revolution.

• The Chinese economy had created a new middle class...and the economic wealth was trickling down to the people...
• The economy had initiated a more equitable distribution of the wealth.
• The new emerging middle class was asking more share in the political governance...of China.
• That could be achieved only through more democratic dialogue...
• The people and the bureaucratic authorities were at opposite ends...
• The peoples demands were crushed by the brutal power of the state and ruling bureaucracy... 

Now and the future...

• Since then the Chinese economy soared...Soon it will be the biggest economy and will surpass the economic might of the U.S.
• The flourishing economy will put more pressure on the Chinese bureaucracy for democratization and freedoms...

As always throughout history, this process will not be peaceful...

• As the economy flourishes, it will create larger and larger middle class in China...
• The emerging new class will demand more and more political freedoms and democracy...
• And history is the witness, these demands will meet brutal force and suppression...

Thousands remember in Hong Kong 

But the people will continue the pressure...and as always the people will triumph...The people will be victorious...and we will witness a new era in human history...

The era of China will dawn on us...

May 20,1989, teachers from Beijing Normal University arrive at Tiananmen Square by the truckload to support their students after martial law was declared

Teachers arrive at Tiananmen Square to support their Students... 

I hope teachers in North America support their students too...

So the youth...has to be prepared...

Learn Chinese at home, in high schools and in the universities...

Be prepared...for the New Dawn...

They claim..."July 4 25 Years After"...

Hong Kong Vigil and Demonstration

The New Dawn is near...

But the New Dawn will not come easy...The birth will be bloody...

...And history is the witness...The people will triumph eventually...

Eventually ALL Power will belong to the people....