Remembering Tiananmen Square

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The incident left hundreds of pro-democracy protesters dead and many more injured, not unlike the way Hitler and Saddam Hussein destroyed political opposition to keep a tight hold on power.

The Chinese government never apologized for its extreme actions in defending communist stability, even tabooing the bloody ordeal by censoring media coverage. They've recently done so by banning certain websites like Twitter, Flickr and Hotmail in the days preceding the anniversary.

The event is erased from textbooks and never taught in schools, which begs the question: just how long will the Chinese government continue its efforts to distort history?

Liu Suli, one of the protestors in Tiananmen square, had this to say in a New York Times article:

If I don’t talk about it any more, I might forget,” he said. “I might not know how to say it."

If history tells us anything, it tells us that people will not easily forgo their history. That's why thousands gathered in Hong Kong for a Tiananmen vigil, away from the censorship of mainland China. The government can deny reporters and block websites all they want, but people aren't going to forget what happened. If anything, their efforts to make it a taboo will only draw more attention.

It'll be interesting to see if China will retain its communist government after proving itself as an international economic powerhouse. Will it still be necessary to rule with an "iron fist" after lifting millions out of poverty and dramatically increasing the quality of life?

“You can raise pigs to be very strong and very fat,” Liu Suli said. “But a pig is still a pig. And a pig has no rights.”