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June 4, 2007
Chinese Commemorate 18th Anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG, June 4 — A candlelight vigil here this evening to mark the 18th anniversary of the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square demonstrations drew an unusually large crowd, apparently in response to the recent assertion by the leader of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing party that no massacre took place in 1989.
By contrast, Tiananmen Square itself, in Beijing, remained quiet under tight security through a humid, sunny day, with the usual tour groups and pedestrians milling about. State security agents had already placed several well-known dissidents under house arrest or close watch, though some of those detained described the harassment as more passive than in years past.
Some dissidents communicated through websites established to commemorate the anniversary.
Hu Jia, a leading Chinese advocate on issues like AIDS, said he and others have been confined to their homes, but that the authorities had shown a few small signs of leniency. He said Ding Zilin, a leader of a group known as the Tiananmen Mothers, was allowed to commemorate the death of her son by visiting one of the famous sites where soldiers fired upon pro-democracy demonstrators.
In Hong Kong, the Tiananmen Square killings are once more a subject of active discussion following remarks three weeks ago by Ma Lik, the chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Mr. Ma told local reporters on May 15 that Hong Kong people lacked patriotic devotion to China because they believed that the Communist Party had massacred people at Tiananmen Square.
Mr. Ma contended that Hong Kong residents were too willing to believe versions of events in 1989 that were released by “gweilos,” a slightly derogatory local term for Westerners. He went on to suggest that the city would not be ready to be granted full democracy by Beijing until 2022 as a result.
China experts have debated for years whether hundreds of people or thousands of people were killed in the military crackdown on Tiananmen Square demonstrators, but they agree that soldiers shot large numbers of people. Mr. Ma did not say whether he believed that any deaths had occurred, but suggested that whatever happened did not constitute a massacre.
Mr. Ma described his remarks a day later as “rash and frivolous,” but maintained his position that no massacre had taken place. Mr. Ma did not answer calls to his cell phone last month or today.
Public debate over Mr. Ma’s remarks appeared to increase the turnout at this evening’s vigil. Organizers estimated the crowd at 55,000 people, while and police put it at 27,000, the most to attend the annual vigil since 2004, when organizers claimed a crowd of 82,000 while police said 48,000.
Organizers estimated last year’s crowd at 44,000, while police put it at 19,000.
The turnout in 2004 was extremely large because Hong Kong was nearing the end of a year-long flourishing of pro-democracy sentiment. touched off by the local government’s unsuccessful attempt to introduce a stringent internal security law.
Yip Wingki, a 32-year-old salesman, said that he had not attended any previous vigils, but came this evening with his 7-year-old son because he was offended by Mr. Ma’s remarks.
“He warped the truth totally,” he said as his son sleepily held a lit candle in the sweltering heat.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong and a senior adviser to the Vatican on China policy, denounced the Tiananmen Square killings at a small prayer meeting held in the same large park as the vigil but an hour earlier.
“Our comrades who were shot to death in Tiananmen Square and the surrounding streets were very patriotic, and they came forward to chastise corrupt people in power and to ask for a push toward democracy,” he said. “The violent response took away those young lives and assigned them the criminal label of being rioters. This is a great shame on our country’s history.”
But most of Cardinal Zen’s remarks were more cautious and more focused on the Bible’s teachings than last year, when he accused China’s current leaders of tolerating corruption, huge inequalities of wealth, coal mine disasters, and the sale of fake medicines.
And while Cardinal Zen wore his red and white robes as a cardinal for his speech last year, having just come from the Catholic cathedral here, he chose this evening to wear the simple black shirt and white clerical collar of a priest.
A year ago, the Vatican was upset with Beijing officials over the consecration of two bishops without papal approval. The Vatican and Beijing have engaged in low-profile talks since then, with the goal of someday establishing diplomatic relations, and both sides have toned down their rhetoric.
Organizers concluded the vigil this evening by urging participants to join an annual pro-democracy march on July 1, which this year will mark the tenth anniversary of Britain’s return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. President Hu Jintao of China is expected here for the anniversary, and Chinese officials will be watching the march closely for any sign of resurgent interest in democracy.
Jim Yardley contributed reporting from Beijing.
Chinese Commemorate 18th Anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG, June 4 — A candlelight vigil here this evening to mark the 18th anniversary of the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square demonstrations drew an unusually large crowd, apparently in response to the recent assertion by the leader of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing party that no massacre took place in 1989.
By contrast, Tiananmen Square itself, in Beijing, remained quiet under tight security through a humid, sunny day, with the usual tour groups and pedestrians milling about. State security agents had already placed several well-known dissidents under house arrest or close watch, though some of those detained described the harassment as more passive than in years past.
Some dissidents communicated through websites established to commemorate the anniversary.
Hu Jia, a leading Chinese advocate on issues like AIDS, said he and others have been confined to their homes, but that the authorities had shown a few small signs of leniency. He said Ding Zilin, a leader of a group known as the Tiananmen Mothers, was allowed to commemorate the death of her son by visiting one of the famous sites where soldiers fired upon pro-democracy demonstrators.
In Hong Kong, the Tiananmen Square killings are once more a subject of active discussion following remarks three weeks ago by Ma Lik, the chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Mr. Ma told local reporters on May 15 that Hong Kong people lacked patriotic devotion to China because they believed that the Communist Party had massacred people at Tiananmen Square.
Mr. Ma contended that Hong Kong residents were too willing to believe versions of events in 1989 that were released by “gweilos,” a slightly derogatory local term for Westerners. He went on to suggest that the city would not be ready to be granted full democracy by Beijing until 2022 as a result.
China experts have debated for years whether hundreds of people or thousands of people were killed in the military crackdown on Tiananmen Square demonstrators, but they agree that soldiers shot large numbers of people. Mr. Ma did not say whether he believed that any deaths had occurred, but suggested that whatever happened did not constitute a massacre.
Mr. Ma described his remarks a day later as “rash and frivolous,” but maintained his position that no massacre had taken place. Mr. Ma did not answer calls to his cell phone last month or today.
Public debate over Mr. Ma’s remarks appeared to increase the turnout at this evening’s vigil. Organizers estimated the crowd at 55,000 people, while and police put it at 27,000, the most to attend the annual vigil since 2004, when organizers claimed a crowd of 82,000 while police said 48,000.
Organizers estimated last year’s crowd at 44,000, while police put it at 19,000.
The turnout in 2004 was extremely large because Hong Kong was nearing the end of a year-long flourishing of pro-democracy sentiment. touched off by the local government’s unsuccessful attempt to introduce a stringent internal security law.
Yip Wingki, a 32-year-old salesman, said that he had not attended any previous vigils, but came this evening with his 7-year-old son because he was offended by Mr. Ma’s remarks.
“He warped the truth totally,” he said as his son sleepily held a lit candle in the sweltering heat.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong and a senior adviser to the Vatican on China policy, denounced the Tiananmen Square killings at a small prayer meeting held in the same large park as the vigil but an hour earlier.
“Our comrades who were shot to death in Tiananmen Square and the surrounding streets were very patriotic, and they came forward to chastise corrupt people in power and to ask for a push toward democracy,” he said. “The violent response took away those young lives and assigned them the criminal label of being rioters. This is a great shame on our country’s history.”
But most of Cardinal Zen’s remarks were more cautious and more focused on the Bible’s teachings than last year, when he accused China’s current leaders of tolerating corruption, huge inequalities of wealth, coal mine disasters, and the sale of fake medicines.
And while Cardinal Zen wore his red and white robes as a cardinal for his speech last year, having just come from the Catholic cathedral here, he chose this evening to wear the simple black shirt and white clerical collar of a priest.
A year ago, the Vatican was upset with Beijing officials over the consecration of two bishops without papal approval. The Vatican and Beijing have engaged in low-profile talks since then, with the goal of someday establishing diplomatic relations, and both sides have toned down their rhetoric.
Organizers concluded the vigil this evening by urging participants to join an annual pro-democracy march on July 1, which this year will mark the tenth anniversary of Britain’s return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. President Hu Jintao of China is expected here for the anniversary, and Chinese officials will be watching the march closely for any sign of resurgent interest in democracy.
Jim Yardley contributed reporting from Beijing.
The irony is that after China brutally crushed this peaceful protest, the number of violent protests have risen each year since.
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