- T.i.b.e.t
- T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square
- T.a.i.w.a.n
(Editor's note: periods are used extensively throughout this in words that in combination may trigger an alert by Chinese w.e.b t.r.a.f.f.i.c m.o.n.i.t.o.r.s.)
(And as we would like to continue to use this blog after they are unblocked, we have used the "." to break up words to make them less-likely to be picked up by the the G.r.e.a.t F.i.r.e.w.a.l.l of China's w.e.b m.o.n.i.t.o.r.s)
Amazingly, all of the Three T's have significant anniversaries this year...
T.i.b.e.t:M.a.r.c.h 1.0.th was the 50th anniversary of a failed r.e.v.o.l.t in T.i.b.e.t against Chinese rule. This resulted in the D.a.l.a.i L.a.m.a fleeing the country and he has not returned since.
In an interview on this 50th anniversary, the D.a.l.a.i L.a.m.a said:
"The Chinese government has made life 'hell on Earth' for T.i.b.e.t.a.n.s during the half-century since a failed uprising against its rule in 1959."
"These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of T.i.b.e.t. Today, the religion, culture, language and identity ... are nearing extinction; in short, the T.i.b.e.t.a.n people are regarded like criminals deserving to be put to death."
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/10/india.d.a.l.a.i/index.html (take out extra "." from d.a.l.a.i)
T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square:
On J.u.n.e 4.th, 1.9.8.9, the p.r.o-d.e.m.o.c.r.a.c.y movement became a full-fledged protest at T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square. P.r.o-d.e.m.o.c.r.a.c.y movements were increasing around the world as many of the communist governments in Eastern Europe began to fall.
Tomorrow marks the 2.0.th a.n.n.i.v.e.r.s.a.r.y of the T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square M.a.s.s.a.c.r.e.
The events of T.i.a.n.a.m.e.n Square actually started on A.p.r.i.l 1.5.th, when students gathered on the Square to mourn the passing of H.u Y.a.o.b.a.n.g who was admired by students and p.r.o-d.e.m.o.c.r.a.c.y activists for his pro-r.e.f.o.r.m stance in the government. Mourning changed to frustration with the current system and on M.a.y 4.th, 100,000 students and intellectuals (a significant date in Chinese history) entered the Square in protest. Disgruntled workers and other students joined the sit-in at the Square and the numbers soon topped one million protesters. On May 20th, martial law was declared, but the crowd refused to leave and protests started to spread to other cities.
Fearing the same fate in China as was occurring in Eastern Europe, the government took stern action against the protesters by moving 300,000 police and military forces in against the more than 1,000,000 protesters and on J.u.n.e 4.th 1.9.8.9 the military open-fired on the crowd.
The event is referred commonly referred to as the T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square M.a.s.s.a.c.r.e, although it is officially known by the government as the J.u.n.e 4.th Incident. The Chinese Red Cross reports that over 5,000 protesters were killed and 30,000 were injured after armed Chinese soldiers opened fire on the crowds... the Chinese government figure is 241 killed, including soldiers.
The T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square M.a.s.s.a.c.r.e is still highly c.e.n.s.o.r.e.d in China... for example, if you google "T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square" on the internet in China, you will only get websites talking about tourism T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n is one of the gates of Forbidden City.
C.e.n.s.o.r.s.h.i.p of the topic has led China's government to block all blogs in China... as we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, blogspot.com and blogger.com were blocked. Additionally, youtube.com has been blocked. If you go to youtube.com and search T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n you will see lots of protest videos from and about the event.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Twitter has also been recently blocked in China: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124395954009377387.html?ru=yahoo
These sites are blocked to prevent people from discussing the incident and prevent them from possibly coordinating demonstration efforts.
One of the most famous scenes from the event is this picture, a student boldly challenging the advance of C.h.i.n.e.s.e t.a.n.k.s. The unnamed protester has been nicknamed "T.a.n.k M.a.n."
The following is taken from a PBS interview in 2006 investigating who "T.a.n.k M.a.n" was, and where is he now. This part discusses how one of the most famous photos of the 20th Century came to be (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/t.a.n.k.m.a.n/etc/transcript.html - just take out the "." from his name)...
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ANTONY THOMAS: T.D. Allman was staying at this Beijing hotel, which has a commanding view of Changan Avenue, the Avenue of Eternal Peace, that runs directly into T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n Square. On these balconies, Western reporters and photographers had crouched, often under gunfire, to record the events of the night of June 3rd/4th.
Then, at noon on the 5th, when the army seemed in complete control, something remarkable happened on Changan Avenue, immediately below.
T.D. ALLMAN: The tanks danced! It was obscene. It was like an obscene dance. They just didn't roll out, they swivelled around. God knows why they did that. And then the moment came which has intrigued you and fascinated and moved the world. You stand there, and you're looking down. This tank's coming out. It's got its gun up. And this man just went out and he said, "Stop!"
Prof. TIMOTHY BROOK, Univ. of British Columbia: It's absolutely extraordinary. You could look at him as unusually brave, but he probably wasn't. He was probably just an ordinary person who was so disgusted at what he had seen for the last few days. And he said, "Right. That's it. I'm going out and I'm just going to stand in front of that column."
JAN WONG, Author and Journalist: The tank did not try to just run him over. It turned to go around him. And then the young man jumped in front of the tank. And then the tank turns the other way, and the young man jumps the other side. They did this a couple of times, and then the tank turned off its motors.
And then it seemed to me that all the tanks turned off their motors because it was really quiet.
ROBIN MUNRO, Director, China Labour Bulletin: Standing in front of a column of tanks, no one around him, he was all on his own with his shopping bag in his hand. He climbed on top of the tank, banged on the lid, said, "Get out of my city! You're not wanted here." We don't know exactly what he said, but it's clear that's what he wanted to say.
JAN WONG: And I started to cry because I had seen so much shooting and so many people dying that I was sure this man would get crushed. So I remember thinking, "I can't cry because I can't see. I want to watch this."
CHARLES COLE, Photojournalist: During this time, I'm thinking, "This guy is going to be killed any moment now. And if he is, I just can't miss this. This is something that he's giving his life for. It's my responsibility to record it as accurately as possible."
JAN WONG: And then, after a while, the young man jumps down, and the tank turned on the motor. The young man blocked him again, and I think, "He's just going to get crushed."
CHARLES COLE: I realized that the public security bureau had been watching us from the other rooftop by binoculars. So I went in and took the film out of the camera and reloaded it into the plastic film can, and went into the toilet, took off the top of the toilet and put it in the holding tank, put the toilet top back on.
And shortly after that, probably 10, 15 minutes afterwards, the public security bureau broke through the door. They got one other roll of film from the shots that I'd taken from the night before, and they were pretty satisfied they'd cleaned up the situation.
About a day-and-a-half later, I worked my way back in through the back streets to the Beijing Hotel, and luckily, nobody had flushed the toilet.
ANTONY THOMAS: [on camera] So one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century was floating in the top of a lav.
CHARLES COLE: Floating in the top of the toilet, and possibly could have been literally flushed, yeah.
-------------------------------Amazingly, still nobody to this day knows who "T.a.n.k M.a.n" was, but his inspired effort still lives on today.
Similar to Americans remembering September 11th with 9-11, the Chinese remember the T.i.a.n.a.n.m.e.n M.a.s.s.a.c.r.e with the numbers 6.-4. (J.u.n.e 4.th).
T.a.i.w.a.n:
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China (mainland China) and the Republic of China (T.a.i.w.a.n). On October 1st, 1949, Mao Zedong's Communist government founded the People's Republic of China. On O.c.t.o.b.e.r 1.0.th, 1949 the Nationalist Party who fled mainland after their defeat to the Communists, declared their government to be the Republic of China. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of China (mainland and T.a.i.w.a.n). When the U.N was formed, the government in T.a.i.w.a.n held the China seat. It was not until the 1970's that the communist government in Beijing assumed control of the U.N. seat. While T.a.i.w.a.n has since dropped its claim of being the rightful government of all of China, the mainland still considers T.a.i.w.a.n to be a province of China. China has firmly declared that if T.a.i.w.a.n declares i.n.d.e.p.e.n.d.e.n.c.e that it will go to war to bring T.a.i.w.a.n back.
So there it is, the forbidden "Three T's" of China. Now you know why your friends' blogs haven't been updated lately! At least we can now hope that the blogs here in China will be unblocked sometime soon after J.u.n.e 4.th and remain open until the end of September when the next forbidden T's anniversary approaches...
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