June 16, 2014
ASIA / PACIFIC
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
25 years on, Tiananmen barely known to China youth
IGNORANCE AND ENNUI. A teenage tourist,
right, wears a t-shirt displaying a logo of the Chinese
Communist Party while visiting Tiananmen Square in
Beijing in this May 27, 2014 photo. A quarter-century
after the Communist Party’s attack on demonstrations
centered on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, it is
little more than a distant tale to young Chinese. The
ruling party prohibits public discussion and 1989
is banned from textbooks and Chinese websites.
(AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
By Didi Tang
The Associated Press
EIJING — Born in 1989, Steve
Wang sometimes wonders what
happened in his hometown of
Beijing that year. But his curiosity about
pro-democracy protests and the crack-
down on them passes quickly.
“I was not part of it,” he said. “I know it
could be important, but I cannot feel it.”
A quarter-century after the Communist
Party’s attack on demonstrations centered
on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, it is
little more than a distant tale to most
young Chinese. The ruling party prohibits
public discussion and 1989 is banned from
textbooks and Chinese websites.
Many have managed to learn something
about the crackdown, through people they
know, by navigating around China’s tight
internet controls, or by travelling abroad.
Some are aware of the iconic image of
resistance — the lone Chinese man
standing in front of a line of tanks moving
down the Avenue of Eternal Peace.
But often, they seem not to care. They
grew up in an atmosphere of nationalism
and pride over two decades of strong
economic growth. The turmoil caused by a
student movement 25 years ago seems
irrelevant to a generation more worried
about finding jobs and buying an
apartment.
“They basically don’t bother to try to find
out further,” said Fu King-wa, a
journalism professor at Hong Kong
University. “Even if they learn about it,
they believe in the government version.”
Rowena He, author of the book
Tiananmen Exiles, about lives of student
protesters after the crackdown, said many
Chinese students abroad claim they know
a lot about it, but in fact know little. “Some
others would say, ‘We knew what
happened, so what?’ That’s typical,” said
He, who teaches at Harvard University.
Young Chinese tend to find it hard to
empathize with students of the late 1980s,
she said. “The younger generation is more
influenced by cynicism and materialism,”
said He. “A Chinese student once said to
me, ‘I really do not believe they took to the
B
street for ideals.’”
Born in July 1989, in a Beijing hospital
not far from the sites of the bloody
crackdown, Wang grew up without
hearing a word about the student
movement from parents or teachers. He
first heard about it from friends in college
in China.
“I was quite curious and wanted to know
about it. But I could not find anything,”
Wang said.
In 2010, the young man went to school in
England, where he met a Hong Kong
student who showed him a video of the
crackdown.
“All I could remember was a young man
trying to stop a tank from rolling forward,”
Wang said. The Hong Kong student “asked
me why it has to be like this. I was
stupefied.”
Back in Beijing, Wang does not think the
student movement would come up in any
discussion.
“Who would bring it up? There’s been no
reason to talk about it,” Wang said. “Much
time has passed since then, and China will
not report it anymore. Now the foreign
media want to make a fuss out of it. They
are talking up the negative things about
China.”
At Peking University, once a center of
student protest, Tiananmen seems to have
little relevance to today’s students.
“It is not something that concerns us
anymore,” said Zhang Yu, a graduate
student in sociology.
Although some bold Peking University
professors have shared their knowledge
with their students, most keep the topic
out of the classroom.
Chen Haoyun, a freshman majoring in
aeronautics, said he first heard about it
when a teaching assistant mentioned it in
a history class.
“I do not know much about it. All I know
is that it cannot be talked about,” said
Chen. “I am interested, but the school does
not talk about it.”
The university’s party secretary, Zhu
Shanlu, warns that teachers must be
careful when speaking to students about
Tiananmen.
“You must take responsibility for the
students and their values. It’s like
buttoning up the first button, and you
cannot get the first button wrong,” he told
an Associated Press reporter when asked if
the issue is off limits on campus.
Even some young people with
connections to the crackdown know little
about it, including Wang Jiaying, a Beijing
college student whose father participated
in the student movement.
“He said he was not sensible at the
time,” Wang said of her father. “I think it
was a special event at a special time, which
cannot be discussed now.”
Her roommate, Lu Qiuxuan, 21, learned
about it from her mother, who was at a
Beijing
hospital
caring
for
her
grandmother at the time. She told Lu
about the constant flow of wounded
students. Lu said she looked up
information when she spent time overseas.
“I didn’t expect it was this huge, and
there were so many people, and so many
injuries. I was shocked,” Lu said.
“I don’t know what should be the right
conclusion, as long as the Chinese
government does not say anything,” she
said. “I regret that people of my generation
cannot learn and understand it during our
school years, and I think that has changed
our outlook about our future lives.”
Videojournalist Helene Franchineau
contributed to the report.
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