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Twenty years ago
By Ann | June 4, 2009
I was only 14 when the events at Tiananmen Square took place. I remember the images — especially the lone man in front of the tank — but I didn’t understand their significance at the time. That all changed when I moved to China in 2003, and met some very brave people — some who participated on June 4, 1989, and some who, for reasons of age or lack of opportunity, didn’t — and learned a lot about the meaning of courage. During my four years in Beijing, each anniversary of Tiananmen Square went unnoticed — today, the twentieth, is no different. But in Hong Kong, where free speech is recognized, over a 100,000 people gathered for a candlelight vigil (photo above, from the New York Times).
My wish for China is what President Obama said today about another turbulent region of the world: that some day ordinary citizens will have the freedom to choose the way they live their lives. Granted, this is not a message that will win support with the Chinese government; then again, my blog is blocked in China anyway.
Topics: Totally unrelated to food, Uncategorized |
One Response to “Twenty years ago”
Comments
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June 5th, 2009 at 2:17 am
And one of my many wishes for China is that its people, who cherish education and revere history, are soon able to study the past with completeness, no taboos, no political twists.