| Chinese Daily Breaks Tiananmen Taboo |
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| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Thursday, 04 June 2009 | |
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While the Chinese government has been busy closing down access to Web sites like Twitter and YouTube that may post content relating to today's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre of June 4, 1989, an official Beijing newspaper has quietly published a discussion of the event in a rare and tantalizing display of editorial independence. "We did the first June 4 story in about 20 years," said a staffer with the paper. "We have broken a huge taboo."On top of an earlier story this week in the paper, the articles are believed to be the first mention of the Tiananmen events in the mainstream media since 1989. Foreign media reports about the anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the protest have highlighted the fact that there is no reporting on the incident in China. But Global Times, whose English edition is less than a year old, has been allowed to cover the subject for reasons unknown even to the paper's staff.Published by the People's Daily, Global Times is designed to address a foreign audience and to widen Beijing's appeal to the West. That may explain why the paper has more latitude than other publications. The Chinese language version of the paper, a populist-style tabloid, has been around since the early 1990s. The paper carried a brief mention of Tiananmen but not the same articles that appeared in the English edition."Twenty years after the June 4 Tiananmen incident, public discussion about what happened that day is almost nonexistent in mainstream society on the Chinese mainland," the paper wrote in a P. 1 piece that also appeared on the front page of the paper's Web site (http://www.globaltimes.cn/). "It’s still a sensitive topic. Scholars, officials and businessmen declined interviews with the Global Times on the subject. And searches for 'June 4 incident' on the Chinese versions of Google, Baidu and Yahoo were blocked," the paper wrote.Headlined "Prosperity tangible along Chang'an Ave," in reference to the street where Tiananmen Square is located, the story is hardly revolutionary by Western standards but it boldly goes where no Chinese newspaper has gone before by mentioning the anniversary by name. The piece also discussed why Chinese economic growth has soared in the last 20 years. In the main piece, people are interviewed about their memories of what happened 20 years ago, although the paper hews close to the official line that China's prosperity has increased because of the Communist Party's leadership."While putting aside debate on the June 4 incident for two decades, most people in China have devoted most of their energy and enthusiasm to economic reform, leading to continuous rapid GDP growth and causing foreign media to call China a 'world power,'" the paper wrote approvingly. The paper also quoted experts saying that the crackdown on the protests allowed China to avoid the kind of turmoil that led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.Interviewing a man named Li Xiang, who was a child at the time of the massacre, the paper asked for his reflections. "'I was happy for no school and no homework,' Li said. 'My parents watched news broadcasts on CCTV attentively with serious looks. I also took a few glimpses. The pitch-black burnt bodies of soldiers impressed me, but I had no idea what happened.'"The paper went on to note that "many of the protestors at Tiananmen Square became university professors, industrial leaders, executive editors and government officials." But it also, surprisingly, admitted that some protest leaders from 1989 "are still sticking to their cause overseas." Staffers at the paper, which is edited by Hu Xijin, say it was the paper's own decision to run the articles and that they were not cleared with People's Daily."It was touch and go, but it got through," said one of Global Times English-language editors. "Everyone here now is a bit nervous waiting for some 'official' reaction and not sure if there will be one or not. But the editor is walking around the office with a huge grin on his face. He's a happy guy for now."
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written by furniture stores , November 24, 2009
Very true, If these egoistic student leaders were to gain the upper hand over the CCP, China will be something like a hybrid between Kleptocratic democratic Phillippines and the underdeveloped Africa. These is the ideal state for China in the Western minds.
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written by Happy Apple , September 04, 2009
Where is the link to the article?
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written by buy rs money , June 14, 2009
good post , i like it , The Chinese people will unite
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Say It:The West Is Our Boss
written by Western Crusaders , June 09, 2009
Yeah, they say we are the brainwashed, commie die-hards, paid cyber warriors/children from the commie regime in Beijing. Funny, most of us are just plain 2nd or even 3rd generation overseas Chinese, born & bred in places well beyond the evil claw of the despotic Beijing govt. Many of us are subjects in S E Asia, where at one time, communist sympathisers were treated ruthlessly & harshly & commie parties are religiously banned. More funny, many of us do not even know a whim about China or communism during our entire growing-up stage as we only gain such privileged knowledge while attending Western universities, studying, working & living there. Ah! see, we are the 5-yuan paid cyber warriors of that despotic commie regime in Beijing, but strangely we ain't even their subjects in the evil land called the PRC at all. May be it is their pure illusionary imagination, or better they are manufacturing such stories up as they are damn good at that. Boy, people in the West are indeed a sorry bunch of so-called intellectuals, for they thought they are the last beacon/bastion of self-righteous uncensored information but little do they realise that they are the subject of utter media manipulation. The wised Chinese saying goes: while you point your finger at others, little do you realise that there are in fact 4 remaining fingers pointing in reversed direction at your ownself. Silly, silly….
Votes: +2
They preach free speech but yet unable to stand others' different piont of views & start calling others names! Merchants of democracy, how wonderful you guys are! Better still if they delete all pro china posts or simply state that such politically incorrect posts are not allowed on this site. Love thy democracy, free speech, US, NATO, Dalai, Hillary, Pelosi..... report abuse
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The Chinese rent-a-crowd
written by Deng Xiao Pongs , June 08, 2009
The abysmal quality of the comments from the flag waving Chinese rent-a-crowd here really indicates so much about the backward and limited mindset of that country. Anyone who would dare to criticise this vicious authoritarian military state run by a pack of criminals receives the full force of their reactive venom. A very sad bunch indeed and all the more so given that these goons are paid by the Chinese government to write their illogical ideas on sites such as these.
Votes: +1
The fact is most intelligent people can see through this flimsy façade and dismiss these nasty nationalistic ramblings for the childish nonsense that it plainly is. You do your cause far more harm than good. Grow up boys and girls; you have a long long way to go both as individuals and as a nation before you are seen a rational and mature. report abuse
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New Power
written by Bingo , June 05, 2009
"what a lot of scumbags here
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written by contributor , June 05, 2009 " " get locked up "? You mean Guatanamo? Fren, your geography is bad. It's in Cuba. Cuba? The prt that is conceded to the US. Just the other day I was in Beijing & Shanghai and I see lots and lots of white faces (people) making a living in China. report abuse
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what a lot of scumbags here
written by contributor , June 05, 2009
It's obvious this site is inhabited by many commie bastards... But I live in China and I know exactly what you people are about... You are just selfish, sleazy, scumbags who have long ago given up on ideals of freedom and justice. For you, the only thing that matters is that you feather your own nest - and you will suck up to the communist ideals, because you haven't got the guts to look any more for other alternatives. If your country is so damn great, then why do so many still get locked up just for stating an opinion? It gets much worse... In minority areas, why are so many people severely victimized for just for trying to defend the little rights they are officially allowed? With a country where corruption and victimization is still rampant, don't try to convince me (or any worldly westerner) of your dream ideology that China has became 'great'... And I know Chinese like the ones in this discussion.... Given a chance to migrate to a western country, they would all jump at it, like leaving a bed of fire... So they are all hypocrites as as well as sleazy scum.
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Continue To Smash Them Whenever They Dare To Subotage Us, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Do Not To Others, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Dare you disagree?, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Is the Cultural Revolution over yet?
written by 1966 , June 04, 2009
What's with all the fascist, reactionary, Chinese nationalists on this site? What a nasty, repulsive bunch. If this is the New China, then you can have it.
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Lose interests, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Cowardly ringleaders, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Would be the biggest begging bowl
written by Deng , June 04, 2009
If these egoistic student leaders were to gain the upper hand over the CCP, China will be something like a hybrid between Kleptocratic democratic Phillippines and the underdeveloped Africa. These is the ideal state for China in the Western minds.
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Thanks to the Bold vision of Deng of blending Capitalism with Democracy with Chinese characteristics, we are witnessing the greatest transformation in Human History. report abuse
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written by Confucious , June 04, 2009
When will the chinese ever learn? Isn't it from one of our 4 thousand year old teachings that when one makes a mistake, admit it so that one can still stand tall -- and don't blame it on someone else for driving you into doing it!! When our government committed a crime, don't help them to blame it on the ringleaders or the whitemen!! Good that out of 1.3bn of us, there are still many of us who rather have dignity than just being well fed.
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BTW, any one life of those who died 20 years ago was not worth any less than those who died in the earthquake last year. So while you are congratulating the government for its rescue work in the earthquake, make sure you remind them every single life should be valued the same. report abuse
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Tofu buildings reflect Party's true love of the people
written by Johnny Fartpants , June 04, 2009
Hey China's Friends. Thanks for reminding us about the earthquake. I hear they are still beating and jailing the parents of all those dead children who died in collapsed school. I really envy those parents to live in such a great superpower. And the 200,000 people who love below the poverty line in rural China must be delighted to see you represent them as happy. China;s compassion for Tibetans is legendary but wait, don;t tell me, that's an internal matter. You were liberating the Tibetans. Lucky Tibetans, just lik ethos lucky Iraqis and Afghans.
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Manipulation, Lowly rated comment [Show]
China's Friends, Lowly rated comment [Show]
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