Sunday, June 5, 2011

Remember Tiananmen

Where, 4 June 1989, the army of the Chinese Communist Party came to the capital to clean up its Tiananmen protesters, I found myself at a university in southern China where I was finishing my studies. At the time, as virtually all students in the country, I participated in this powerful protest movement for the democratization of our system.

Earlier this year, Professor Fang Lizhi had Astrophysics, in a burst of exceptional courage, sent an open letter to the strong man of the era, Deng Xiaoping, to demand the release of a prisoner Opinion imprisoned for ten years, Wei Jingsheng, one of the initiators of the first Chinese democracy movement of 1978.

On April 15, 1989, death of the former Secretary General of CPC (Communist Party of China), Hu Yaobang, had caused the explosion of the democratic movement. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to visit a few weeks later, students in Beijing had organized an impressive hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, and we all feel part of a glorious moment in our history.

The sound of machine guns firing into the crowd in Beijing during the night of June 3 to 4, has provoked a wave of astonishment and dismay that was once widespread across the planet. It was the first time the true nature of the murderous CCP had proved directly in front of cameras all over the world, but for us who have grown up with a brain full of official slogans, we suddenly discovered this really meant the name "Republic of China" because it was not a "republic" and it certainly was not "popular".

We realized that the Communist government did not hesitate to sacrifice lives to keep themselves in power, and the People's Liberation Army was a mere instrument to protect its interests. Twenty-two years later, Libya, Colonel Qaddafi has also used the same methods as openly mentioning the Tiananmen massacre and did not hesitate to turn his army against his own people.

Following this tragedy, we admired the generosity of the French government, which has welcomed many Chinese refugees, fleeing the ongoing crackdown. I was in a small town in southern province and listened to foreign radio stations like Voice of America or the BBC, who taught us the creation of the Federation for Democracy in China, very solemnly welcomed in the halls of the Sorbonne, and directed, at the time, the businessman who had supported the revolt, Wan Runnan, one of three leaders of the democracy movement of 1989 with Wuer Kaixi Yan Jiaqi and historian.

We even heard their voice, when answering questions of journalists, and I recently discovered photographs taken at the time, where you can discover the faces of nearly all French political class, and even the presence the current President Nicolas Sarkozy, who attended one such meeting in favor of democracy in China.

We were convinced that a government that did not hesitate to shoot at his own youth could not survive for long, and we were about to achieve democracy. Federation for Democracy in China has continued to stir a little over two years in Paris, then cheer up the participants in nature, and nothing more was heard.

We also found that those who were still participating in the commemoration of this tragedy were becoming increasingly rare. As for the Chinese government, after a period of glaciation diplomatic lasted only two years, he embarked on a vast movement of economic reforms and has continued to strengthen.

But where have the millions of Chinese took to the streets to demand democracy in 1989? Do they have accepted the explanations given by the Chinese government justifies the massacre? No! Just see how the government muzzled all the press, which censors the media, the violence with which he represses the expression of dissenting slightest attempt to understand where the truth lies.

Prosperity and stability, which boasts a permanent authority, are a mirage. Meanwhile, the Chinese are voting with their feet, just look at the growing number of people seeking political asylum in France. In 2009, OFPRA (Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) were 1 in 631, third after applicants from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The so-called Chinese economic development hides a pitiful record for violations of human rights. Now, Chinese people of Paris began to create genuine pressure groups and even organize events on the public square. The first manifestation of such magnitude occurred in 2008 on the Place de la Republic, April 19, days after the huge protests that occurred in Paris to mark the passage of Olympic Torch through the streets of the French capital.

The purpose of the demonstration was to counter the Chinese movement "misinformation" from Western media about the situation in China. However, information in France went through a broad spectrum of media called "right", "left" and independent columnists. While in China, the media are only the "eyes and tongue" of the CCP! In China, the power not even hesitate to pay "propagandists at fifty cents," nicknamed the "Mao" to influence public opinion whenever it would be tempted to criticize the government.

In Paris, the Embassy of China has successfully mobilized thousands of Chinese students, through associations of overseas Chinese and others more or less official, expressing their indignation vis- -vis public opinion in France ... In my opinion, this incident should awaken the vigilance of democratic countries: a real challenge looms for the universal values of freedom of information and freedom of expression.

Indeed, this does he not that the press will soon have the right to criticize China? The Chinese government believes that the Western media should behave like the press in China is to say, sing his praises, if they are criticized for making "unfair reporting." Another demonstration was held June 20, 2010 in the district of Belleville to "protest against violence and require security." The context was as follows: For several years, the Chinese complained of being victims of petty offenders from diverse backgrounds who assaulted to steal their wallets or their possessions.

They have endured this situation for long, but in May 2010, a Chinese used a weapon to defend himself and was arrested by police for carrying a weapon illegally. This time, organizers of the event say that 20,000 Chinese have responded to their call spontaneously on the Internet. But I, as a Chinese, I have a heavy heart.

How many disasters the Chinese government has caused it since he took power in 1949? Include only the Great Leap Forward and millions of deaths from starvation, the Cultural Revolution and his hundred million victims of repression "rightists" and hundreds of thousands of intellectuals thrown into labor camps, recent crackdowns "Strike Hard" that allow executions.

Think of the violence perpetrated against the peasants evicted from their land, city dwellers whose homes are destroyed in favor of unchecked real estate speculation, and many others. And what of the intellectual Liu Xiaobo, who, having participated in the drafting of Charter 08, was sentenced to eleven years in prison! And how to explain the sudden arrest of the artist Ai Weiwei, who was kidnapped by the secret police just because he had tried to help the little people shamefully abused by the officials? Why the Chinese did not they organized protests to demand "an end to violence and safety of citizens"? What conclusion should we draw from these differences in behavior? I think the Chinese have at least understood two things.

They know they risk nothing to organize an event on public roads in France to criticize the French, but they also know that if they venture to organize a demonstration in Paris to protest against violations of human rights in China proved they are likely to no longer feel safe at all, even just to demonstrate in the streets of Paris.

Dear readers, think a moment about what that means ... Translated from Chinese by Marie Holzman Professor of History. Teacher in Guangdong province, he arrived in France in 2002. He wanted to stimulate the thinking of students by offering contradictory discussions open to the public. It encouraged the birth of a newspaper inside the school, where the principal decisions were sometimes contested.

Asked by one week the police knew he had to leave China or lose his job. Intellectual without renown, Zeng is representative of a large segment of Chinese society that began to rebel. Zeng AXING Article published in the edition of 05.06.11

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