Last week I was on an extended sojourn to the Russian borderlands of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. I’m now back in Beijing and seem to have landed into the middle of a history blackout. I’ve said it before, but nothing makes the CCP look more like a bunch of Kim Jong-il wannabes then when they pull one of these periodic returns to the bad old days of information blackouts and official stupidity.
Whatever one’s view regarding the nature of the Tiananmen demonstrations and the way in which they were suppressed, for the historian, the stone-handed way the Chinese government is trying to block out all memory of the event is a depressing and sad reminder that this government is still being run by scared old men.
The ridiculous measures being undertaken in this pathetic campaign of official amnesia include increasing the thug count on the streets of Beijing, the exile of several octogenarians out of the capital, the censoring of foreign satellite signals, the interdiction of foreign newspapers, and even the blocking of social networking sites like Twitter (Really? By-the-minute 140-word updates of the dinner plans of Perez Hilton or what song is playing at Shaq’s crib is going to bring down the regime? Are you F—–g kidding me?) The most interesting part is that the government of the PRC does in fact have its own official version of the story, but even that sanitized account seems too hot to handle for the Chinese-language PRC press this week.
This is the CCP in full-blown ninny mode.
The truth is that few remembrances of June 4th will occur on the mainland. No doubt the CCP propaganda machine and that bizarre mash of lonely boys, naive nationalists, and disingenuous wannabe elite who make up the fenqing are going to point to this lack of activity as a sign that the Chinese people have ‘moved past’ the event and there’s no need to talk about it.
But what’s astonishing to me though is that a country with such a rich intellectual and historical tradition would be content to take such a profoundly anti-intellectual approach to history, but I guess such is the “culture” of learning in today’s PRC, which can best be summed up as “Take a test, memorize your lessons, graduate, shut up, quit thinking, and buy a damn car.”
If I sound a little testy, it’s because I am. When history is swept under the rug, it can begin to rot and that stench is the smell of fear, the odor of a government which cannot tolerate ideas or perspectives with which it disagrees. There have been other such governments in the past, and several which linger to this day, but none I suspect with whom the CCP would care to be associated closely in the global consciousness.
Back in Beijing in the middle of a blackout: Last week I was on an extended sojourn to the Russian borderlands o.. http://tinyurl.com/opqekv
from @GraniteStudio a Qing historian thoughts of the recent internet & intelectual shutdowns for #8964 by the CCP: http://tinyurl.com/opqekv
Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past.” —— 1984, George Orwell
Yes, to everything.
The Chinese often ask why foreigners make such a big deal about Tiananmen. Two reasons spring to mind. First, it WAS (and remains) a big deal. Second, if foreigners don’t remind the world of ’89′s place in history, who will?
[...] masses that something was amiss, further spurring their curiosity to find out just what’s got the government’s giant knickers in a bunch. If nothing else, these blocks might annoy the foreigner population that regularly use these [...]
Talking to my boss the other day (who, by the way, absolutely does not fit your fenqing profile), and I suggested that perhaps on Thursday we’ll see a brief return to Olympic-level security. He said words to the effect of “What? Oh, 6-4? Shit, people still care about that?” On the other hand, I’m a little worried about certain of my students, kids who were busy being born, crying for milk, and shitting through their split pants in ’89, who seem to have a bit much of that youthful passion for their own good. ‘Twill be interesting to see who wears white to class tomorrow.
Chris,
Good point as always. Though I think you may have misunderstood me, I’m not saying that ‘not caring’ about 6-4 makes one a fenqing, rather that there is a group out there, and you know who they are, who are on some kind of crusade to prove that 6-4 has no historical importance, including pointing to such weird ‘evidence’ as nobody protesting in the square anymore. That’s what I meant above.
“Kim Jong-il wannabes” This is good. Love it.
Oh, understood, and I agree completely. Just adding a couple of different perspectives, that’s all.
So, while the piece is sympathetic to the government point of view, Global Times did mention 6/4 today: http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/top-news/2009-06/434370.html
The fact that they are allowed to mention it all is pretty surprising…
JCH,
Yeah saw that this morning and if my twitter box (top left) was still visible in the PRC, you’d see a link to the article.
It does have a couple of ballsy bits before it goes right into the government’s preferred narrative.
It’s also getting some attention here in Beijing, several foreign media outlets are running stories on the story for tomorrow’s edition.
Jeremiah,
Yeah I was hopeful (and in shock) for about the first online page and then it went downhill. Still, they must be giving GT more leeway as a part of their international propaganda, uh I mean publicity, campaign.
“Take a test, memorize your lessons, graduate, shut up, quit thinking, and buy a damn car” http://is.gd/OT0N
Granite Studio: When history is swept under the rug, it can begin to rot and that stench is the smell of fear http://trunc.it/d0d9