I was studying in Japan when the 1989 student-led democracy movement broke out in China, culminating in the violent suppression on June 4 of students camped out in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
At the time, Chinese students in Japan wanted to hold a demonstration, but on June 9, then-Chinese premier Li Peng (李鵬) appeared on television, warning Chinese students in other countries not to take part in protests and saying that they would be responsible for any serious consequences if they did so.
He also said that anyone who informed on protesters would be well rewarded.
This made the students responsible for planning the protest rather apprehensive and, after a heated discussion, they phoned the police and reporters to say that the protest march planned for June 10 had been canceled.
Nonetheless, when June 10 arrived, an impressive crowd of people turned up at the student dormitories.
The crowd of people said that the demonstration should go ahead as originally planned, and to hell with Li Peng’s warning.
FOREIGN SUPPORT
Among them were many Japanese people, with children, women and students among them. People of various other nationalities such as British, US, German, French, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Filipino and Taiwanese also converged on the foreign students’ dormitories.
They were willing to march on behalf of the Chinese students, and they said that even if they could not protest, they could mourn instead.
FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
A woman with graying hair said indignantly: “We must not let the blood of June 4 be shed in vain. Such things have happened in Japan in the past, but we have come through it. Democracy has to be fought for, and China is no exception. How can you give up at this critical moment? If Japan could do it, why not China? Please don’t let us down.”
Many reporters were arriving on the scene. A group of people who had come to cheer for the students held handmade signs with slogans such as “China needs democracy,” “We support the student democracy movement,” “Who are the executioners of Chinese democracy?” and “[then-paramount leader of China] Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) and Li Peng should resign and apologize for June 4.”
There were signs in Chinese, English and Japanese, written horizontally and vertically, like banners on a battlefield. These supporters’ enthusiasm finally moved the Chinese students, who decided to hold a silent protest march.
The route was short — just 2km from the school to a park, but the procession was orderly, with people joining up as it went along and some unable to hold back tears.
ETHICAL JOURNALISM
The reporters accompanying the march mostly tried to get pictures of fair-haired or dark-skinned foreigners. If they photographed Chinese students, they did so from behind to avoid showing their faces. News of the event was broadcast on television that evening.
June 4 each year reminds me of this protest march that I witnessed while studying in Japan.
The support shown on that day proves that “virtue will not be left to stand alone.”
I also observed the self-discipline of journalists — the fourth estate — in free and democratic Japan. It is people such as these that keep the June 4 candles burning.
Jane Ywe-hwan is an associate professor at National Pingtung University.
Translated by Julian Clegg
As it has striven toward superiority in most measures of the Asian military balance, China is now ready to challenge the undersea balance of power, long dominated by the United States, a decisive advantage crucial to its ability to deter blockade and invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). America expended enormous treasure to develop the technology, logistics, training, and personnel to emerge victorious in the Cold War undersea struggle against the former Soviet Union, and to remain superior today; the US is not used to considering the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)
The annual summit of East Asia and other events around the ASEAN summit in October and November every year have become the most important gathering of leaders in the Indo-Pacific region. This year, as Laos is the chair of ASEAN, it was privileged to host all of the ministerial and summit meetings associated with ASEAN. Besides the main summit, this included the high-profile East Asia Summit, ASEAN summits with its dialogue partners and the ASEAN Plus Three Summit with China, Japan and South Korea. The events and what happens around them have changed over the past 15 years from a US-supported, ASEAN-led
Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore. These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports —
President William Lai’s (賴清德) first Double Ten National Day address had two strategic goals. For domestic affairs, the speech aimed to foster consensus on national identity, strengthen the country and unite the Taiwanese against a Chinese invasion. In terms of cross-strait relations, the speech aimed to mitigate tensions in the Taiwan Strait and promote the coexistence and prosperity of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in China and the Republic of China (ROC). Lai is taking a different stance from previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administrations on domestic political issues. During his speech, he said: “The PRC could not be the
RSS