Hong Kong: Vindication of June 4 in Question

2009 is the 20th anniversary of June 4 Tiananmen Massacre. If there were reincarnation, people who had been killed then would be twenty years old this year. Some of them would probably become university students, who are usually regarded as conscience of the society. Sadly this year, at least two university student unions in Hong Kong want to distant themselves away from the “burden” of upholding the political stand in “Vindication of June 4″.

Yuen Yan wrote a citizen report in inmediahk.net about the City University of Hong Kong Students’ Union Council's decision to bar the Student Press for distributing pamphlets in the upcoming June 4 Candle night Vigil because the action would imply a political stand in support of the “Vindication of June 4″.

According to Yuen Yan's report, the Student Council has spent 5 to 6 hours in the budget meeting on the publication of “June 4 special issue”. Members opposed the distribution of pamphlet in the Candle night vigil; below is a summary of the members’ opinions:

1. 六四事件和城大學生無關係,尤其質疑編委在六四燭光晚會上公開派發特刊,是拿城大學生會會費,津貼學生以外的活動;
2. 編委出版的刊物無權到校外派發。評議員稱參與六四燭光集會是由城大學生會幹事會負責,編委會不可以參與當中活動;
3. 把《六四特刊》在燭光晚會上派發有可能煽動在場參與人士,引起混亂;
4. 建議在旺角街頭派發特刊,這樣比在六四燭光集會派更有意義;
5. 出版《六四特刊》會影響城大聲譽;
6. 六四燭光晚會是一個有政治立場的聚會,在六四燭光集會派發特刊等於支持平反六四。

1. The City University Student Union has nothing to do with the June 4 incident, the distribution of student pamphlet during the candle night vigil implies using city university student union's money to sponsor non-student related activities;
2. The student press has not rights to distribute publication outside the school. The student union executive committee is in charge of June 4 Candle night vigil, while the student press has not role in it;
3. The distribution of “June 4 special issue” will invite people to join in the vigil, it is a seditious act and will create chaos;
4. One of the suggestion is to distribute the “Special Issue” in Mongkok pedestrian district instead of during the candle night vigil;
5. The publication of “June 4 special issue” would after the university's reputation;
6. June 4 Candle night is a political gathering and distributing the “special issue” during the candle night would be equal to the support of “vindication of June 4″.

After the discussion, a member proposed to cast an opinion vote and 9 out of the 10 attendees opposed the distribution of “June 4 special issue” and the student press was forced to withdraw this particular budget item in order to get their annual budget passed.

At the same time, the Hong Kong University Student Union will initiate a campus referendum vote on whether or not the Student Union should continue to uphold the stand of “vindication of June 4″. Galileo pointed out in the comment section of Yuen Yan's report:

但有點要留意係,同香港大學搞平反六四公投一樣,內地生比例現在已經夠高,未必過到。

We also have to bear in mind about the HKU student union's referendum vote on Vindication of June 4. As the proportion of mainland students is getting higher and higher, there is a chance that the referendum cannot be passed.

Within a few hours, the discussion has spread through inmediahk.net, twitter, plurk and facebook. Sidekick re-tweeted my message and received more than a hundred responses in a few hours:

RT oiwan: 慢慢地,平反六四不再是共識了。。。香港真係恐怖:www.inmediahk.net/node/1002676

RT oiwan: slowly, vindication of June 4 will no longer be a consensus, it is really terrible: www.inmediahk.net/node/1002676

剛才未讀文章。單看 oiwan 那句,我即心酸得流起淚來…

I haven't read the article yet, but reading what oiwan had said, my heart was so hurt that tears came out…

其實現在應該要做的,不只是單單的平反,而是要有機會搵外人去跟雙方做truth & reconciliation。不過一定要在我們這一代要完成,否則歷史會習非成是,永遠無法撥亂反正,如西班牙佛朗哥死後…

What we should do now is not only vindication, but find a third party to do truth & reconciliation. However, we have to get it done within this generation, or else the truth of history will turn upside down and we can't correct it. Like what had happened in Spain after the death of General Franco…

其實我覺得最恐怖 (古怪) 的是, 內地當權者對六四是越來越開放的 (我覺得), 反而香港 (尤其是基層, 例如呢d 學校o既組織) 就越o黎越保守… 真係發神經!

What I find most terrible and strange is that when the ruling elites in Mainland is getting more open with June 4 (my feeling), in Hong Kong, in particular in the grassroots level, such as school organizations, they are becoming more and more conservative, it is really crazy!

最怕是,學生重視個人利益,並認同國家,最終令到他們有意無意的忽視、無視、甚至曲解這等「黑歷史」

What is most fearful is that students only care about their personal interest and recognize with the state, eventually, they will ignore or even twist the “black history”.

叫佢地對住丁子霖講多一次!

Ask them to repeat their points in front of Ding Zilin!

有生之年,我們會看到嗎?這不是單單的平反,而係要查根究柢去了結。

Will we see this in our life span? This is not only vindication, but a throughout investigation.

六四是包袱還是傳承我們自己還要質疑?人權和自由和平等這些原則又是不是包袱?

June 4 as a burden or legacy? Do we really need to debate on this? Should we consider human rights and freedom as burden then?

所以,中共已經離全民洗腦又一步了……

The CCP is one step forward to brainwashing the entire population…

我對呢種事情感覺好無力, 就好似一d 老人家,甚或自己既父母, 佢地對六四由始至終都係冇感覺, 但我一直認為, 社會起碼還有智識既人, 佢地正尋求一d 物質以外更重要既野, 自由, 人權等等…但當年死既係大學生, 現在話唔關佢地事既都係大學生…到底發生左咩事

I feel so powerless toward these kind of issues, as if I am an oldie. Even my parent don't share the feeling towards June 4. However, I believe that people with knowledge in this society are seeking values like freedom and human rights rather than material interests… back then, university students died for that, now university students say that it is not their concern, what happens to our society?

如果六四距離太遠,2003年的沙士和七一大遊行理應是這一代最” 埋身”的政治經歷了,然而,在政的的大力過濾下,距離不夠七年的沙士竟也變成某些人口中的” 有人煽動”,還有人敢在說是”外國勢力

If June 4 is too far away, the SARS epidemic attack and the July 1 rally in 2003 should be the closest experience to this generation, however, because of the political pressure and filter, the chaos of SARS less than 7 years ago has turned into a “sedition” of “foreign power”.

所以大家可以做好心理準備,六四將來會成為一個完全民間的活動,很缺錢,很少報導,但我們一定會為這件事拼死的做。

We have to be prepared that in the future, June 4 would become a purely civic event, without financial support, and without much media attention. But we will get it done.

當, “平反六四” 只係30+ o既人做, 咁當d 人死鬼晒, 又或在社會各階層都不在其位時, 又點算呢?

If “vindication of June 4″ is only taken up by 30+ generation, when they are dead or they are excluded from significant social position, what then?

教育? 香港大概已經不能起政治教育的地方吧, 甚至獨立思考的教育都做不來…. 但我地現在既討論, 最少就係我地做到的事, 我地的的確確更深刻咁記住啊

Education? Hong Kong has totally failed in political education, we can't even educate people to think independently… this kind of discussion is the least that we can do, we have to remember this.

Below is a BBC live report on June 4 incident for refreshing our memory:

9 comments

  • an enlightened one of the silent majority

    It actually happened—the massacre! Now mainland Chinese only cares about money. I wonder what the future of China will be with elites going abroad and brainwashed products left behind?

    • Enlighten This in Your Mouth

      So moronic! Heard of reverse immigration? Could you, in your infinite wisdom, can tell me why so many of those “elites” are going back?

  • an enlightened one

    Guidelines
    All comments are moderated. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
    Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.

    I wonder whether there is any so-called moderation of comments. If there is , how can an offensive word like “moronic” be allowed to appear?
    I have to admit that I am just enlightened but maybe you are “omniscient” like CCP leaders. Could you, an omniscient one, tell me why so many of those elites are going back as Americans, Canadians, Australians and Europeans rather than citizens of PRC? And since this is a post about 1989 massacre, why do you response only to my “elites going abroad” which may not be completely right? What do you say to the massacre?

  • Enlighten This!

    Maybe it is the fenqing in me, or just simply the fact that there are so many sanctimonious idiots out there that treat every word that precedes out their mouths, no mater how vacuous, as the god-given gospel.

    Dude, if you are not of one them, I duely apologize for my choice of words.

    However, sometimes things do speak for themselves. Often times, it is quite obvious from people’s handles and snide one-liners that their egos are far more well developed than other faculties.

    Yes, this is a thread about June 4th. What the heck does it have to do this crap about “Now mainland Chinese only cares about money.” If I wasn’t so dumb, I would say this is kind of proclamations are simply very thinly veiled racism or just ignorance.

    Maybe this is what being “enlightened” is — to be able to paint a 4th of humanity with a single stoke.

    And one has to wonder whether comments such as “I wonder what the future of China will be with elites going abroad and brainwashed products left behind?” has any basis in fact or just the simplified beliefs of some “enlightened” one.

    Yeah, I will talk about June 4th when you can bring a little more substance to the table.

    Best regards,
    some schmo

    “Birds are entangled by their feet, and men by their tongues.”

  • an enlightened one

    If what I said is just rhetoric and exaggeration, then does your comments contain any facts? So what qualifies you to judge me as “idiot and ignorant” while you are absolutely right? If all you have learned in that developed country is just rhetoric and some English slangs, I don’t think you are any better than me except your proficiency in English.

  • Charles Liu

    You want fact? Here are some facts:

    According to a TAM retrospective from Columbia School of Journalism:

    http://www.studien-von-zeitfragen.net/Zeitfragen/Tiananmen/tiananmen.html

    “as far as can be determined from the available evidence, no one died that night in Tiananmen Square”

    Jay Mathews made it very clear at the end of his article:

    “Journalists have to be precise about where it happened and who were its victims, or readers and viewers will never be able to understand what it meant.”

    Here’s an OpEd by Gregory Clark, Birth of a massacre myth:

    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20080721gc.html

    Here’s a Youtube clip of a TAM documentary. At minute 5:57 Ho Dejian makes his account of the events very clear:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igsW5yQ6428

    “Many people say that at Tiananmen square about 2,000 were shot or perhaps several hundred were shot. On the square were tanks that crushed people and students etc. etc. I would like to stress that I did not witness this a bit”

  • janz

    Charles Liu, you are misleading. No one died IN Tiananmen Square does not mean no one has died that night. Most killings happened around Muxidi(木樨地),Qianmen(前门), not on Tiananmen Square itself!

  • June 4th movement started as a peaceful student reform and the advances of modern China, but quickly seized by the West to direct the students and it’s supporters to overturn China.

    It’s just show how simple mind most Chinese are, and how easy they can be influenced, those few students got help to stay in the West since, realized that they been used, wasted their life doing odd jobs to live on and being look down as the 3rd race.

    Its time China wake up now, use your brain to support your own race and nation.

  • Overseas Chinese

    Bill,

    I am very pleased to see someone post a differing view of the events that happened at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Of course, the government should have considered other options that night, which resulted in a number of casualties.

    However, it more important for Chinese citizens to be wary on how some well-intentioned student demonstrations can be transformed or made to look like an outright rebellion.

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> an enlightened one

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.