My view is that the government has to come clean, allow discussion and present the facts, otherwise this will just be a sore point endlessly.
However, it is clear that we in the West have turned this into our own ‘truth’. Every educated person here knows about it. If you type in the name of the square in google image 13 of the first 18 images is about THAT event – and that’s just for the name of the square. It definitely happened, yes. But this is no longer about cold, sober truth. This has turned into a ‘regime of truth’.
Thanks to the Japan Times article provided above I actually googled Thailand and the 1973 crackdown. I even ended up finding a 1992 crackdown. It can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyHa-IyiCM&feature=related – it’s truly horrendous, perhaps even reminiscent. But what shocked me was that *I didn’t know about either the 1973 nor 1992 event*. Yes, it must be remembered that the Thai crackdown wasn’t censored, her citizens can find the facts freely, and it did result in the overthrow of a government (although, let’s face it, armies and puppet masters always stay just outside the frame). Yet somehow that’s even more shocking. The only people who know and care will be Thais, and mostly activist Thais. Yet China’s brutal error has morphed into a global form of shorthand, a reproach which every educated Western citizen can draw upon for moral clarity.
I put the blame for this 90% on the side of the Chinese government (and not just for its actions then, but just as much for its continued inability to reflect), and 10% on those who have exploited this. At the end of the day it is China and the Chinese alone who have to face up to this.
Opps, sorry above NSA document mentioned the PLA was initially unarmed.
Here’s the declassified document on casualty estimate (180-500):
Nice touch. Thanks for the post.
My view is that the government has to come clean, allow discussion and present the facts, otherwise this will just be a sore point endlessly.
However, it is clear that we in the West have turned this into our own ‘truth’. Every educated person here knows about it. If you type in the name of the square in google image 13 of the first 18 images is about THAT event – and that’s just for the name of the square. It definitely happened, yes. But this is no longer about cold, sober truth. This has turned into a ‘regime of truth’.
Thanks to the Japan Times article provided above I actually googled Thailand and the 1973 crackdown. I even ended up finding a 1992 crackdown. It can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyHa-IyiCM&feature=related – it’s truly horrendous, perhaps even reminiscent. But what shocked me was that *I didn’t know about either the 1973 nor 1992 event*. Yes, it must be remembered that the Thai crackdown wasn’t censored, her citizens can find the facts freely, and it did result in the overthrow of a government (although, let’s face it, armies and puppet masters always stay just outside the frame). Yet somehow that’s even more shocking. The only people who know and care will be Thais, and mostly activist Thais. Yet China’s brutal error has morphed into a global form of shorthand, a reproach which every educated Western citizen can draw upon for moral clarity.
I put the blame for this 90% on the side of the Chinese government (and not just for its actions then, but just as much for its continued inability to reflect), and 10% on those who have exploited this. At the end of the day it is China and the Chinese alone who have to face up to this.
Opps, sorry above NSA document mentioned the PLA was initially unarmed.
Here’s the declassified document on casualty estimate (180-500):
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/13-01.htm
Here’re couple articles:
– OpEd by Gregory Clark:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20040915gc.html
Clark’s casualty figure is backed up by declassfied NSA document:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/09-02.htm
– TAM retrospective by Colubia Journal Reivew:
http://archives.cjr.org/year/98/5/tiananmen.asp
woo! woo!