25 years ago in 1989, a mass of students and workers occupied Bejings Tiananmen Square, and began the largest political protest in the history of Communist China. Driven by the hope for a better future, they were simply calling for freedom of the press and for some government accountability, and the imminent problems of corruption, among other goals. Six weeks of demonstrations ended with a night of bloodshed on June 3rd. Resulting on this day with over 2,000 of protestors being killed, Brave, innocent, individual souls, shotdown and massacred. It also resulted in 10's of thousands being arrested.The Chinese Government acting under martial law, deployed 200,000 troops to brutally supress this movement. Long prison sentences were given out, one of which was for 17 years for throwing paint at a portrait of Mao Zedong. There has been talk of students gathering on the ground today but tanks are already on the streets. We should take a minute and think about those sacrifices and all those who died, so that their actions have not been in vain. Sadly brutal suppression and censorship has continued to this day, that condemns the Chinese nation and its people to a future without freedom.
And today many activists are still being ruthlessly persecuted by the Chinese Authorities, and the climate of free expression remains stifling, with scores of writers still being silenced, also many social media sites are still banned.
We must continue to support all those that fight against state oppression and censorship and never forget the tragic legacy of Tinanamen Square that continues to haunt us.
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