Thursday, June 4, 2009

"Anniversary"

A few bloggers have commented on today’s little ‘anniversary.’ It’s actually hard not to. As a result of what day today is, numerous sites have been blocked in China. I don’t understand the strategy for this as it simply upsets a lot of people, and lead to irritation and frustration, but never question the Great Firewall of China. Or, in all means, question it, but don’t try to understand it because it simply doesn’t make sense. Twitter, Youtube, blogger, hotmail… well, numerous sites are blocked. Let’s hope things go back to normal soon. My blog missed all its Chinese readers.

13 comments:

Mark's Blog said...

@ Jonna

Hope I am not the first Chinese to comment on this post, unfortunately not in China

Anyway, it remained me how I found this thing out a few years ago. It was also the Anniversary, then I found something is missing and strange, so I went on searching and searching, and found everything out.

Wish it get back to normal soon. But I found it was even more weird this year though, Global Times actully reported it with two articles, yet still the blocking……

Don Tai said...

It is a sad day for us to remember what happened 20 years ago. Unfortunately many young people in China don't even know what happened, and the Great Firewall of China wants it to stay that way. Condolences for those who are not with us today, as well as their families.

On the bright side I'm not the 30th person to post on your blog! Isn't that positive.

Oh yea, your toilet prison post was most funny. Funny in a kind of a sick, it-could-really-happen-in-China way. I'm sure the ladies all helped you because it could have easily happened to them. Things are not so well maintained in China.

Anonymous said...

I'm really dumb when it comes to China... what anniversary is this?

冰蓝 said...

The students in the protest might be innocent, but there might be someone (probably receiving foreign funds) masterminding the protest with conspiracy to overthrow the govt, I guess those masterminds really irritated the govt so much that the govt finally decided on the crackdown. The event should have had a peaceful ending, but sadly it turned out quite the opposite. I think Govt is not the only one that shall be held responsible for the loss of lives. Anyway, the event that happened 20 years ago might remain a mystery, just like the recent crash of Air France. Probably nobody knew the true and the full picture of it.

Jonna Wibelius said...

Kanmuri -The massacre at tiananmen square. 20 years ago today.

mantse said...

the govt do not want their "people" know, or even more understand, discuss on this issue. they block all the information and try let everyone forget this.

i don't see any reason for a govt shoot their citizen and used tanks to attack thier citizen is correct.

Brad Farless said...

I don't get their reasoning. As soon as all of these sites are unblocked, especially blogs, people's RSS feeds will update, and people will read the posts about Tiananmen Square anyways. They'd have to block the entire internet forever to cause people in China to completely forget what happened.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I am originally from China and was in college in China then when TAM massacre happened. We will never forget nor forgive. Sadly, college students in China today didn't know the truth of TAM.

@MIA
"I think Govt is not the only one that shall be held responsible for the loss of lives." What have you been drinking? PLA chased down students and civilians as old as 60+ years and as young as a 9-year old and gunned them down. The unofficial estimate of deads from the evening of June 3rd through the morning of June 4th is in the thousands. Please don't drink your stupid KoolAid.

@Mark,
"It was also the Anniversary, then I found something is missing and strange, so I went on searching and searching, and found everything out." Mark, are you telling me you had never heard about TAM massacre until a previous anniversary? You seem a lot younger than me (in my early 40's) and probably were still young when the massacre happened. "Dung" XP and Li P were ruthless and ordered PLA from Sichuan and Tibet regions (many were not Han Chinese) to kill unarmed students. They starved the PLA soldiers for days or did something to weaken their will to sympathize with the students. I left China shortly after TAM massacre for my graduate studies in the US. After 20 later, my memory of China is still being frozen around the TAM time. We pray and hope for a free country for China.

Bill Rich said...

Blocking the net is a very effective way to remind people of that incident while not officially admitting it.

Veronique Renard said...

I was already wondering whether you would bring this subject up.
Last months my blocked weblog was visited once by someone from Beijing for a little over 3 minutes, through a special server. I believe my blogger is still blogged but you told me my website is accessable, which surprises me, as I only tend to write about India and Thailand on blogger.
I am working on a book on China right now and posted a chapter on the Incident called Tank Man on www.cutsleevecomrades.blogspot.com.
I am sure, nobody in China will be able to read it. I have now also posted a few things on my regular blogger page regarding the Incident and how my Chinese boyfriend responds to it. He doesn't want to know the truth, believe it or not.

Anonymous said...

Jonna, I did not expect you are also interested in this topic. Bluntly speaking, I don't think it proper or interesting for you to talk about such a political topic in your lovely blog. And I am really sorry that you also use the word "massacre" like the brainwashing media; after all, the nature of this event is still waiting for definitation in the future.

vivacemusica said...

I remember that day 20 years ago. I was just 8 years old, and I still remember my parents being traumatized. Although I'm Canadian, I'm still ethnically Chinese, and it's very disheartening to see the movement that was crushed 20 years ago, the one that so many people were hopeful in, continues to be crushed through censorship. It makes me fear this land that I'm supposed to be connected to. I've always hoped to visit China and learn my roots, but part of me just will not be able to cast the images on TV from 20 years ago.

It enrages me that families of those who died have been under constant watch lately by the Chinese government.

May hope and freedom endure and shine through.

Anonymous said...

@Anynomous,
"And I am really sorry that you also use the word "massacre" like the brainwashing media;"

Talking about brainwashing, you Mr. or Ms. Wu-Mao-Dang (Fifty cents party) should know well who the "brainwashing media" is. It's the communist Chinese official media. And you are selling your soul for five mao per post.