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Tiananmen Square — Why Now?
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Tiananmen Square

The BBC noted the Chinese Internet curbs in preparation for the twentieth anniversary of the brutal attack that took place in the Square.

China has blocked several websites ahead of the 20th anniversary of the suppression of the Tiananmen protests.

Chinese internet users were unable to connect to the social networking service Twitter, their Hotmail accounts and the photo-sharing service Flickr.

Meanwhile veteran dissident Wu Gaoxing, who was jailed for his part in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was held at the weekend, a fellow activist said.

China bans discussion of the events in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thursday 4 June is the 20th anniversary of the crackdown, when troops quelled weeks of protest by students and workers.

China has never released a death toll from the suppression on what it says was a counter-revolutionary conspiracy. Hundreds are believed to have died in and around the square.

The Beeb also has a Timeline: The Tiananmen protests and an audio slideshow.

[Note: this occurred on June 4 in China, but it was still June 3 in the West.]

4 comments

1 J { 06.04.09 at 2:45 pm }

I think this is such a tragedy but unlike third world countries China is kind of unstoppable. Plus, citizens are torn on how they feel about government because there is so much fear.
How can a government ban even discussion of the massacre?

J´s last blog post..Tiananmen’s Taboo Twenty

2 Bryan { 06.04.09 at 10:58 pm }

China is a force unto itself, and looks only inwardly in most cases. They are extremely good at ignoring what they don’t want to see, and impose the same blindness on those who like in their jurisdiction.

I’m probably back on their banned list for this post.

3 hipparchia { 06.04.09 at 11:01 pm }

you’re on a list somewhere? how does one go about finding this out?

hipparchia´s last blog post..Rose Ann DeMoro is God

4 Bryan { 06.04.09 at 11:10 pm }

Just look for the Great Firewall of China, it is a program to see if your site is banned.

I would assume that much of the outside world is banned at the moment.