reaction of Tian'anmen Square

CNN was then busy with preparing for Gorbachev’s visit to China with the purpose of fixing the tense relationship between China and Soviet after 30 years. The meeting between the top leaders of China and Soviet marks Deng Xiaoping’s great diplomatic success. It means that China was playing an important role in the world’s stage rather a card played the super powers. In order to celebrate this historically unusual moment, most celebration activities were supposedly held in the Tian’anmen Square, which was unfortunately occupied by tens of thousands of students protesting for democracy.

The major purpose of the students was not to overthrow the state system, but to earn official acknowledgment from the government on their patriotic and democratic movement and their responsibility of making China a better country. They demanded serious conversation with the government on the equal basis and to satisfy their reasonable requirements proposed previously.

Throughout the history of the People’s Republic of China, this act in contempt of authority in Chinese politics is definitely the most serious, drying up the patience of those tough politicians represented by Deng Xiaoping who brooked no objections. Finally, the bloodthirsty slaughter began on June 4. Tanks showed up on the Chang’an Street, opposite to the photo of Chairman Mao. An array of soldiers wielding AK-47 guns ruthlessly shot at people in crowds. Tons of innocent people died in the pursuit of the great undertaking of democracy, as the words they beheld, “give me liberty or give me death!”

I have to confess that before I read this, I did not know much about the June Four event. The first time I heard about it was when I was a freshman, but the truth was I still had no idea of what it was and how it happened. I searched online but it was totally in vain because nothing came out of it. People around me, they never talk about it. So for a long time, this event was like a chapter torn off from my text book.

It changed when I came to Macau, I remembered the first class taught by Professor Chen Huailin. Before the class began, he hand-delivered questionnaires to us about the June Four Event. And in the second class given by professor Wu Mei, in her self-description, she mentioned that she used to work at China Daily. After the tragedy happened, she felt that she could no longer live here, so she went abroad. I feel like a girl picking up shells on the seaside, starting to collect more information about the mystery which has long been kept away from me generation in the mainland China.

When I was in mainland China, I have complained about the government’s filter machine which not allows us to see things, especially when they are harmful to the administration of the central government. All the media serve for the country, reporting only good things, barring bad news. As the saying goes, “living in CCTV is like living in a paradise!" It shocked me when I learned that in U.S., the Washington Post pushed its president out of office because of the watergate event. This could never happen in China, because they always place politics in the first place and anything that could jeopardize their control will be ruled out. Barehanded students rising to stand against people in authority is nothing more than throwing an egg against a rock, awakening the conscience of other people or next generations. But the price is too big. I have always wondered that sometimes we know something is not right, but is there a better way to fix it? Like China’s educational system which has been in argument for a long time, we all know it’s imperfect or even has a lot of defects. For people in China's Educational Bureau, as senior intellectuals, they definitely are better aware of that. But nothing changes, the existing state will persist. “If you can't change it, live with it." that's what most people hold. I wish I could do something different if not now, but in the future.