Interview
We interviewed an anonymous person who was in the neighboring city of Tianjin during the 1989 protests and massacres. This is 90 miles away from where the protests were held.
Did things in china change immediately after the protest?
Yes. Before that, people thought there were hope for democracy
and hope for change. After that, because they had the crackdown, they executed
at least several hundred people. They become silent. We feel hopeless, and we
feel invisible.
Do you think that the protests were good or bad for China?
They were good. With the historical event, you need time. At the
time it failed. It was the first time with a communist party, and under communist party's rule, people abused it, and rose up against it. The idea of democracy was spread over to all countries. It also shows most people the idea that they don't want a dictatorship.
Did the protest affect China immediately after?
There was not really interruption. You had your ordinary life, you have a supply of food and everything, the protests mainly occurred around government buildings. They claimed that it interrupted and destroyed the ordinary people’s lives, but that was not the case.
Did the protests affect Tianjin?
Yes, people talked about it, people were very concerned about it,
and everybody thought about it and talked about it. In the office, with family.
People worried about the students and about what would happen. Older people knew
the communist party was harsh, so they worry of something, like a crackdown may
happen. And the result was just what they worried about.
Did the protests affect your opinion on the Chinese Government?
Yes, totally. We were resolved under Communist rule so although there was the Cultural Revolution, we no longer had such a complete illusion, but we still thought the communist party was good. It was for the people and after that crackdown a lot of young people like me at the time.
Did the government try to cover up the protests?
At the time, the party was divided. [Inaudible] tried to minimize the
coverage, but the leadership was divided, so their control over the media was
not as restrictive as it used to be. They gave conflicting directions to the
newspaper editor and television directors. Because most of the people in media,
as with other people in societies and other professionals or workers or farmers,
they were very sympathetic with students. Sometimes they had objective coverage,
but it was not totally under party control. It was relatively free, for a very
short period of time. Yes, the party quickly regained control after the
crackdown. They did not show very bloody pictures, but they labeled protesters
as criminals. So, it was just a very short period of free coverage. It was just
a flip over.
At the time, were you aware of what the protests were about?
Yes, it was triggered by the inflation, and the corruption associated with it. A lot of people were protesting power; they declined dramatically because the price went up. At the same time, those who made more money were associated with the party, because they are either relatives or family members of party leaders. At the time, China's economy began to transit from planned economy, which a lot of things were under. You couldn't buy things freely. You had to get permission from the party. For example, steel bars for construction, color television, all in shortage. There were two forms of government, a planned economy and a free market that was slowly emerging. In this situation, you registered as an individual business man. All register as a corporation or collective. If you can get permission from the government, then you can control certain commodities. Then you can sell it at a very high price. You didn't even have to have the commodity in your hand. Quite often what happened is I have the permission and I just sold that permission to another person. This person sold it to another person. You make 100% profit or more just by signing the paper. People all knew that, so people were angry. Another reason was the communist party had a lot of privileges. People resented that. People suffered quite a lot under communist control for many years, especially during the cultural revolution. These things trigger the event.
Were the people near you sympathetic or unsympathetic to these events?
About 99% of the people were sympathetic. Very few were not. When
the protests ended, the young people were angry. Most were sad. People older
than us that have experienced a lot of communist party movement, purge, or kind
of a political oppression, they had an experience like this. It was their
loss.
Do you think most Chinese citizens today know about the protest?
People around the age of 40 do know. Many of the young people do not know. They did not have that feeling of something they will never forget. There is always a negative thing in my mind, and China's youth doesn't have that. It's kind of like a shadow. You can never walk out of it. I always think about it, especially around June 1st when it was mentioned in the media and outside China. I still feel angry because of all the pictures at the time. They were so bloody, and I have heard a lot of stories. The soldiers did not just shoot the protesters. They shot at ordinary people. They are just shooting to crowds of people. They used tanks to chase students and then they crushed several of them. They do not teach about these massacres in school. They labeled it riots, which was started by hostile political elements in the west. Then they realized they did not have a lot of real solid evidence. People were resentful. The government just tried to make people forget it, so they began to call it a political event. They no longer label it anti revolution, antisocial riot. They just call it "That political storm" "That political event". Now, each year is like an anniversary. They become very nervous. They would arrest or out some visitors under house arrest to prevent people's gathering to salute the event. Eventually, the truth will be told to all the people and the ones who died will become the murderer of the democracy. Although you can't hide the truth for 10, 12, 40, or even 50 years, eventually it will be available for the future generation.