Censored Memories - 29 May 2024

“It was brutally senseless. There’s no limit to what the government can do. It’s beyond the worst imagination“ Zhou Fengsuo, Tiananmen Square survivor and student protest leader.

This week marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and it’s perhaps worth reminding ourselves of the following

• Over a million people joined the protests in 1989
• Nobody knows the true death toll
• The courageous Tank Man has been erased from public consciousness
• It’s still a banned subject not only in China, but also now in Hong Kong
• The Chinese government has never acknowledged what actually happened and there are no official acts of remembrance

This week, John and Anne attended “ Censored Memories” , which recalled the events and protests of 1989 and looked at the current situation in Hong Kong. They had the privilege to hear a panel of speakers, view memorabilia and artwork and listen to music by Yinfi, a young composer from China.

The theme of the event was the importance of preserving and sharing memories in the face of oppression, not only so that tragic events are not forgotten, but also to safeguard the right to remember and to preserve the truth.

All three panelists took part in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and shared their brave stories :

• Zhou Fengsuo, (quoted above), a student protest leader who lost many friends in the massacre. He became China’s fifth most wanted protester and eventually was able to start a new life in the USA.
• Rahima Mahmut, director of the World Uyghur Congress, who talked about the mass arrests and detention of the Uyghurs, a dreadful situation well known to us.
• Ma Jian, award winning Chinese born author, now living in exile in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Jian_(writer)

The songs performed by Yinfi were particularly moving. Here is a link to his instagram page if you would like to know more : https://www.instagram.com/yinfimusic/p/C7ESP4Zo2s4/
And here are the songs he performed : https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2024/05/censored-memories-lyrics-perf…

One interesting aspect was the theme of increasing transnational repression by China.