Twenty-three years ago to the day, 4 June 1989, the People's Liberation Army (P.L.A.), the unified armed forces of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), perpetrated the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The "June Fourth Incident" marked the end of the Tiananmen Square protests, the Middle Kingdom's best chance for political liberalization since the founding of the P.R.C. in 1949. Hundreds or thousands of civilians were slaughtered overnight, the world will never have a definitive accounting of the slain. For all China's economic power & blockbuster growth, her political discourse is more retrograde now than it was in the late '80s, in the build-up to Tiananmen. The Chinese are grower richer, but they must also be made free. We must never forget the despicable means by which the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.) retains its precarious grip on Mandate of Heaven.
Never forget the "Tank Man," a hero for all Mankind.
On a more personal note, I turned ten years-old in the summer of '89. My opinions & conclusions regarding the P.R.C. are based on more sophisticated information & analysis than those available to the young Mike of that summer, but what I saw of Tiananmen Square that summer forged a visceral & enduring distrust of the P.L.A. & the sinister intentions of its masters in the C.C.P.
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
John Linnell, "Michigan" from State Songs, Vol. 1 (Ska Army)
Commentary: "O Michigan, exemplar of unchecked replication!"
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