Reviews of Books About Tiananmen

Reviews of books about Tiananmen, more to come...

• Zhao Ziyang: Prisoner of the State, June 2009
  

Book Review: Zhao Ziyang Falls Short in Telling His Story

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre, the book Prisoner of the State, the Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang was published with great fanfare. There have been many instant reviews in the mainstream media hailing for the importance of the book, especially that it tells the "real story of Tiananmen."

According to the book's publishers and editors, Zhao Ziyang had spent parts of his last years recording his thoughts in secret. The audio tapes were only discovered after his death. He left no words on the purpose and intention of these tapes. Bao Pu, the son of Zhao Ziyang's long-time political assistant Bao Tong, led the efforts in transcript the tapes and make them into this book, published separately in Chinese and English versions.

Bao Pu has since refused to make the tapes themselves available to the public, other than a few excerpts. So there are no independent means to assess the authenticity of the book material. As memoirs of Chinese leaders are usually non-existent, it is also almost impossible to cross-examine the content against other similar books.

Nevertheless, I did not have high expectations when I started reading the book and yet still came away disappointed. I did have a few questions related to the 1989 student movement that I had hoped to find the answers from Zhao Ziyang's own words, for example,

1. Did he actually agree and approve the infamous April 26 People's Daily editorial before its publication while he was away in North Korea?
2. During the critical period in early May when he was personally in charge and conduct dialogues with the public to defuse the tension, why did he not make any such efforts to reach out to the protesting students before the hunger strike?
3. After the hunger strike, did he direct and/or authorize Yan Mingfu's dialogue with student leaders? What was the strategy for that dialogue?
4. Why did he disclose the "state secret" that Deng Xiaoping was still the supreme leader in China during his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev?

Actually, the 306 pages long book only has its first part, merely 49 pages, dealing with the 1989 student movement. That certainly could not, and did not, do justice to the greatest event which would dominate Zhao Ziyang's historical legacy.

That short passage read in a very defensive, and indeed self-pity, tone. Zhao Ziyang tried to blame a conspiracy, led by then Premier Li Peng and supported by Deng Xiaoping, which undermined his strategy and led to the martial law and the eventual massacre. But it was unclear what his strategy or leadership was. Being the General Secretary at the time, the book showed a leader who was lost, soft, and lack of ideas or willingness to take any meaningful action on his own.

More specifically, on the questions I was looking for answers:

1. Zhao Ziyang did confirm that he had approved the publication of the editorial. He attempted to explain that he could not have done anything else because he was away and did not know all the facts.
2. Zhao Ziyang blamed Li Peng and other leaders not to contact student leaders. There was no words explaining why he did not try to do it himself.
3. The book did not mention Yan Mingfu's dialogue attempts at all. It was as if that important facets of the movement had never happened.
4. The book did dedicate a whole short chapter to the Gorbachev meeting. He tried to downplay its significance. But the rationale presented there sounded contrived and weak. It also contradicted to Bao Tong's own testimony that Bao Tong had intentionally inserted the statements at last minutes.
   

As far as the Tiananmen is concerned, this is a rather uninformative book. It is not surprising since the "real story" of that magnificent movement did not happen within the walls of the government compound. It happened on the campuses, on the streets, and in Tiananmen Square. That is a story that Zhao Ziyang, or any other government leaders at the time, is unable and unwilling to tell.

Liu Xiaobo Formally Charged

After being detained in early December and spending the months since in isolated confinement, Liu Xiaobo is now finally being formally charged for the crime of subversion. Reuters reported that

State news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday that prosecutors approved Liu's arrest on Tuesday for "alleged agitation activities aimed at subversion of government and overthrowing of the socialist system."

There had been hope that Liu Xiaobo's detention would end after the passing of the June 4th anniversary. Liu Xiaobo had played a key role in the later stages of that movement. His current arrest stemmed from his leadership in the "Charter of 08" activities last winter.

Standoff at Tiananmen: Chinese Version

For those who are more comfortable in reading Chinese, I have started to translate my book Standoff at Tiananmen into Chinese version and decided to post its rough draft in a new blog: 天安门对峙.

The entire translation work probably will take months, and hopefully not years. They will be posted as installments as they are available.

In the meantime, I will continue to build up this blog/web site with more resources for the 1989 student movement and updates on related news.

If you have liked my book, please tell your friends. :)

"So you've got a tank?"

Danwei brought to us this fascinating magazine back cover (above) from the June issue of So Rock!, Under the tank picture on the T-shirt, the Chinese inscription says "So you've got a tank?"

The front cover of the same issue, below, is equally provocative. Just in time for the twentieth anniversary.

This Day in 1989, June 5

On June 5, 1989, as the martial law troops consolidated their control of the city of Beijing, one lonely individual left us with an icon of personal courage and hope.

This Day in 1989, June 4

After a fateful night, the morning of June 4, 1989, was a mixture of anger, despair, and confusion in Beijing. Martial law troops were on all the main streets and intersections and in a trigger happy mood. Gun fires could be heard all over this ancient capital.

At Chang'an Avenue east of Tiananmen Square, hundreds of residents staged a standoff in front of an equal number of soldiers. The civilians shouted "Fascists!" and repeatedly attempted to approach the soldiers. They were met by barrages of gun fire. Many fell to ground. This agonizing scene repeated many times throughout the late morning.

Elsewhere, angry residents were able to hunt down a few soldiers who had been separated from their troops. Several soldiers were beaten to death, burned, and hung on buses or overpasses. At Muxidi, where the most intensive battle was fought the night before, a column of more than seventy armored personnel carriers was mysteriously abandoned on the street. Thousands of residents surrounded and burned them.

In the afternoon, a simple announcement was cladestinately broadcast by Radio Beijing's English broadcast:

Please remember June the Third, 1989. The most tragic event happened in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

Thousands of people, most of them innocent civilians, were killed by fully-armed soldiers when they forced their way into city. Among the killed are our colleagues at Radio Beijing. The soldiers were riding on armored vehicles and used machine guns against thousands of local residents and students who tried to block their way. When the army convoys made the breakthrough, soldiers continued to spray their bullets indiscriminately at crowds in the street. Eyewitnesses say some armored vehicles even crushed foot soldiers who hesitated in front of the resisting civilians. [The] Radio Beijing English Department deeply mourns those who died in the tragic incident and appeals to all its listeners to join our protest for the gross violation of human rights and the most barbarous suppression of the people.

Because of the abnormal situation here in Beijing there is no other news we could bring to you. We sincerely ask for your understanding and thank you for joining us at this most tragic moment.

Most students who were at Tiananmen Square the night before had safely retreated to the campus area, where there was no military in sight. Bodies crashed by tanks at Liubuko were displayed at the University of Political Science and Law. Impromptu memorial services were held at many schools.

At Peking University, student leaders held a last meeting before they dispersed into hiding or on the run. The Preparatory Committee there issued a series of statements in the name of Beijing Students Autonomous Federation and dispatched student reporters to hospitals and other campuses to collect the names and numbers of the dead. They would soon cease their operation as well.

The student leaders were missing Guo Haifeng, who was arrested the night before at Tiananmen, the only student leader captured thus far.

Separately, Fang Lizhi and his family are seeking contacts with the American Embassy for refuge. After being turned away on the first contact, they would spend the night hiding in a hotel.