In addition to renowned historian, Orville Schell, another renowned author happened to be in Beijing on June 4, 1989. None other than Nicholas Kristoff. He was the Times Bureau chief in Beijing at the the time. He was aware of the protests that had been going on for several weeks. He was also aware of the Communist party leaders and their discomfort with the most massive protests in China in 40 years. The opinion of the leaders was that it would not last. As time went on, they realized this was not going to end anytime soon, unless they took action. They did, and it ended shortly thereafter. Mr. Kristoff was an eye witness to the carnage. He climbed a pole to get a better view as PLA troops, backed by armored tanks filed into the Square. Infantry troops gathered about the tanks and began firing their weapons into the crowd, often at point blank range. People began to drop as the firing increased in tempo. Then the crowds began to run in all directions to escape possible death or injury. In a short time, overnight, the protests were broken, people were arrested, people were hospitalized or left to their own aid methods. But the Party leadership acted to preserve one party rule. And thank you, Mr. Kristoff for telling your story. Yes, we know the New York Times is banned in China. Yes, we know that you have been denied a visa as so many journalists have also been denied. And we know that access to the NY Times website is blocked by the government(PLA Military cyber center). We also know that the Party is rewriting the history of that time; putting in alternative "facts", creating an alternative historical universe that younger generations have comed to know as history(history by Party).
Things are changing in China as we see. And the country is preparing for the Olympic Games in 2022. Hmmmm. How is that going to fly? Maybe trade deals will hinge on the Olympic Games: accept a deal or face a boycott or cancellation of the games in China. Hmmmm. Sounds interesting.
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