On this day in 1989, China greeted pro-democracy protesters in Beijing with tanks and gunfire. No one really knows how many innocent Chinese were killed, probably above 300.
That incident has been erased from Xi Jinping’s history books. No protests of any kind in Tien An Men Square today.
In the summer of 1988 your solitary reporter was a tourist and saw that gigantic public area in its glory. Deng Xiaoping was leading China then.
Things have changed since then.
Things have also changed in Hong Kong, where Chinese authorities had previously promised autonomy.
In Hong Kong today, thousands of protesters turned out to remember the disgrace of the Tien An Men Square Massacre, but were strenly warned by Chinese authorities, sometimes even in English, and at least ten leaders of the protests were arrested.
While nobody in Xi’s entourage noticed, our Seoul-based associate solitary reporter, Ko Il-sun, slipped in and confronted China’s Dictator for LIfe, Xi Jinping, who summarily dispatched Ko with only a few concise words.
“Mr. Ko, you fail to realize that I am the reincarnation of the Chinese Emperors. Except for the last gasps of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they had even more power then, than I do now.”
“Now go back to Seoul and keep your mouth shut. If you don’t I’ll throw you in with the Uyghurs so you can be re-educated."