Tiananmen square commemoration

Today is the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen square massacre. Hong Kong has been holding annual vigils to commemorate the victims massacred by China for 30 years.

However, for the first time since Hong Kong's handover to China, China has banned Hong Kongers from holding vigils under pain of imprisonment and potentially death. Indeed, Hong Kong has effectively lost its democracy and is under the control of China today, due to the new "security law". No more "one country, two systems"; now it's "one country, one system". It's all communist China. Yet Hong Kongers still came out in droves to commemorate Tiananmen square. This is real protest in the face of a totalitarian regime.

How many rioters (including Antifa) would dare to come out in "protest" if they didn't live in a free and democratic society but instead lived under the thumb of a nation like China? How many rioters would dare to come out in "protest" if they were essentially weaponless (no viable access to weapons like guns and knives) and knew the slightest hint of physical resistance or opposition could result in their deaths? Just how "brave" or "courageous" is Antifa when it costs them so very little to "protest" in comparison to Hong Kongers? (I might not make much of this comparison, but I've noticed some or many on the left comparing their "fight" with what happened at Tiananmen square, our government with communist China, and so on.)

31 years of commemoration.

photo: @appledaily_hk

#June4 #TiananmenSquareMassacre pic.twitter.com/5PS28EQI7d

— Alex Lam 林偉聰 (@lwcalex) June 4, 2020

America's Tiananmen square

(Thanks to Jitt Teng for helping restore this post!)

I notice some people are comparing the riots to Tiananmen square. I suppose the idea is Trump's administration, the military, and the police are akin to the communist Chinese government, while the "protesters" are akin to the democracy-loving Chinese people. I guess George Floyd is Tank Man.

1. The Chinese people couldn't and didn't fight back against their government. Rather, the communists government massacred the people. Men, women, and yes even children were murdered. They were gunned down. Tanks rolled over them. Tiananmen square literally ran with blood. The entire area was aggressively "cleansed" by an army group that was notoriously vicious. It was called upon by the CCP leaders precisely because the army group was known to be so vicious.

2. By contrast, protesters are allowed to protest. The Trump administration hasn't silenced their voice. If anyone wants to see silence, then consider how China has ended Hong Kong's democracy just days ago. And consider what's still happening in Hong Kong:

It starts; so soon. For the first time in 30 years, Hong Kong authorities denied permission to hold the #TiananmenVigil. If there is any doubt about Beijing’s intent, it is to deny Hong Kongers a voice and a choice, making them the same as mainlanders. So much for two systems.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 2, 2020

Trump hasn't unilaterally sent in the US military. And the US military certainly hasn't massacred anyone.

3. No doubt police brutality is a legitimate concern. It should be dealt with. But how is "protesting" by rioting helping deal with police brutality? The rioters are behaving anything but peacefully. They're looting stores, burning down buildings, and violently attacking innocents. They're shooting police officers (e.g. here, here).

4. I don't know if rioters in general have any sort of ideology. (However, I think organized groups like Antifa do have an ideology.) At the very least, rioters aren't respecting democracy. In fact, I suspect many if not most rioters are ignorant about our system of government. That's quite unlike the student-led protests at Tiananmen square. Many of these students were well-versed in the intellectual history of democracy. Many of them could argue for democracy, but how many rioters have ever read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, even some of the Federalist papers?

5. If anything, the rioters seem to want anarchy. Evidently they want to live out Alan Moore's twisted vision in V for Vendetta and Watchmen.

6. Some intellectuals are defending the riots. However, as George Orwell said: "Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them".

The Navy SEAL that killed Osama bin Laden may have a truer perspective when he calls the protesters "terrorists".

7. It looks like the left is actively supporting and perhaps inciting rioters like Antifa (e.g. here, here). If so, I presume the short-term goal is to bring down Trump. To make his administration seem impotent to do anything.

Yet leftist politicians like Biden may be playing with fire. If they start a revolution, the revolution may not necessarily end with them in charge (e.g. here, here). Consider whether Bernie bros ever wanted Biden. Even Robespierre the guillotiner was guillotined.