The Legacy of Tiananmen

Posted on 16 July 2009.

June 4, 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and the Chinese authorities were on high alert. Certain websites, email accounts, social networking services and even photo-sharing sites were blocked. Human rights activists were detained or put under close surveillance.

Tiananmen Square itself was patrolled by police, paramilitary forces and plainclothes security officers. "Business is poor today," said one souvenir seller. "You'd think most people are tourists but they aren't, they are plainclothes security" (Reuters). Chairman Mao Zedong's mausoleum, in the centre of the square, was closed for "repairs" from 3rd - 5th June. Universities had been told to keep a close eye on foreigners in their departments and taxi drivers were instructed to watch out for suspicious passengers.

In the end, June 4 passed quietly in China. The only public commemoration took place in Hong Kong where 150,000 people gathered for an annual vigil. Today's young Chinese people have little interest in politics. "In that era, people were very idealistic. But students have changed since then," commented one postgraduate. A mother whose teenage son was shot during the 1989 protests confirmed that opinion. "This is a society in which materialism reigns," she said. "Young people go after enjoyment and so on. You can understand why they don't care as much about society's advancement or democracy." (Reuters)

Yet for some young people the events of 1989 were a turning point. Mr ‘S' was in his third year of study at a Beijing university when he joined the protests. The events that followed led to a decision that, "If there is a God, I want to know Him, and I will do whatever God wants me to do." ‘S' investigated many religions, but it was 2005 before one of his former classmates returned from the US and shared the Gospel with him. Today ‘S' leads a small Christian fellowship group.

In the lead-up to this year's anniversary, more than 80 Christians, the majority of whom had been directly involved in the 1989 student movement, released a declaration calling for forgiveness, repentance, truth, justice and reconciliation. "In terms of this sinful nature," they declared, "we are not fundamentally different from the decision makers, commanders or transactors of this massacre," except for encountering the grace and forgiveness of God. They told how the 1989 massacre had "awakened our sense of social justice as intellectuals... and shattered our dreams of utopia on earth" and they called on Chinese Christians to hold special prayer meetings to pray for China (China Aid).

Praise God for the good He has brought out of the tragic events of 1989 in drawing many to find hope and meaning through new life in Him.

Pray that the generation of "Tiananmen Christians" might be powerful witnesses to God's grace and mercy to all those around them. May their transformed lives draw many more into His Kingdom.

Pray for those whose lives are still negatively affected by the Tiananmen protests - for those whose relatives were killed; those whose job prospects were dashed because of their involvement in the demonstrations; those who lost hope in life as they saw their friends die...

Pray for young people today who are often without ideals and simply caught up in materialism and the drive for personal satisfaction. Pray for the Lord to break through into their lives to bring true meaning and purpose.