The Tiananmen Square Massacre Myth

[stickdog99]

I just saw a documentary called "Assignment China: Tiananmen Square."

Assignment China: Tiananmen Square, produced by the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California and narrated by former CNN Beijing bureau chief Mike Chinoy, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the reporters who covered the dramatic events in Beijing that spring. It features interviews with most of the leading American journalists who were there, as well as diplomats and scholars, and contains rare video clips and photos from that tumultuous time.

In the documentary, the US reporters admit to aiding and abetting the student protesters, including taking them out to dinner at their hotel during the "hunger strike" and not reporting about it. They also admit that the protesters were upset primarily with corruption and the government's movement away from certain Maoist programs, there were no deaths in the Square itself, students were allowed by troops to peacefully leave the Square, the famous Tank Man photos were taken two days after the Square was cleared, and the Tank Man incident demonstrated the restraint of the Chinese military.

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[Elvis]

Thanks -- this excellent info, including that in the links (worth posting whole), puts to rest a lot of questions I had about those events. The answers are unsurprising.

[stickdog99]

While I was watching the documentary, I couldn't help but wonder which and how many of the intrepid "reporters" were US government intelligence operatives.

"Assignment China" indeed.

[Wombaticus Rex]

I.....what?

Ouch. Another unexpected evaporating data point, another reminder you just can't be cynical enough in the Kali Yuga.

Full spectrum dominance, indeed.

[Nordic]

This is really interesting.

1989 was a huge year. For me personally as well. Which I won't go into, but I have so many vivid memories of that year.

Except for what happened in Tianammen Square.

That has always bothered me. Where are my memories of the supposed massacre? I keenly remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, the revolution in Romania, even the killing of the Romanian dictator. Of course I remember the iconic image of the Chinese guy blocking the tanks ...

But where are the visuals of the Tianammen massacre itself? Or even it's aftermath?

I have always thought that perhaps they were so awful that my mind sort of erased them, which my mind is wont to do. I have done this several times throughout my life. Hell, my mind even erased some of the most gruesome and disturbing images from Schindlers List, which was just a movie.

But in this case it turns out there were no images because this whole massacre may have never happened. Wow.

It's amazing when I think back, it wasn't that long ago I was one of the cats in the herd of kitties being led around by the beam from the laser pointer. And falling for it with near 100% efficiency.

[stickdog99]

Yep. 9/11 (specifically Flight 93) was my first rude awakening into reality.

I bought the Tiananmen Square Massacre story hook, line and sinker.

It was still somehow an article of faith for me,even after all these years--even decades after I should have known, or at least suspected, much better. Then I saw the documentary. As the truth finally unfolded before my eyes, all I could think was, "My God, what a credulous cow I was."

The world was far more comforting then, back when I could still believe without question whatever my co-workers in the break room commented about what they had just seen on the news.

[Jerky]

Wait, wait, wait... hold on, guys. We're talking about a few hundred people dying, minimum. Killed by soldiers with guns and tanks. Whether they did so in the square itself or on the boulevards adjacent to said square is hardly of any significance at all.

And my memories of this event are QUITE vivid, thank you.

I'm sure there are some aspects that we remember wrong - and that were played up by the military/media/intel/industrial complex. But it was NOT a hoax event. If something of similar scale had happened in the USA at that time, we'd STILL be recuperating from it as a nation. I mean, for pete's sake, we still whine about 4 dead in Ohio!

YOPJ

[Pele'sDaughter]

I remember when it happened and even had a discussion about it with my mother.

[stickdog99]

Wait, wait, wait... hold on, guys. We're talking about a few hundred people dying, minimum. Killed by soldiers with guns and tanks. Whether they did so in the square itself or on the boulevards adjacent to said square is hardly of any significance at all.

We are also talking about at least a few soldiers killed by angry mobs of people. What we are not talking about is nonviolent protesting students getting mowed over by tanks on the square by the thousands, which is what we were led to believe actually occurred. I think the difference is extremely significant. Don't you?

[Nordic]

Jerky, are you remembering what you were told, or what you actually saw?

[BrandonD]

There is something odd about this whole event. You guys might find this interesting, but there actually exist widely varying memories of how this event occurred and was portrayed in the media. There are a great deal of people who actually remember the man standing in front of the tank getting run over on camera.

Some of you might be familiar with the Nelson Mandela effect, which is related to certain significant historical events that, for some reason or another, people have quite varying and specific memories about. The Tiananmen Square massacre is one of these events.

[stickdog99]

There is something odd about this whole event. You guys might find this interesting, but there actually exist widely varying memories of how this event occurred and was portrayed in the media. There are a great deal of people who actually remember the man standing in front of the tank getting run over on camera.

Some of you might be familiar with the Nelson Mandela effect, which is related to certain significant historical events that, for some reason or another, people have quite varying and specific memories about. The Tiananmen Square massacre is one of these events.

Weird you should say that. I personally remembered seeing the guy get run over by the tank, much to my distress and disgust. Then I asked my girlfriend (who did not see the documentary) what she remembered about Tiananmen Square, and the first thing she said was, "Some guy tried to stand in front of the tanks, and they ran the tanks over him."

[Project Willow]

Weird. My memory is of a long stand off, with the man finally being run over, but I don't remember seeing that happen. Then the tale was used for insidious Amurkan jingo-gineering.

[Luther Blissett]

There's another popular misremembering of the event, which involve crowds of hundreds standing on the sides of the boulevards, not the man alone with the tanks.

I remember it ending with the man crawling up on to the tank.

[Elvis]

I'm pleased to report that Tank Man was not run over.

Check @8:00