Amid Chinese censorship, how are Tiananmen Square protests remembered?

This month marks 30 years since the start of student-led pro-democracy protests in China’s Tiananmen Square, where weeks of peaceful demonstration ended in a deadly military crackdown. Since the advent of social media, the 1989 demonstrations have become one of the most heavily censored topics on the Chinese internet.

Despite government censorship, people in China have continued to post online remembrances and commemorate the protests, often using coded language and memes. In an effort to preserve online dissent, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Toronto have published an archive of censored content related to Tiananmen Square and the 1989 pro-democracy movement.

In this episode, we’ll speak to those who witnessed events at Tiananmen Square 30 years ago and look at how this part of China’s history is remembered online.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Jan Wong @WriterWong
Journalist & author, Red China Blues
janwong.ca

Wu’er Kaixi @wuerkaixi
Former student leader

Amos Toh @AmosToh
Fellow, University of California Irvine School of Law

Read more:
China’s Censored Histories: Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre – Global Voices
His death 30 years ago today was the spark for the Tiananmen Square protests – Washington Post
 

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