You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments View context
5 points

What do you think happened exactly?

permalink
report
parent
reply
66 points
*

https://www.liberationnews.org/tiananmen-the-massacre-that-wasnt-2/

Edit: the other source I was looking for

https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_myth_of_tiananmen.php

The thing to get is that there was no massacre on the square, and in fact there’s no verifiable evidence that anybody died there at all that day. Many people did die elsewhere, in street clashes with soldiers, after demonstrators killed and burned a few of them.

I would like to note also that bringing up events like Tiananmen Square, especially heavily propagandized and warped versions of them, without an understanding of the complex political context which led up to them, is not a gotcha, it’s just ignorant. Not saying you’re doing that or that you would do that, but it’s something others do frequently when they invoke it round here.

permalink
report
parent
reply
62 points
*

US Military Pysops Division literally bragged about how successful they were with Tiananmen in this recruitment video

https://youtu.be/VA4e0NqyYMw

Edit: Found out about this video from this article which was linked on hexbear lol https://www.fridayeveryday.com/how-psy-ops-warriors-fooled-me-about-tiananmen-square-a-warning/

permalink
report
parent
reply
43 points

Ah, I remember that. Almost feels like the cocky bastards are mocking us at this point.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

With no actual evidence, it just seems like China’s word against the US’s. Neither are sources I trust, and both have motives to lie. I’m just going to assume nothing.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Can you possibly explain why the western diplomats stationed there told their home countries nothing happened in diplomatic cables?

Why would they do that if it was real?

permalink
report
parent
reply
40 points
*

I said there was no evidence that a massacre took place in Tiananmen Square. What actually took place there is well evidenced by eyewitness testimony, a fair bit of which is contained in the two sources I linked.

Edit: I also take issue with the assertion that both the US and China are equally untrustworthy, particularly when the Chinese government freely admits that violent clashes between civilians and PLA personnel took place that day, something they would certainly have incentive to lie about if they were as untrustworthy as all that.

permalink
report
parent
reply
23 points
*
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply

I don’t trust anyone, so i will believe the US

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Which side allows it to be discussed?

There’s your answer.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points
Removed by mod
permalink
report
parent
reply
47 points
*

Firstly, we insist on content warnings being applied to violent content of that sort.

Second, I’m guessing you didn’t bother to translate any of this or investigate the sources cited - or lack thereof, since most of these images lack citation or provenance. The one source I was able to follow back was an interview of the man who lost his legs, conducted by right wing rag the Epoch Times and signal boosted by noted CIA cutout Radio Free Asia. Most everything else in there is unsourced, and many of the captions just outright lie about what’s being depicted, such as the one claiming the crushed red motorcycle is actually a guy run over on his bike.

Important to note also, none of these pictures are claimed to have been taken in the square itself. That violence occurred elsewhere is not in doubt; I never claimed there wasn’t violence, and the Chinese government themselves acknowledge it. What often gets left out is that the student demonstrators initiated it, and even western journalists working with eyewitness testimony concede that the PLA operated with remarkable restraint until things boiled over.

Third, and this is a comparatively minor point, the site you link to is a noted right-leaning anti-communist news organization which I suspect has ties to RFA. Even if that weren’t the case, it doesn’t seem at all trustworthy, given its clear bias against the Chinese government.

Edit: Upon further investigation, I found that Fang Zheng, the man who claims his legs were crushed by a tank in an unprovoked attack by the PLA, is himself not a very trustworthy source. The one person who he identified as being able to corroborate his claims, declined to do so, saying that she didn’t remember being with him at all on the day that violence broke out. Also potentially significant, he’s a founder of the Chinese Democracy Education Foundation, a California-based nonprofit opposed to the Chinese government. The organization has worked with RFA, and Fang Zheng himself has attended Falun Gong rallies and apparently shares their insane organ harvesting conspiracy theories.

Is this really what you’re giving us?

permalink
report
parent
reply