Tiananmen Square 19 years on

Wednesday was the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protests. I remember being shocked to the core by the events of that day, after such hopes of democracy finally rising in China the brutality with which it was snuffed out was horrifying. 19 years on and the Chinese authorities were not going to allow any "embarrassing" demonstrations to remind the world of those events. On the 4th June, the ever present security cameras trained on Tiananmen Square were added to by policeman with hand-held video cameras whilst visitors to the square were searched for banners and leaflets.

As I read up on the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, it dawned on me that 19 years after the brutality there are still rumoured to be around 130 protesters in Chinese jails. When bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games the Chinese promised to improve its human rights effort, maybe releasing the aforementioned 130 would be a start, although that would not in any way excuse the forced labour camps or the forced evictions and house demolitions.