International Law

Looking Forward to Tomorrow

By Stan

Nothing particularly interesting will be happening tomorrow, but I’ve really had my fill of all the nostalgic, emotional press coverage of 6/4. It seems like anyone who was in Asia anytime that year claims to know what went on in Beijing that summer, has a strong opinion, and had very close friends that were directly involved.

Right. And each of them also marched with Dr. King.

Enough already. The ridiculous generalizations, objectifications, and mythology of all this smells a lot like just another way for the media to sell newspapers, for “commentators” to keep their names in the press, and for “activists” to use the anniversary as an excuse for another fund raising mailout.

I know this will piss a lot of people off. Whenever we perceive a situation that fits easily into a framework of right versus wrong, good versus evil, paper versus plastic, it gives us comfort. That’s why George Bush received so much support during the early 2000s for his neo-Manichean world view.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but things were a lot more complex 20 years ago than most news articles are pointing out. For example, many people (myself included) consider inflation to be the number one precipitating cause and not political ideology.

I have been avoiding some of the more syrupy press treatments of 6/4 in the past couple of weeks, but I have sampled some of the coverage. Thus far, James Kynge of the FT (yes, he was there too!) seems to be the only voice of sanity. Kynge points out that our nostalgic imagery of 6/4:

[S]upports a clear dichotomy between good and evil, freedom and repression, democracy and dictatorship.

The real world is much more complicated, chock full of ambiguous moral and political choices. Comparatively, 6/4 represents “an anchor, a gratifyingly fixed reference for our judgments of others.”

Kynge also lists several of the issues/grievances that were floating around Beijing at the time, including inflation.

I guess the sort of calm and comprehensive reporting represented by Kynge’s article doesn’t sell enough newspapers. I take comfort in the knowledge that after today, it will all be over, least for another five years.

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Full post as published by China Hearsay on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).