20 Years Ago

on this day, I was a still a college student when I witnessed and participated in an event that I will never forget. Even though I wasn’t in Beijing at that time, the city where I lived and studied in was one of the cities where the whole thing started in late April.

6.4 was not started as a “pro-democracy” movement as described by Western media today and for many college students who involved it was never about the so-called democracy. Rather it was about fighting inflation and corruption and punishing party and government officials using their power to profit for themselves and family members at the time when ordinary citizens struggled with their lives (20 years ago China was an impoverished country, however, all college students in the country didn’t need to pay any tuition to go to colleges). Students angry about the society only wanted their voiced to be heard. Nobody wanted to throw out the government (that is why it received broad  support from not only ordinary citizens, but also top leaders from the government initially). But things got out of control later.

I, as well as all my classmates, left the school and went back to home (college semesters in China usually end in July) without permission on 6.4 after hearing all the rumors spread on campus (we didn’t have a TV at that time, so we didn’t exactly what happened). Later the school informed me that classes were all canceled and the school year was official ended in early June. The new school year in the fall was also delayed.

Now 20 years have passed and 6.4 has become a distant memory for me and many at my age who were then college students (we have never talked about it again even privately because there just isn’t much to talk about). Looking back on its 20th anniversary, one thing is quite clear to me: The innocent students were held hostages on the square by some who had their own agenda, no matter what they say in public now and then (None of those so called student leaders was killed). Could there have been an entirely different outcome had we known went to stop and return to our classrooms?

Though I haven’t lived in China for the most part of the past two decades, I have seen dramatic developments every time I went back for a visit (there are many, many things the government did that I don’t like, especially how it controls what people need to know and what they don’t). The country was in wars or chaos most of the time in the 20th century. Nobody wants to see that happens again.

Related Articles You Don't Want To Miss

1. China Life Insurance: 5 Years on NYSE
2. Stocks Gained Most in Five Years!
3. From Buy-and-Sell to Buy-and-Hold: Four Years of Trading History
4. Dow Jones Dropped The Most in Seven Years
5. Record Gold Price, Countrywide Bankruptcy Rumor, and Live 14 Years Longer
6. February 2009 Unemployment Rate 8.1% Highest in 25 Years – Chart of the Day
7. Financial Tips for College Students
8. Marquis Who’s Who Really Wants Me