Never Forget...

...the Goddess of Democracy in Tiananmen Square - and how She was destroyed by the oppressive Communist regime in China. China won't ever be in the "big leagues" until it learns that dissent is the essence of a free people. Of course, its people AREN'T free, and perhaps they won't be within my lifetime. But it's coming, folks, it's coming. Russia is regressing - I expect to see another revolution there before I kick the bucket (sometime within the next 30-40 years). In one of my dreams last night was that great song by the Young Rascals (a true blast from the past!) - I don't know the exact title but it has words "listen, please listen, that's the way it should be, people everywhere just want to be free..." From Bloomberg.com China Should Give Account of Tiananmen Crackdown, U.S. Says By Michael Heath June 3 (Bloomberg) -- China's government should give a full account of the people killed or detained when pro-democracy protests were crushed in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the U.S. State Department said on the 19th anniversary of the crackdown. The government in Beijing needs to reexamine what happened, ``release all Tiananmen-era prisoners and cease harassment of the families of the victims,'' spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement. The State Department estimates between 50 and 200 protesters remain in jail. China's Foreign Ministry declined to address the issue of the detainees when asked earlier today. ``As to that occurrence of political turmoil at the end of the 1980s, there was a clear conclusion long ago,'' spokesman Qin Gang said at a news briefing in Beijing. It ``concerns an internal matter of China, and as a Foreign Ministry spokesman, I can't respond.'' Chinese soldiers, backed by tanks, on June 3-4 killed hundreds of activists who had rallied for weeks in and around Tiananmen Square and in other Chinese cities calling for greater pluralism. China faced international condemnation for the crackdown, which in 1990 then-President Jiang Zemin dismissed as ``much ado about nothing,'' according to Human Rights Watch. ``The time for the Chinese government to provide the fullest possible public accounting of the thousands killed, detained or missing in the massacre that followed the protests is long overdue,'' McCormack said in the statement issued in Washington. Security Tightened China has tightened security at the square, authorizing police to randomly search visitors, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported last month. ``Security around Tiananmen is very important and has great international influence,'' it cited Zhang Peili, an official at the municipal government law office, as saying at the time. The security measures are necessary to protect the Beijing Olympic Games in August, he said. ``The revision will help prevent and stop all kinds of extremist and terrorist incidents and maintain public security,'' Zhang said, according to Xinhua. China should honor its pledge to improve human rights by releasing the Tiananmen-era prisoners before the Beijing Olympics when the square will be used for functions, Human Rights Watch said in a statement yesterday. China wants the 2008 Games ``to expunge the memories of the 1989 Beijing massacre,'' said Sophie Richardson, the New York- based group's Asia advocacy director. ``China could replace the image of the lone man blocking the tanks with the image of Tiananmen prisoners being freed -- a truly Olympian gesture.'' Hundreds of Arrests The 1989 crackdown resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people on charges ranging from ``counterrevolutionary'' offenses to ``hooliganism,'' including robbery, arson and assault, Human Rights Watch said. It estimates 130 protesters remain in jail. McCormack said most of the Tiananmen-era detainees have served ``well over half'' of their sentences and are eligible for parole under Chinese law. U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will address Chinese Americans and human rights advocates tomorrow during a ceremony in Washington to mark the anniversary. Nearly two decades after the killings and arrests, China continues a relentless crackdown on democracy advocates and opponents of its one-party regime even while preparing for its Olympic debut, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. ``The dream of democracy, held so vividly by the students who constructed the statue of the Goddess of Democracy in Tiananmen Square, has proved to be, so far, a midsummer's night dream,'' she will tell protestors today, the statement said. Ros-Lehtinen will cite Chinese efforts to arrest North Korean refugees, shut down unencumbered access to the Internet and close down underground house churches as evidence of continued systematic repression, according to the statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: June 3, 2008 21:33 EDT