Monday, June 08, 2009

Tiananmen Square - 1989 revisited - part 18

The 18th part in a PBS piece published in 2001 by Andrew J. Nathan and Perry Link:

May 25 - June 1

Over the next week, the demonstrations continue, and Beijing operates with no real police presence and with a virtually free press. In Tiananmen Square, the atmosphere is jubilant, but at government headquarters, Deng Xiaoping is devising a new offensive to end the protest. Armed troops will be sent in from every military district in the country.

"I think the leaders felt that they had been thwarted in the most obvious and humiliating manner,"says
Orville Schell. "[A]nd the second time around they brought in troops from far away who didn't have connections to Beijing, whose kids weren't in the square. And they decided they would brook no obstacle."

Tim White

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good thing the Town Manager and the Dems on the Town Council don't have tanks.

They do however have control over the police who are told which laws to enforce and who the good guys are.

We need a police commission so that the control of the police is not in the hands of a few.

Anonymous said...

The town council's control over the police dept is limited to hiring and firing. They cannot "tell" a cop to enforce rules on certain people and allow others to get away with murder. Police officers are required to work within the limits of the laws. If they see a crime being committed, they MUST act, regardless of who is involved.
Some people need to stop watching movies and get a hobby