马建 Ma Jian
@majian53
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Author: Red Dust, The Noodle Maker, Stick Out Your Tongue, Beijing Coma, The Dark Road, China Dream
London, England
Joined January 2012
As 4th June approaches once more, here is a piece I wrote on the 30th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
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For 35 years, Chinese leaders have tried to erase all memory of the Tiananmen protests and the brutal massacre that crushed them. Last week I found a file of photos I took in Beijing in 1989, most of which I haven't seen since. I will post some now to commemorate those times.
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A train I took from Shanghai to Beijing in May 1989. Students crammed into every corner of the carriages, desperate to join the peaceful democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.
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This spectacular night scene of the mass hunger strike in Tiananmen Square 1989 was taken by a friend of mine. He wants it to be shared, but is too afraid to reveal his name.
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Hunger strike on Tiananmen Square, May 1989. Photograph taken by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous. I will never forget the bravery of the peaceful protestors, and the sense of hope.
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In 1988, I spent months in Xinjiang. The Uighurs showed me, a lone traveller, much kindness, but their rage against CCP rule was palpable. The hell they are now suffering is the darkest stain of this century. The world must stop the genocide. Inaction is complicity.
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On train from Shanghai, 1989, students cram into luggage racks to join Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, and stay up all night, discussing democracy and freedom. I don't know their names, or how many survived the 4 June Massacre, but their undying spirit remains China's hope.
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Democracy protest, Tiananmen Square, 1989. The photographer remains anonymous.
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Mass hunger strike, Tiananmen Square 1989. Photo is by a friend who wants to share it anonymously. I first tweeted it last year. Now, on eve of 31st anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre, it's even more important to remember those days of peaceful protest, and those ideals.
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A student from Beijing University I photographed on Tiananmen Square, May 1989. By remembering each year the 4 June #TiananmenSquareMassacre, we honour the peaceful protesters who lost their lives on that night, and the noble ideals of freedom and democracy that they fought for.
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Mass hunger strike on Tiananmen Square, 1989. This photo, taken by a friend, conveys the hope and solidarity of those days: fasting students waving flags, volunteer medics caring for the sick, everyone united in the peaceful and earnest struggle for freedom and democracy in China
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On Tiananmen Square, 1989. A boy holds up a banner that says 'Children support the protests! Long live the Students!'
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Student protests on Tiananmen Square, 1989. The banner says 'Without a democratic system, no society can be safe.'
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Thirty years ago, I stood in the centre of Tiananmen Square and took this photo of the crowd. A million faces: peaceful, fearless, filled with hope. They can never be erased from my mind.
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Every year on 4 June, I think of this train I took from Shanghai to Beijing in May 1989, crammed with brave, earnest students desperate to join the protests in Tiananmen Square. The ideals of freedom and democracy they peacefully fought for will never die.
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Protesters near Tiananmen Square, 1989. The banner says 'We will live for democracy, we will die for freedom!'
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30 years ago, I saw this same scene in Tiananmen Square as protestors parted to let ambulances through. Huge crowds can easily become violent mobs. But in China in 1989, and Hong Kong today, the vast crowds brought out the best of human nature: courage, wisdom, compassion.
Marchers making a path for an ambulance on Hennessy Rd, clapping as it goes past #AntiELAB #extraditionbill @SCMPNews
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I took this on a train from Shanghai to Beijing, May 1989. Students crammed into every corner, from the floor to the luggage racks, desperate to join the protests in Tiananmen Square. Guards let them travel for free. We all wanted to help the Chinese Democracy Movement succeed.
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Beijing University professors marching to Tiananmen Square in 1989, in solidarity with student protesters. A professor holds a sign 'Teachers and students live and die together'. In foreground, a grateful student lifts a sign to them saying 'You are China's true intellectuals'.
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Students on Tiananmen Square, 1989, holding up a banner that says 'Democracy, Science and Human Rights!'
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Because of the Tiananmen Massacre of 4 June 1989, China is the country it is today. Because of the six weeks of peaceful, nationwide democracy protests that preceded the massacre, there is hope that China will one day change.
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Vast crowd in front of the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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Students marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989. Their banner says 'Government: reflect on your past crimes! Fellow citizens: wake from your slumber!'
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Journalists from Legal Daily, marching to Tiananmen Square, May 1989. Their signs say 'Free yourself from the Imperial City' and 'Liberate my pen'.
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Marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989. A banner made from a bed sheet reads: 'I've torn up my sheet to fight for democracy!'
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On Wangping Road, Chengdu, protesters hold up sheets of paper that say ‘Give me freedom or give me death’.
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Beijing University students setting off to join the democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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On 5th day of the hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, 1989. As I passed, this student sat up with a look of deep melancholy. She said she'd stayed awake all night for fear she might die in her sleep. I said a storm was coming, but buses were driving to the square to offer shelter.
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A photo I took of the Tiananmen democracy protests, 1989. Two journalists holding placards that say 'Liberate my pen!' and 'Let's escape the emperor's walls!' . I think of citizen journalists, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, who were disappeared after filming the outbreak in Wuhan.
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Beijing residents applaud Police Academy students as they march to Tiananmen Square in solidarity with the 1989 democracy protests.
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Marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989. Recalling the progressive Chinese protestors of 1919, the banner reads 'May 4th Movement pioneers, we march in your wake!'
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Shop workers on Beijing's Wangfujing Street come out to support the students as they march to Tiananmen Square in 1989. Behind them is a message to leader Deng Xiaoping: 'Time to step aside, Old Deng!'
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After that Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, I feel sick in the stomach and deeply sad. My thoughts are with the people of Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and all citizens of China who have been persecuted or imprisoned by the CCP because of their racial identity or their views.
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Protesters march to Tiananmen Square, 1989, holding a sign that says 'Show us some humanity!'
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Students marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989, hold a banner that says 'Newspapers must tell the truth!'
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Student protestors on Tiananmen Square, 1989, view the Soviet leader as a hero who brought democratic reform to the USSR. They hold up a poster of him with the message 'Welcome, Gorbachev! Hurrah for Glasnost!'
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Marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989. The signs say 'Resist tyranny', and 'I want bread, but I want freedom more!'
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Journalists marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989, calling for democracy and freedom of speech.
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Students on Tiananmen Square, 1989, raise a banner that says 'Still holding up her lute to half cover her face'. They are using this quote from an ancient poem by Bai Juyi to criticise Communist Party leaders for hiding away and refusing to enter dialogue with them.
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Photographers from China Photo Press join the students in Tiananmen Square in 1989, holding up photographs they've taken of the protests. On the back of one photo they've written 'The people will never forget!'
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Democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, 1989, hoping to catch sight of Gorbachev as he enters the Great Hall of the People on his state visit to Beijing.
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Students in Tiananmen Square, 1989, on hunger strike for democracy.
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Students from Beijing's elite Qinghua University hold up a banner on Tiananmen Square, 1989, right in front of Chairman Mao's portrait, saying 'I want democracy!'
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Protesters advancing to Tiananmen Square, 1989, with banners that say 'Corruption is a cancer' and 'Every one of us must take responsibility for the fate of our nation!'
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Professors from Beijing University march to Tiananmen Square in 1989 to support the democracy protests. Their banner says 'Professors and students live as one and die as one'. A student holds up a banner to them in gratitude saying 'You are the real intellectuals of China!'
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On Tiananmen Square, 1989. Days later on 4 June, the CCP sent army tanks to crush the peaceful protests. The Tiananmen Massacre - its savage brutality and subsequent coverup - is a wound that will forever cripple China until the truth is told and the tyrants are held to account.
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Medical journalists come out to support the students in Tiananmen Square, 1989. On their banner is a message to the nation: 'If you are sick, do not fear the surgeon's knife!' What they are implying of course is that the Communist Party is a tumour that must be removed from China
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'They are protesting not because they believe they can succeed, but knowing that in all probability they will fail. They are protesting because fighting peacefully for civilised values is always the right thing to do.' Me in Guardian on Hong Kong protests
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Students from Nanjing join the Tiananmen democracy protests, 1989. Their banner says, 'We have come to pay our respects to you, students of Beijing! We have the same patriotic blood as yours coursing through our veins!'
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Students pour out from Beijing University to stage democracy protest in Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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Student on hunger strike for democracy on Tiananmen Square, 1989, writing out his will.
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For 8 years, I've been banned from China. I am deeply grateful to have been granted British citizenship, and cherish the freedom it gives me to live and write in 27 other EU countries, should I wish. I want my children to enjoy these same freedoms. So today I'm voting pro-Remain.
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Student on hunger strike for democracy in Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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Professors from Beijing University marching to Tiananmen Square, May 1989.
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今天在邱吉尔雕像下站满了中国来的留学生。面对香港人爭取‘民主双普选’的游行队伍，他们举着五星红旗唱着国歌：“起来，不愿做奴隶的人们们” 那片刻我就想到邱吉尔的话：“当我们跪下去的时候，伟大领袖便产生了。当我们不会反抗的时候，奴隶便产生了。”
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Marching to the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, 1989. A banner says 'I devote my life to the people. If I die, it will be a glorious death.'
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A Beijing resident marches with students to Tiananmen Square, 1989, holding a banner that says 'I'm sorry I didn't join your movement before. My throat is now hoarse from shouting slogans, but I will never be silenced!'
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Pro-CCP Chinese nationalists hurling abuse at the Hong Kong rally in London yesterday.
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Students from Beijing School of Economics hold up a sign in Tiananmen Square, 1989, that says 'China can only be saved if all decision-making is democratised!!!'
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Beijing University professors, marching to Tiananmen Square to support the students, May 1989. The big sign says 'Together we will overcome this national crisis and with you we will shed our blood'. Signs behind say 'Act with humanity' and 'The people's hearts will never die'.
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Victory sign over Tiananmen Square, filled with students fasting for democracy and freedom, and volunteer medics in white coats, May 1989.
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In the Tiananmen Square democracy protests of 1989, students from the University of Politics and Law hold up a banner that says, 'I will offer my blood to the Yellow Emperor!' They are quoting a Lu Xun poem to express their willingness to sacrifice their lives for the nation.
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中国政府不在乎瑞典外交部的多次交涉，把诗人桂敏海判刑十年。这是对香港铜锣湾书店五位失踪者中最重的刑罸。而且还加上他为了能被判刑，申请恢復了中国国籍。这无视国际人权法的行为，竟然公开端上媒体，不仅羞辱各国文���交往的传统，也把野蛮的红色病毒传遍世界，今天全人类都成了中国备用的囚犯了。
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Not content with sharing my name, the corrupt spy chief Ma Jian, who was vice minister of the agency responsible for banning me from China, has now stolen my face as well.
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Staff from Duyiju Restaurant donating drinks to the students protesting on Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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Writers from the Lu Xun Literary Institute marching to Tiananmen Square for freedom and democracy, May 1989.
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Students setting up a 'University in Exile' in a parked bus during the democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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Student on hunger strike for democracy, Tiananmen Square, 1989. The sign attached to his mascot tells the government to stop branding the student movement as a 'counter-revolutionary plot'. On his hat are the words 'When the wind blows . ' On his chest is the word 'terminate'.
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Sleeping in Tiananmen Square, 1989. For freedom and democracy.
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Here's a photo of me writing posters for students at Beijing University in May 1989. Beside me in the striped shirt is Guo Haifeng, a student leader who worked untiringly for the Chinese Democracy Movement. THREAD
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Marching to Tiananmen Square, 1989. 'When people become part of a group, they find a courage they never knew they possessed before.' Beijing Coma.
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'Dictators will always put their political survival above human life. They will not rest until they have perverted every truth and obliterated all possibility of dissent.'.My piece on 31st Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
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Student leaders Wang Dan and Wu'er Kaixi being interviewed on Tiananmen Square, 1989.
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At gates of Zhongnanhai, the Party leaders' compound off Tiananmen Square, students petition for dialogue in May 1989. Inside, a gold slogan in Mao's calligraphy says 'Serve the people!' Outside, the students' banner says 'The government have severed themselves from the people!'
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On another big rally in London today to #StandwithHongKong. Outside King's College, protesters shouted: "Don't shoot our university students! Shame on Hong Kong police brutality!" Placards were raised showing the 5 demands, and the simple request: 'Let Hong Kong be Hong Kong.'
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At the Hong Kong literary festival in November, a friend accompanied me at all times, for fear I'd be secretly kidnapped and smuggled to China. If the extradition law passes, any critic of Xi's regime could be legally, openly abducted. It would be the end of freedom in Hong Kong.
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Distancing myself in my shed, finishing my book. To close the door, drink tea, phone friends, read books is today an act of civic duty. Stay at home, and ease the burden of selfless doctors and nurses. Sending my best wishes to all.
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HK people are fighting for freedom, democracy, for their city and their lives. They’re looking at death in the eye. Standing with HK is not ‘interference in China’s internal affairs’. It’s the duty of everyone around the world who values liberty and human rights. #StandwithHK.
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My new novel, China Dream, is published today in the UK! Translated, as always, by Flora Drew. Impossible to publish in China, of course. But now even Hong Kong publishers are too afraid to bring out the Chinese original - the first time that's happened to one of my books.
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