Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

LiberalArkie

(19,941 posts)
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 12:03 PM 7 hrs ago

Tiananmen Square Myth, Reality, and What the West Leaves Out Carl Zha

June 6, 2026
For nearly four decades, the events surrounding Tiananmen Square have remained one of the most controversial and misunderstood episodes in modern Chinese history.

In this episode, Carl Zha joins Jamarl Thomas to provide a firsthand Chinese perspective on the 1989 protest movement, drawing on his own experience as a teenager living on a university campus during the events.

The discussion explores the economic turmoil of China's reform era, the inflation crisis of the late 1980s, official corruption, the evolution of the student movement, and the political divisions inside China's leadership that culminated in the June 4 crackdown.

They also examine the famous Tank Man footage, the role of student leaders, allegations of foreign involvement, and how the events are remembered differently inside and outside China.

Rather than repeating familiar narratives, this conversation focuses on historical context, competing interpretations, and the complexities often missing from mainstream discussions.


5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Tiananmen Square Myth, Reality, and What the West Leaves Out Carl Zha (Original Post) LiberalArkie 7 hrs ago OP
I believe this is a fairly accurate summary of events. Martin68 3 hrs ago #1
Carl Zha Sympthsical 3 hrs ago #2
and victim blaming? WarGamer 1 hr ago #4
You'd think siding with Russia against Ukraine and running interference for Uyghur oppression would be enough Sympthsical 1 hr ago #5
The Statue of Democracy Kid Berwyn 2 hrs ago #3

Martin68

(28,137 posts)
1. I believe this is a fairly accurate summary of events.
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 04:35 PM
3 hrs ago

I saw a lot of pro Chinese comments on YouTube regarding this video. I was living in Japan at the time and met some Chinese and a British reporter who was there during the occupation and subsequent clearing of the square. A lot of reports in the US at the time (and now) claimed there was a massacre of students in the square. That is not true. The violence occurred, as this commentator descries, on the periphery of the city where citizens (workers) had set up roadblocks to keep the army from entering the city and attacking the students. Hundreds of workers were killed to make way for the army to approach the square. Meanwhile, student leaders, realizing that the army was about to attack, negotiated a peaceful exit by the students in the square. It was not a student massacre in Tiananmen Square. It was a massacre of workers tying to block the army from entering the city to clear the students. I also question the premise that the protest was primarily against corruption and inflation. While those may have been factors in the case of the workers, it was clearly a pro-democracy movement on the part of the student occupying the square.

Sympthsical

(11,201 posts)
5. You'd think siding with Russia against Ukraine and running interference for Uyghur oppression would be enough
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 06:19 PM
1 hr ago

But nah, let's get his take on Tienanmen Square while we're here.

Lord.

Kid Berwyn

(25,245 posts)
3. The Statue of Democracy
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 05:53 PM
2 hrs ago


Liberty.

And soon George Herbert Walker Bush was clinking champagne toasts with the Communist leadership and the Epstein Class that ran Russia into the ground as a Mafiya oligarchy also, coincidentally I’m sure, also runs with China’s oligarchs.

Know your BFEE: Chinese and American Ruling Elites In Bed Together for Fun and Profit

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10021644663

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Tiananmen Square Myth, Re...