Remembering Tiananmen Square and D-Day!

How time has flown indeed! Today we are in the midst of two major historic events about World Democracy. The first one is a historic event that will not be celebrated in its own country - in China. I did not realize that yesterday marked the beginning of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre in Beijing. In fact, exactly 20 years ago today, a still unknown Chinese student stood before a columns of tanks at the Great Avenue of Chang’an near Tiananmen Square where the lead tank stopped and the driver tried to move his tank to the right and to the left of him.

It was a very tense moment with so many people and the world (CNN was barely new) watching this historic event, which was the most photographed event among the thousands of photographs and videos that depicted the Tiananmen Square incident. When the tank column finally halted, this unnamed rebel then clambered aboard the tank to talk to the driver. Suddenly a group of students rushed and bodily carried him away from the tank and into oblivion. Rumors persist today that this man was eventually executed as he was never heard of again, although the Chinese government insist that no execution took place. On the other hand, he might just be alive and living somewhere in China. His obscurity must have allowed him to live!

In the month of April, 20 years ago I was poised to leave for a media tour of China with four other Filipinos, mostly Manila-based journalists. But we were told that the events in China had become uncontrollable and so our trip was postponed. But a couple of months after the Tiananmen uprising was quelled, we were allowed into China. We were the first foreign journalists allowed inside China. It was to be my first foreign travel as a journalist.

But reporting from China or anywhere outside the Philippines wasn’t easy 20 years ago. The Internet was still being dreamed of, laptops did not exist and cellphones was stuff for the future. I was in China for three weeks with my friends Manila journalists Noel Velasco, Nona Ocampo (Satur’s daughter) and Conrad Banal. Going out of the country those days meant we had no columns for the whole time we are out of town. Today, thanks to the Internet, there is no free time for columnists.

I have been back to China at least three times since and much has changed. Compared to 20 years ago, there are far more things for the students to do these days, which wasn’t there back then. Perhaps the only thing that hasn’t changed in China is that, its central government is still run by a Communist politburo who does not believe in human rights nor in any Democratic processes. But then this is what is happening to many Asian countries. They have exchanged their prosperity at the cost of the loss of certain freedoms.

In the Philippines, we are often envied by Asian journalists for our journalistic freedom, where we could virtually write anything we want, although this is just a perception. But yes, when it comes to government officials or functionaries, they are our daily fodder and almost anyone who does some kind of mischief in this country.

Take the case of Singapore. I still cannot forget the time when we went there a few decades ago with our publisher Juanito Jabat and a group of Cebu media who were given a tour of the Straits Times. It was there that we realized that when it comes to issue against the government, Singaporean journalists have to wait for a communiqué from the government and that’s what will be published. When you’ve been to those places we mentioned, only then can you truly appreciate the freedom that we enjoy today.

The other big anniversary is also about the fight for freedom and democracy as tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion or better known as D-Day. It was the start of the collapse of the so-called Thousand Year Reign of the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler who since 1939 have overrun the entire Europe except for the small island of England and Mother Russia. To remember this epic invasion, I suggest that you look for a video copy (not a pirated one) of the movie “The Longest Day” which had an all-star cast and shown in glorious black and white.

If you’re looking for a modern day movie of the Normandy Invasion, the best one for me is the Tom Hanks movie “Saving Private Ryan” because the equipment that Movie Director Steven Spielberg used was authentic World War II stuff. I really hate movies that do not use authentic World War II machinery, like the “Battle of the Bulge” which used US M4 Tanks instead of the German Tiger tanks.

Anyway, the Normandy Invasions resulted in the death of thousands of soldiers, most of who are interned in American, Canadian and British cemeteries that dot along the coast of Normandy. Truly, Free Europe was paid by American, Canadian and British blood! I hope they won’t forget it!