The right time to lower the flag
There was on Monday, precisely one week and three minutes after the deadly Sichuan earthquake, a mass outburst of spontaneous feeling in Tian’anmen Square.
As an announcement signalled the end of three minutes silence, the crowd surrounded the flag and began shouting their devotions to the people of Sichuan and the Motherland.
Two things are of great significance here. First, the gathering was unauthorised but tolerated; second, the flag wasn’t lowered for either an emperor or a dictator.
The last time people gathered in huge numbers on the Square to speak with one voice – a voice of hope – it all ended very differently. That was arguably the defining moment in China’s modern history, and yet it remains an incident forbidden as the subject of debate or review. The supreme irony is that the compassionate and immediate response to this disaster has shown the Chinese government to be the caring, responsible leaders that the demonstrators were demanding 19 years ago.
Given that the Chinese leaders are currently riding the crest of an immense wave of popularity, why not take this moment to enhance their reputation still further? To achieve this they need only authorise the lowering of the flag in 14 days time. No announcements. No fanfare. No propaganda. Just a simple act of humility and remembrance that is long overdue. Everyone would immediately grasp the significance and it would be met with unprecedented and universal praise.
But there are reasons greater than earning domestic and international plaudits for a half-mast gesture on June 4. Yesterday’s flag lowering for the common man was fully justified, but ultimately a response to great suffering wrought by Mother Nature; an unavoidable tragedy. When tragedy struck Nineteen years ago, it was a premeditated strike against the common man.
Prior to the massacre of innocents, Beijing in ’89 had, in common with this past week, also been a time when the People’s Liberation Army had found a place in the hearts of the populace when they refused to turn their guns on the teachers, students, farmers and others who had gathered under the same banner. The local PLA units, sympathetic to the plight of the protesters, were cheered as they left the Square. Ultimately, mass murder would be committed, under direct orders from Zhongnanhai, by PLA units from outside provinces.
The loss of face had been too much for the hardliners like Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping to bear, and in common with all history’s craziest acts of despotism, they chose to send in a disaster of their own making. Desperate to cling to power and eager to punish, a mechanical earthquake was ordered onto the Square and the surrounding streets to crush, maim, and destroy. The only things in common with a natural disaster were the indiscriminate nature of the killings and the large number of innocent victims.
On Monday the leaders bowed their heads in remembrance at Zhongnanhai. It would be appropriate, although unrealistic, for them to bow their heads in shame in two weeks time. However, allowing the flag in Tian’anmen Square to be lowered in memory of those that died needlessly on June 4 ’89 would be a welcome, responsible, and safe step for the government to take.
Of course, accountability and openness are pre-requisite, so I won’t be holding my breath waiting for it to happen. But I will remember, in company with millions of others, the event that China continues to wipe from the pages of history. Mark your calendars; 14 days to go.
Update: (May 24, 2008) 11 days to go.