In the years immediately following 1989, the anniversary of thedeadly June 4 crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing was marked bysmaller memorial protests. At universities in the northwest of thecity, students would distribute leaflets , sing the Internationale and break bottles in a show of disrespect to the then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping , whose given name is a homophone for "little bottle."In 1992, a protester unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square itself before being dragged away by police. But such publicdisplays have grown rare. This year, on the 23rd anniversary of thecrackdown by troops that killed hundreds, possibly thousands ofprotesters, the anniversary was marked online, on services like Facebook and the Sina Weibo microblog, and possibly even by the ShanghaiComposite index. Outdoor Led Display Screen
The benchmark began the day at 2,346.98, which read backwards gives 89.64, theyear, month and date of the Beijing massacre. As if to reinforcethe point, the index dropped by 64.89 points Monday. There was noimmediate official explanation for the historically symbolicnumbers. This opening level is normal," an employee ofthe Shanghai exchange's media department told the Wall Street Journal . "Opening levels are decided by appropriate regulations andtoday s opening level was normal. China Led Traffic Signs
The Shanghai exchange has longbeen seen as a hub of insider trading and market manipulation, butthis is the first time it may have been tweaked for politicalsymbolism. The Shanghai index numbers are likely a random accident, Reuters reported . Regardless, "Shanghai stock market" joined a longlist of search terms banned on Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter-likemicroblog service. Other banned search terms include"64," as the Tiananmen crackdown is known in Chinese,"Tiananmen," and even the Chinese word for"today." The candle emoticon, used to express mourning,was also disabled from the service, as were searches for theChinese characters for "candle." So a few Sina Weibousers resorted to typing the English word "candle." Thepopular service's censors were busy deleted any messages evenremotely connected to the massacre, but a few cryptic referencessurvived. One message reposted more than 500 times Monday discussed the 228 Incident,when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang killed thousands ofcivilians in Taiwan's capital of Taipei in 1947. Outdoor Led Display Screen
TheKuomintang ruled much of China for two decades before losing acivil war with Mao's Communist Party in 1949, forcing theremainder of Chiang's armies to retreat to Taiwan. In 1995,as part of a process of ending its autocratic rule over the island,the Kuomintang apologized for the 228 crackdown. "TheKuomintang had the courage to overturn its decision," wroteone person on Weibo, a message meant as much for a Communist Partythat has refused to address its 1989 decision that the Tiananmenprotests were a "counterrevolutionary riot." The specter of Tiananmen censorship also spread to Hong Kong, thesemi-autonomous Chinese city where the 1989 crackdown is rememberedin annual vigils. On Friday afternoon about 10 political activistsincluding Legislative Council member Leung Kwok-hung saw theirFacebook accounts disabled, says Charles Mok, chair of the HongKong branch of the Internet Society.
Mok says that he was able toget in touch with a Facebook representative from thecompany's Washington, D.C. office and the accounts wererestored by Friday evening. The social networking giantdidn't offer a reason for the account closures, Mok says,though activists in Hong Kong suspect it could have been due tofalse complaints filed in an attempt to thwart organizing ahead ofHong Kong's June 4 memorial vigil.
The benchmark began the day at 2,346.98, which read backwards gives 89.64, theyear, month and date of the Beijing massacre. As if to reinforcethe point, the index dropped by 64.89 points Monday. There was noimmediate official explanation for the historically symbolicnumbers. This opening level is normal," an employee ofthe Shanghai exchange's media department told the Wall Street Journal . "Opening levels are decided by appropriate regulations andtoday s opening level was normal. China Led Traffic Signs
The Shanghai exchange has longbeen seen as a hub of insider trading and market manipulation, butthis is the first time it may have been tweaked for politicalsymbolism. The Shanghai index numbers are likely a random accident, Reuters reported . Regardless, "Shanghai stock market" joined a longlist of search terms banned on Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter-likemicroblog service. Other banned search terms include"64," as the Tiananmen crackdown is known in Chinese,"Tiananmen," and even the Chinese word for"today." The candle emoticon, used to express mourning,was also disabled from the service, as were searches for theChinese characters for "candle." So a few Sina Weibousers resorted to typing the English word "candle." Thepopular service's censors were busy deleted any messages evenremotely connected to the massacre, but a few cryptic referencessurvived. One message reposted more than 500 times Monday discussed the 228 Incident,when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang killed thousands ofcivilians in Taiwan's capital of Taipei in 1947. Outdoor Led Display Screen
TheKuomintang ruled much of China for two decades before losing acivil war with Mao's Communist Party in 1949, forcing theremainder of Chiang's armies to retreat to Taiwan. In 1995,as part of a process of ending its autocratic rule over the island,the Kuomintang apologized for the 228 crackdown. "TheKuomintang had the courage to overturn its decision," wroteone person on Weibo, a message meant as much for a Communist Partythat has refused to address its 1989 decision that the Tiananmenprotests were a "counterrevolutionary riot." The specter of Tiananmen censorship also spread to Hong Kong, thesemi-autonomous Chinese city where the 1989 crackdown is rememberedin annual vigils. On Friday afternoon about 10 political activistsincluding Legislative Council member Leung Kwok-hung saw theirFacebook accounts disabled, says Charles Mok, chair of the HongKong branch of the Internet Society.
Mok says that he was able toget in touch with a Facebook representative from thecompany's Washington, D.C. office and the accounts wererestored by Friday evening. The social networking giantdidn't offer a reason for the account closures, Mok says,though activists in Hong Kong suspect it could have been due tofalse complaints filed in an attempt to thwart organizing ahead ofHong Kong's June 4 memorial vigil.