What July 20 and June 4 Have in Common

June 4, 1989 and July 20, 1999 are both what the Chinese Communist Party considers “politically sensitive” dates—in other words, dates they want the general public to forget about.

On each of those days, the Party committed an act of violence that went down in history.

July 20

In the 1990s, a meditation practice called Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) became extremely popular in China. Falun Gong includes five slow-moving exercises as well as teachings based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The practice became known for its physical and mental health benefits, and it spread by word of mouth. By 1999, an estimated 70 million to 100 million people were practicing it in China.

However, then Party leader Jiang Zemin was resentful of the practice’s popularity and fearful that such a large group outside the Party’s control might pose a threat to his power. He decided to make a political power play by ordering a massive persecution against Falun Gong.

The persecution was launched on July 20, 1999. Overnight, a peaceful meditation discipline that the Party had praised for its health benefits was targeted for elimination.

Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, imprisoned in labor camps, tortured, and killed. The Party blanketed China with propaganda in an effort to turn public opinion against Falun Gong.

The propaganda included a television program claiming that several Falun Gong practitioners had set themselves on fire. This incident was later found to be a hoax staged by the Party.

The persecution of Falun Gong has continued to this day, and so have practitioners’ peaceful efforts to resist it. Practitioners in China and all over the world have been working for nearly 20 years to raise awareness of the persecution.

June 4

In April 1989, tens of thousands of students rallied in Beijing to call for democracy. The protest began after the death of former Party leader Hu Yaobang, whom the students had admired for his attempts to make political and economic reforms.

What began as a gathering to mourn Hu in Tiananmen Square quickly turned into a student protest. About 200,000 people went to Tiananmen Square on April 22, and a parade was held on April 27.

Unwilling to concede to the students’ demands, the Party eventually resorted to military force. On June 4, the Chinese military cleared out the protest, gunning down students and crushing them with tanks.

The death toll of the Tiananmen Square Massacre is unknown, but estimates range from hundreds to over 10,000.

Since then, the Party has made every effort to censor information about the massacre. According to The Epoch Times, a photographer who took pictures of the 1989 protest had to hide the developed film of the pictures for fear that Chinese authorities would punish him and his family for having evidence of the massacre.

The photographer’s teenage daughter and other young people did not know about the protests or the massacre when he asked them, he told The Epoch Times.

However, many Chinese citizens still remember the massacre that happened 30 years ago, and no amount of Party propaganda has been able to erase their memories.

Despite the Party’s best efforts, the infamous dates of June 4 and July 20 have never been forgotten.

Sources:

http://en.minghui.org/cc/88/

https://www.theepochtimes.com/story-behind-newly-published-2000-historical-tiananmen-square-massacre-photos_2928820.html