Re: [Marxism] Workers bore brunt of Tiananmen Repression

[Eli Stephens <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis posts an article from the Christian Science Monitor 
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0604/p06s14-woap.html) which talks about how 
workers bore the brunt of the repression at Tienanmen Square. The article 
claims that 50 "protesters" still languish in jail, most of them workers, and 
says they were charged with "counterrevolutionary assault," 
"counterrevolutionary sabotage," or "hooliganism."

I'd call "hooliganism" something like breaking a store window or setting fire 
to a trash can. But the article makes clear the actions of these workers were 
far beyond that:

"That, says Han, partly reflects the fact that workers, not students, were the 
most aggressive in resisting the military takeover of the square on the night 
of June 3, burning buses and tanks."

He might have added, "burning buses and tanks" which contained members of the 
PLA, some of whom were killed.

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/world/asia/04protester.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print)
 interviewing two former protesters, both of whom served two years in prison. 
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989) says 
that "Wang Dan, the student leader who topped the most wanted list, spent seven 
years in prison." Given these facts, it seems highly unlikely that anyone still 
in prison after 20 years was a mere "protester." Far more likely is that were 
among those involved with physical assaults, including murder, on members of 
the PLA.



Eli Stephens
 Left I on the News
 http://lefti.blogspot.com


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