"China has come a long, long way since Tiananmen in 1989! Why, you'd never see such a thing today..." 5 June 2009

A Chinese official stands in front of the iconic photograph of a lone protester taunting a queue of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre (referred to in China as the 4 June Incident). He tells us that China has come a long way since that event during which the protester was killed. Beside him sit two bound, gagged and blindfolded men, one representing the media and the other 'web access. Refers to the Tiananmen Square massacre having been re-visited this year, the twentieth anniversary of the event that shocked the world. The cartoonist suggests that governmental suppression of criticism has not changed a lot since 1989 though many would question that.

Colour and black and white versions available

The protests were sparked by the death of a pro-market, pro-democracy, and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu's funeral, 1,000,000 people had gathered on the Tiananmen square. The protests lacked a unified cause or leadership; participants included disillusioned Communist Party members and Trotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government's authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change and democratic reform within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which remained peaceful throughout the protests. (Citation from Wikipedia)

Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).