Chinese journalists recall short-lived press freedom axed by 1989 massacre
Tsoi Wing-mui (L) and Gao Yu (R)
Among the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 was China’s brief period of press freedom.
The World Economic Herald, an outspoken and liberal newspaper, was one of the print publications that blossomed during the relative freedom in the 80s. But during the political turmoil, Chinese authorities ousted chief editor Qin Benli and took over the paper. The media industry marched against the decision on May 4, 1989, holding banners that said “We are also Qin Benli.”
“The entire staff of the paper, from the chief editor to every reporter, editor and employee in the office, were united and passionate,” Zhang Weiguo, a reporter of the paper at the time, recalled. “What we kept hoping was that through the liberalization of the press, we could against all odds open a door for political reform,” he added.
The entire media industry was fuming, according to Tsoi Wing-mui, who was in Beijing for the Kuomintang outlet Hong Kong Times. The media was the second most active group, after the students, demanding press freedom, she said. Nonetheless, the paper was shut down on May 8, an ominous sign for the future to come.
At first, media outlets could only indirectly report on the student movement that was spreading across Beijing, Tsoi recounted. Only after the party’s General Secretary Zhao Ziyang publicly called on students to end their hunger strike on May 17 — which was interpreted as the leadership’s acknowledgement of the movement — did publications, including the People’s Daily, turn their focus on the protesters. “For a few days, China experienced a brief blossoming of press freedom,” Tsoi said.
That ended as Li Peng, the late Premier, declared martial law on May 20. Journalists found ways to report on the events, including martial law, even as their articles were censored by authorities.
A day before the violent crackdown on June 4, veteran journalist Gao Yu became the first press member to be arrested. “The movement was the most important experience in my life,” the 77-year-old recalled. “Till today, I am still wondering why [Beijing authorities] conducted a massacre.”
The Economics Weekly, which has called on the government not to use violence on its own people to resolve domestic conflict, was shut down days after the massacre. Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming, both editors of the publication, were accused by authorities of instigating the unrest and jailed for 13 years. “I don’t have much lament. I knew all along how evil the Chinese Communist Party is,” said Wang, who was released in 1994 for medical reasons and fled to the U.S.
“What use is it to be scared?” asked Gao, who did two other prison stints in the decades after. “I speak the truth from my heart based on facts.”
Tsoi, who is now based in Hong Kong, is determined to persist in what’s right. “It is difficult to predict history. You cannot imagine how dark it would become, but similarly, you never knew the Soviet Union would collapse.”
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