Triggering memories of Tiananmen

"Beyond boundless lands and oceans, countless souls are all connected to me." - Lu Xun

- SHREE PARADKAR

This poster quoting Chinese literary giant Lu Xun at Western University's pro-Palestinian encampment sparked memories for Windsor professor Vincent Wong of his own political awakening in Hong Kong.

Amid the myriad posters at a Western University student encampment urging its school to divest from Israeli-linked investments, a little one quoting Lu Xun gave Vincent Wong’s heart a special lift.

It triggered memories for the human rights law scholar and University of Windsor prof about his own personal political awakening by the events surrounding Tiananmen Square in 1989.

That the Students for Gaza movement builds on protests against the Vietnam War, against apartheid in South Africa, and on the Civil Rights movement is obvious. But during this, the 35th anniversary week of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Western University encampment poster underlines the ties that also connect it to struggles against oppression in China.

That connection has led some in the Chinese diaspora to organize for Palestine, aiming to highlight the links between China and Israel and mobilizing to break them.

“Chinese officials see Israeli counter-insurgency measures against Palestinians as a model for the security regime in Xinjiang … and Chinese drones and facial-recognition cameras have been used by Israeli authorities to control the Palestinian population,” wrote Yale research scholar Yangyang Cheng in The Nation.

The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstrations against corruption and communism, calling for socialist democracy and free expression.