In Tiananmen of Games, No Trace of '89 Massacre

Fireworks set off as part of the Games' Opening Ceremonies illuminated the sky above paramilitary police stationed in a refurbished Tiananmen Square. (By Nick Laham -- Getty Images)

The contrast between what Chinese tourists and foreign tourists say about Tiananmen is stark.

"Tiananmen represents the whole China. It symbolizes world peace," Yang Lei, a 21-year-old chef from northern Jilin province, said as he wandered through the flower displays last week. "For those who haven't seen China, they will see this and feel China is great."

"It's a place all people dream to come to," said Wang Yan, 37, smiling as she held a blue umbrella to protect her mother from the sun. "It holds the highest place in Chinese people's hearts."

Niki Sterrit, a 21-year-old from Cork, Ireland, said the Chinese students she taught in an English-language program in central Henan province this summer made similar comments when she asked them about the square. "They didn't know anything about what happened here," Sterrit said on her first visit to Beijing this past weekend. "Obviously, it was the first thing I thought about, that this was where the massacre occurred. I got here and just felt, wow, wow, it's all about the Olympics. There's nothing here about history."

Mike Ridley, a tourist from Sydney, surveyed the square and said: "I see the revolution of 1989. Though they've sterilized everything, everybody knows about it."

Liu agreed. "Although the government always tries to do so, they cannot hide the facts," he said. "My generation still remembers very clearly, though most won't say so publicly."

Internet searches about Tiananmen are blocked in China, but Liu said the younger generation is still learning about the massacre online, using proxy servers to get around government restrictions.

Wang Dan, one of the 1989 student leaders, said he is angry about the years the government has spent covering up the massacre. He spent seven years in Chinese prisons for his role in the protests, before being exiled to the United States, where he campaigns for human rights and democracy.

"If people do not understand their history, they will become shallow, rootless," he said. "When a country is emerging, like China, the passion of nationalism will head in a direction that's more and more aggressive. Only if people understand history -- especially the bad memories of history -- will the nation become more modest."

Wang said he supports China's hosting the Olympic Games. "I think a civil society is emerging in China, and I think the international community should engage with that society," he said.

Neither Wang nor Liu, however, sees any hope that the Chinese government will open a dialogue on Tiananmen any time soon. "The government lacks the confidence," Wang said. "It's very clear a crime was committed against the people. They're afraid of being blamed."

Ding Zilin, the mother of one of those killed at Tiananmen, has documented the deaths of 189 people in the June 4 crackdown, which she and others believe is a fraction of the actual death toll. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, estimates that about 130 prisoners are still being held for their roles in the 1989 protests. Liu said he knows of eight people serving life sentences.