DATE=6/3/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=5-43562
TITLE=TIANANMEN ACCOUNTS
BYLINE=CHRIS SIMKINS
DATELINE=HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: COMMEMORATIONS MARKING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHINA'S
CRACKDOWN ON THE TIANANMEN SQUARE PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT ARE
BEING HELD THIS WEEK IN HONG KONG. A GROUP OF JOURNALISTS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS GATHERED (THURSDAY) TO TALK ABOUT WHAT
THEY WITNESSED DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF JUNE FOURTH
1989. VOA HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT CHRIS SIMKINS HAS THEIR STORY.
TEXT: /// ACT OF GUNFIRE AND PEOPLE SCREAMING UP AND UNDER
JUNE FOURTH 1989. THE SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE AND PANIC AS CHINESE
ARMY SOLDIERS OPENED FIRE ON THOUSANDS OF UNARMED PEOPLE NEAR
BEIJING'S TIANANMEN SQUARE. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE
CRACKDOWN ON CHINA'S PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS
SAY HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED, AS
TROOPS AND TANKS MOVED THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE CHINESE
CAPITAL.
AT A ROUNDTABLE FORUM IN HONG KONG THIS WEEK, JOURNALISTS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WHO WERE THERE SAID IT WAS AN EMOTIONAL
AND TERRIFYING SCENE. TEN YEARS AGO, JONATHAN MIRSKY WAS A
REPORTER FOR THE LONDON-BASED GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER. MR. MIRSKY
RECALLS WRITING A STORY, SAYING THAT PEOPLE IN BEIJING HAD
MANAGED TO STAND OFF THE CHINESE ARMY WITH THEIR FLOWERS AND
SMILES HE SAYS HIS STORY CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN A MATTER OF
HOURS.
/// MIRSKY ACT ///
ALONG CAME THE ARMY AND THEY WERE SHOOTING IN OUR
DIRECTION. THE YOUNG MAN STANDING NEXT TO ME SAID THEY
ARE NOT USING REAL BULLETS. SO I WAS WATCHING THESE
SPARKS BOUNCING OFF THE PAVEMENT. SO I SAID TO HIM SO
WHAT ARE THOSE SPARKS? HE SAID IT'S A SPECIAL KIND OF
BLANK THAT THE SOLDIERS USE AND THOSE WERE HIS LAST
WORDS. THEN HE SLUMPED OVER THE RAILING AND I PULLED HIM
UP AND HE HAD A BIG RED CIRCLE ON THE FRONT OF HIS
T-SHIRT. I FOUND THIS VERY AWFUL, HAVING THIS PERSON
SHOT NEXT TO ME, AND SO I THOUGHT I WILL HAVE TO GO BACK
TO THE HOTEL AND FILE A DIFFERENT STORY.
/// END ACT ///
ANOTHER PERSON WHO WITNESSED THE BEIJING MASSACRE WAS ROBIN
MUNRO, WHO LATER HEADED THE HONG KONG OFFICE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
WATCH ASIA. MR. MUNRO ALSO HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF THE NIGHT OF
JUNE FOURTH, 10 YEARS AGO.
/// MUNRO ACT ///
I WILL NEVER FORGET THE QUIET BRAVERY OF THOSE MEDICAL
STAFF SITTING THERE SURROUNDED BY INJURED PEOPLE. ONE
OF THE DOCTORS SAID TO ME, FIVE PEOPLE HAD DIED IN HIS
HANDS IN THE LAST HOUR. THOSE MEDICAL STAFF WERE
SHOWING NO PANIC ALTHOUGH THEY WERE IN MORTAL DANGER OF
THEIR LIVES.
/// END ACT ///
JIM LAURIE WAS A REPORTER COVERING THE BEIJING DEMONSTRATIONS FOR
THE AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY TELEVISION NETWORK. HE SAYS HE
FEELS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO A CHINESE
FACTORY WORKER HE INTERVIEWED.
/// LAURIE ACT ///
ONE MISTAKE I MADE WAS IN THE INTERVIEW OF AN ANGRY MAN
NAMED XIAO BIN. HE WAS A MAN, WHO, BECAUSE OF ME, ENDED
UP IN JAIL AND WHOSE LIFE TODAY -- 10 YEARS LATER --
REMAINS IN RUINS. HIS CRIME WAS HE TALKED TO ME ON
TELEVISION. HE ALSO MADE HIS APPEARANCE ON CHINA CENTRAL
TELEVISION. HE WAS SEEN WITH BLUE CHINESE CHARACTERS
SCROLLED ACROSS THE SCREEN SAYING, "WANTED: THIS MAN
IS A RUMOR MONGER AND COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY. TURN HIM
IN TO YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC SECURITY BUREAU. " THE VIDEO
HAD BEEN INTERCEPTED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT,
DOWNLINKED OFF A SATELLITE TRANSMISSION. A FEW DAYS
LATER HE WAS TURNED IN, CONVICTED, SENTENCED. IT HIT ME
HARD. XIAO BIN, I FELT, WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY.
/// END ACT ///
MR. LAURIE SAYS HE FELT IN SOME WAYS HE SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED MR.
XIAO, WHO SPENT FIVE YEARS IN JAIL FOR TALKING TO HIM ON
TELEVISION.
WHILE THE STORIES OF JOURNALISTS AND OTHERS WHO WITNESSED THE
JUNE FOURTH EVENTS 10 YEARS AGO DIFFER, THERE IS A COMMON THEME.
THE IMPACT OF WHAT THEY HEARD AND SAW WILL STAY WITH THEM FOR A
LIFETIME. (SIGNED)
NEB/CS/FC/KL
03-Jun-99 7:33 AM EDT (1133 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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