JUNE 4, 2024 MARKS 35 YEARS since a student demonstration at Tiananmen Square and a brutal crackdown in its aftermath shocked a generation. On the anniversary of the protest, Radio Free Asia asks our Chinese readers: if you went back to 1989, would you participate?
"I would have stepped onto Tiananmen Square because we all know that this country and people are at a critical moment of life and death. If even young people do not stand up, who knows whether or not we would be on a more desperate road?" — High school student, Qingdao
"I was arrested for participating in June 4th, and as a result of a government policy I cannot collect a pension because of it — but I would do it again." — Lao jiahuo@teapot_wen
"I appreciated the swift suppression of the rioters during the June 4th protest. Otherwise, China would have become another Soviet Union! " — Seaskyblue@SeaSkyblue_T
"Why bother time traveling when there is already a student movement happening now? You can participate." — 福西西@fuxixi521
"I arrived in Beijing on the day martial law was declared. I spent a night on the square and witnessed the clashes near the Great Hall of the People and so on. I cannot say that the majority of students like me were wrong, but I am very glad that it [the protest] failed." — myylwx@myylwx