“We were not fighting so that we could die, but so that we could live (S.1),¨ a statement made by a protester at Tiananmen Square, shows the dire situation at the time. All people are enabled human rights, though the acts committed at Tiananmen Square violate numerous articles of the Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights include the entitlements to liberty and security of person, to the right of free opinion and expression, as well as peaceful assembly. They are against the acts of persecution and exile, or inhumane and degrading punishment (S.4). At Tiananmen Square the attack on the public from the army ordered by the government, violated multiple rights including that of wrongful punishment. These actions lead to numerous disadvantageous …show more content…
For example, the government forced a press blackout, closing down newspapers for reporting the Tiananmen Square protests, and strictly enforcing restrictions on foreign visitors (Source 6). Then, after the passing of martial law, heavily armed troops advanced toward Tiananmen Square, ordered by the government of China, and opened fire on or crushed those who tried to block their way. Furthermore, the disappearances of citizens, most famously the Tank Man, shows harsh and groundless punishment. A witness describes the mysterious man’s situation, “...As a line of tanks moved toward Tiananmen Square, he stepped in front of the lead tank, and all the tanks stopped. He then waved a shopping bag as if to say ‘Go away.’ The lead tank moved to the left, and he moved to the left, waving his bag and shouting. The tank moved right, and he moved right. This ballet continued for several minutes, all captured on film, until some men ran from the curb and hustled him away.¨ Though numerous people have speculated and searched to identify him, no one knows who he was or where he is. Internationally, Tank Man became a symbol of freedom and democracy. (Source 2, 6) This situation further proves the extent of unrest in China. Specifically, the photo and the situation it portrays, along with many other actions made by protesters show how the public would risk their lives to reach these goals and protect their rights. Another protester states, “The government has so many means of repression — execution, isolation,” (Source 1). The Chinese government arrested thousands of people suspected of insurrection, whether or not they had proof; many of them received prison sentences, and a number were executed (Source
From the time period 1775-1800, the American Revolution would impact the United States in political, social and economic ways.
In addition, this takes place in the novel 1984, the government has workers from the Ministry of Truth to alter history the way the party wants it to be. The government in the novel and the government in China both enforce false history in order to protect their image. The final similarity between the novel and the poem is their use of doublethink. Doublethink is the action of being able to hold two completely contradictory thoughts simultaneously while believing both of them are true. Phrases from the novel 1984 such as, ¨ War is peace,¨, ¨ Freedom is slavery,¨, and ¨ Ignorance is strength,¨ are all examples of doublethink. Evidently, these quotes are all completely contradictory to one another, this also occurs in the poem, ¨ No one died in Tiananmen Square¨. A phrase from the poem constantly stating, ¨ No one died in Tiananmen Square,¨ when in reality about several hundred protesters were gruesomely murdered. In the poem, it also claims, ¨ Despite all their attempts to subdue the rioters, the troops were forced to open fire,¨. While the poem states that their were no fatalities, they still claim that they were forced to open fire on the
As rational individuals, we do certain things that are beneficial towards us as we are individuals who are self interested. We can also stand up for things we believe in since we have the right. In the film “This is what democracy looks like”, we witness non-violent protestors who are protesting against the WTO and are being stripped of their right of freedom of speech and freedom of association just because the state has a problem with the type of protest that is occurring. Non-violent protestors are being arrested during the WTO meeting without a causal reason. I will argue that the state did not follow the criminal justice system’s liberal principles properly and by looking at the actions of the state against the citizens, citizens were stripped of their liberty and rights. On one hand the citizens are
For example, after Alex sees the murder of his good friend, Lao Xu, by the PLA, “(Alex).has to get out of here (Tian An Men square).I (Alex) was still Lao Xu’s friend. So I brought the camcorder to my eye and did a slow pan of the scene before me.” (Bell, 118). Knowing that the PLA are dangerous, Alex risks his life and records the violent turn of the student demonstrations, though foreign correspondents are forbidden from doing so.
The way the photo was taken only showing the people being abused adds hardship. It does not show the policemen who are spraying the hoses, which makes them seem even more evil and more like the bad guys. This gives the effect of a faceless foe and adds to the drama of the picture. This image shows that the protesters were willing to endure pain to get what they desired and deserved. The people in the background wanting to give up and go home, stay and show that they support their cause and are willing to fight for what they believe in. The man holding the woman shows the power and pain endured during the protest. They show that they are determined to get what they believe but also are being unfairly harassed.
The question then becomes at what price such sacrifices were made. Human rights should be exercised whenever injustice is witnessed, not only as protest when it is to one’s benefit. Acting to unite the people of the United States of America as one regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual preference despite belief over whether individual issues are important enough to defend.
China’s policy of political imprisonment is a clear act of genocide. It is used to incite bodily and mental harm and inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Tibetan people. At times imprisonment even results in death. These crimes are all accomplished under the guise of being legal in Chinese law. A statement made by Amnesty International in 1996 cites these abuses:
The Chinese Government placed internet bans on any reference to the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square. The events that caused the government to impose censorship were a death of a political outcast, student protest, military association with the massacre, and with the United States government involvement, the censorship got stricter.
...xplained in details the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the American civil rights movement. Despite this, the essay is still very useful in highlighting the need to respect basic human rights. The recent events in Egypt are indicative of what happens when individuals gain the political and social will to stand up against oppression. The people of Egypt staged protests in order to overturn the established, 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. This is the foundation of uprisings in the 21st century; the desire for fundamental human rights and dignity. Soyinka's essay predicted these 12 years ago; the world is watching; and dictator's and the politically powerful know it.
Later on, the author sees that the “Beijing television proudly [shows]…an image of a pile of crumpled bicycles” instead of “citizens trying to stop tanks by shoving bicycles at them, flatbed tricycles turned into ambulances for slaughtered children.” (Strebeigh) Therefore, the author uses the bicycles to represent the lost freedom of China’s citizens, and he also shows that the government uses that scene purposely to show crushed freedom. Bicycles should represent simplicity and freedom to go anywhere, but China does not allow that and gives stricter regulations on its people. Strebeigh shares this story because he wants to show that even the most simple objects can violate freedom, and the government uses certain images and events to brainwash the people that everything may seem fine even though most of the time, it is not moral and
...ghur rights, as human beings, being violated, and who's responsibility is it to make sure that rights aren’t violated, as well as if China is living up to its responsibilities as a world power, to take care of its people.
In Leffler’s photo (Figure 3), a variety of people, from soldiers or officers to civilians are at the march. From where the photographer stood to take the picture, there are some empty chairs where the protesters are sitting. Also, there are young and old people present in the march. Having the different perspectives of the people in the photographs shows the diversity of the protesters involved in the march. The aerial view of the march gives the audience a better idea of the statistic that there were more than 200,000 protesters (History.com Staff 2009).
Dressed in the drab military uniform that symbolized the revolutionary government of Communist China, Mao Zedong's body still looked powerful, like an giant rock in a gushing river. An enormous red flag draped his coffin, like a red sail unfurled on a Chinese junk, illustrating the dualism of traditional China and the present Communist China that typified Mao. 1 A river of people flowed past while he lay in state during the second week of September 1976. Workers, peasants, soldiers and students, united in grief; brought together by Mao, the helmsman of modern China. 2 He had assembled a revolutionary government using traditional Chinese ideals of filial piety, harmony, and order. Mao's cult of personality, party purges, and political policies reflect Mao's esteem of these traditional Chinese ideals and history.
The film Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is in part about how the government responds to Ai Weiwei’s controversial artwork. Over the course of the film, he is beaten, watched, and arrested because his art goes against the Chinese government. The government tries to censor any content that may show them in a bad light, which prevents revolts from taking place in China since they never hear about the injustices that have occurred. Ai Weiwei, however, utilizes technology to spread information about what is going on: he uses blogging and recording as ways to make sure the government can’t hide what has happened. This Communist government, however, wants sole control over the economy and the politics of the country, but much of Ai Weiwei’s artwork fights against what the government is trying to force onto its’ people through the spread of information. With the technology Ai Weiwei uses, he is able to display the evidence of the injustices that are occurring in China, including posting the names of Sichuan earthquake victims on his blog and recording the police assaulting him. This way he can spread the information
China is a communist country, whose citizens faced many difficult situations while trying to fight for their human rights. According to the “Freedom Rankings” from the database CountryWatch China is not a free country. Specifically the Political Rights and Civil Liberties are in their maximum numbers; this means that these rights are confiscated from the people. Therefore freedoms of press, expression, speech, religion, and movement are all severely limited in China. The government has also kept a close watch on art in China; Chinese art went through many different stages starting from the year 1842. But the massacre of Tiananmen Square in the year 1989 was a turning point in the political life of China and on the country's art. Until the year 1992 art in china was underground, but it kept expanding. As a result of that some Chinese artists started to do art works that rebel against their government and express their feelings towards China. One of these artist is the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei who expressed in each piece of art he did, his feelings that China should let its people break away from the rotten traditional, in order to express their thoughts freely.