By Jay Scott Kanes

Most of the thousands of students who filled Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in April, May and early June 1989 to demand political reforms and to protest against government corruption naively expected “the best”, says author Diane Wei Liang, then one of the student activists.

Instead, China’s leaders and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) delivered murder and mayhem, ending the peaceful protests with the June 4th Beijing Massacre, one of the darkest episodes in modern Chinese history.

“The people who died were unarmed civilians. I was there and had friends who were injured. People witnessed one death, two deaths, three deaths in front of their eyes. I saw bodies and bloody clothing.

“Definitely, we were idealistic and naïve. In hindsight, our ignorance seems astonishing. Our parents warned us what might happen. But we seriously didn’t believe it. We really thought that sitting in front of army tanks would stop them from moving. We didn’t expect real bullets. Instead, we ‘prepared’ by wearing winter jackets to protect us against rubber bullets. We had wet towels as a precaution against gas.”

Despite accounts by witnesses and the coverage by overseas reporters, pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong sometimes question whether a massacre happened.

“The Red Cross estimated that more than two thousand people died,” Diane said. “Politicians may prefer to discuss statistics and body counts. For me, it was about real people. One death would have been too many. No one should have died.”

Prior to the massacre’s 18th anniversary, Diane visited Hong Kong to promote her first novel, The Eye of Jade (Picador, London, 2007, 229 pages). Already published in 25 countries, it stars a modern, independent Chinese woman working as a private investigator in Beijing. Next year, watch for Paper Butterfly, a second novel about the same detective.

In an earlier book, Lake With No Name (Headline Book Publishing, London, 2003, 335 pages), Diane told of her experiences as a Beijing University student at the ill-fated protests. She spoke to Cairns Media Magazine at a Bookazine store in Hong Kong’s Central district.

That Beijing bloodletting stays fresh in her mind. “It’s a part of my life for which the memories never fade,” she said. “I was there and saw things that I remember vividly. But the Chinese media had a blackout. People in China who weren’t there wouldn’t know what happened.”

Originally from Beijing, Diane was born in 1966 as China’s Cultural Revolution began. She spent part of her childhood at a remote labour camp with her parents.

Repulsed by the violence of June 4, 1989, she “really wanted to leave China”. Blessed with a scholarship, she departed. “I thought I’d never go back,” she said. “China was a dark place of martial law, guns and soldiers everywhere, and people being arrested.”

After studying in the United States, Diane became a business professor. Now aged 40, she lives in London with her husband and two children.

“Many of my Beijing friends lost their livelihoods. Their jobs were stripped away, and they wouldn’t be able to find others,” Diane said. “It’s typical of what happens in China. Historical events are so powerful, and they overtake individuals’ lives.”

Does Diane feel fortunate to have escaped alive? “Absolutely,” she said. “On certain days, hundreds of thousands of students marched in Tiananmen Square. A lot of other people survived too, but it’s still something very traumatic.”

Sometimes she visits with fellow survivors. “Everyone has a different way of dealing with what happened,” she said. “Many people in Chinese communities prefer to forget and move on. I don’t blame them, but I haven’t forgotten and don’t think I will.

“I spend a lot of time reflecting. Those events formed a big part of my life and of my friends’ lives. For me, it’s important to revisit and to remember.”

Unlike some departed student-protesters, Diane has returned to China “loads of times” and regained substantial optimism for its future. “I’m not a dissident,” she said. “I want to use literature as a forum for meditation and reflection, a way to encourage people to examine the real issues in life.”

Maybe someday Lake With No Name will sell in China. If it ever appears in Beijing bookshops along the streets where so many students died, then Diane will know for sure that her birthplace has changed for the better.

“Things take time,” Diane said. “In China, some things change slowly, and some things fast.”.

ARCHIVES

Diane Wei Liang: 'one death, two deaths,
three deaths in front of their eyes'.








Diane signs up, urging reflection
about 'the real issues in life'.