Dwindling number of Los Angeles protesters commemorate Tiananmen Square

[madmusic]

Source: LA Times


"Even if we're down to one person, we'll still have this every June 4," said Gabriel Law, a member of Hong Kong Forum Los Angeles, the Wednesday night event's lead organization, which has seen its membership cut in half over the years. "These people gave their lives so that China could have democracy and its leaders held accountable. To commemorate them is very important."

Doing so has become increasingly difficult -- especially in an ethnic Chinese community that has found more reasons to promote contemporary China than to challenge its policies and history. Business relationships abound and many have been galvanized by the recent earthquake in Sichuan, pouring donations into the consulate and applauding the government's relief efforts.

"The passage of time dulls memory," said Rick Baum, a China scholar at UCLA. "Look at the commemoration event in Hong Kong where the numbers were also down and it was a bit more muted than usual. It may have to do with all the major emotional upheavals of the earthquake and the Tibetan situation.

"People have a vested interest in doing business as usual with China and don't usually want to be bothered with inconvenient truths," Baum added. "Not that the issue will go away. It's just farther from the surface."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-square7-2008jun07,0,5767124.story

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The http://www.wildwilderness.org/docs/disney2.htm">disneyfication of China is working. Consumer robots don't protest as much.

[Skittles]

1. we are PIMPING OFF OUR JOBS TO CHINA NOW

communism not so bad when they found out they could make MONEY off of it :puke:

[madmusic]

3. "Religion is the opiate of the people" ?

Not any more.

[bluestateguy]

2. I still remember it well

I remember being so angry that I wanted President Bush to bomb China in retaliation.

Hey, I was 13.

[madmusic]

4. The Unknown Rebel