Horror of Tiananmen remembered

Most of the Western World noted it, while the Chinese government actively discouraged any sort of commemoration. But for retired journalist Mervyn Cull, memories of the massacre of hundreds of unarmed protesters, most of them students, and onlookers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 25 years ago, on June 3, 1989, have never dimmed.

Mr Cull, who now lives near Okaihau, said last week that he remembered that night all too well. Now 85, the accomplished journalist and author was living in Beijing at the time, working for the Chinese government news agency Xinhua, a position he had taken up after many years working as a foreign correspondent for the NZ Herald and Reuters.

He had his first experience in China in 1986, as a Herald correspondent following the tour of then Prime Minister David Lange. He felt "perfectly at home" and instantly formed a rapport with the people.

"I got so close to the Chinese," he said, which made the events of June 3, 1989, all the more upsetting.

He had been woken but what he initially thought were fireworks, but in fact was gunfire.

"It was awful because my Chinese friends were involved. I knew a few people who were killed," he said. "There was no indication that it would get as bad as it eventually did."

There was no mention of the massacre in the days that followed, however.

"Radio Beijing had no 7am news bulletin, just Beethoven's Fifth playing," he said.

"As a journalist I chose to observe, not participate. I figured I'd be safe, as I was working for China, but my heart was with the students. They were brave but nave. That was their downfall I think. They had the best of ideas, they wanted democracy but didn't really know what it was. I do think the Chinese government overreacted."

His closest link to what happened was provided by a friend, Alex Young, born in China to Chinese parents but who grew up in New Zealand. He had returned at the behest of the government, which had called on expatriates to help build the 'new China'.

On the night of the massacre hotel staff delivered a note from him to Mr Cull, saying he had gone to help the wounded. St John-trained, he took sheets, which he used for bandages, and drugs from the hotel before setting off on his bike, returning next morning a deeply disillusioned man.

As rioting continued the Chinese government began blaming foreigners, Mr Cull added, and the New Zealand embassy advised him and his wife Ann (who was there to celebrate his birthday, which fell once again yesterday) to leave. They did so on June 7.

Mr Cull said the massacre did not change his opinion of China or its people. He and his wife had twice returned to the country since 1989. He also wrote a book, The Foreign Expert, about his experiences as a New Zealand journalist living in China. He had often been asked why he didn't angle the entire book around Tiananmen Square.

"It's an awful thing to have happened, and it should never have happened, but in the context of Chinese history, and my time spent living in the country, it's just a comma. Those two years spent in China were the happiest of my working life," he said.

Excerpts from Mr Cull's diary at the time speak volumes about what was unfolding in the city:

June 3 1989: In afternoon cycled towards Tiananmen Square. At one corner students were mounted on a disabled trolley-bus. Near it was a minibus with a student on the roof displaying army helmets and lengths of plastic hose which he said were to go round necks of demonstrators to haul them away.

June 4 1989: Alex came back, obviously shocked by what he had seen. Couldn't believe own people would slaughter one another so callously. Broke down over lunch as we talked of killings.

June 6, 1989: We took a back route to the airport, passing many burnt vehicles on the way. Near the airport the driver said 'If we see any soldiers, don't look them in the eye. And if they start shooting, lie on the floor.'

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The student-led Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were triggered by the death of former Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformer, who was deposed after losing a power struggle with hardliners over the direction of political and economic reform. At the height of the protests about a million people assembled in the Square.

Beijing's official verdict is that the protesters were aiming to topple the ruling Communist Party and plunge China into chaos. Protest leaders said they were merely seeking greater democracy and freedom, along with an end to corruption and favouritism within the party.

China has never allowed public discussion of the events of June 1989. Mr Cull believes a good estimate would be around 6000 killed.