"This rally will tell the world... that we still remember the Tiananmen Square"

2009-06-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, tens of thousands of people gathered in a Hong Kong park. It was a peaceful gathering. No fights broke out, and aside from a few reports in news outlets not backed by China, not much has been heard about the event since.

But the message was clear

On June 4th, 1989, the Chinese Communist government sent its military forces to attack its own people. The attack was unwarranted. All the people wanted was democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought, as enjoyed by most modern civilization. Not only that, but the protests have remained peaceful. That is, of course, until tanks drove into Tiananmen Square, and the noise of gun fire rose all over the city.

Over 2,600 died in the initial attack, but even to this day the Chinese government still denied any wrong doing. Big mistake. Now, 20 years later, as technology become more and more advance, more and more people know what happened in Tiananmen Square. For example, the BBC News Broadcast of the Tiananmen Square incident can now be accessed on youtube.

When I see this news, I can't help but think about the double standards our leaders play on our countries. Just a few years back, we raised a war against Iraq, and executed Saddam Hussein for crimes against his people. But not even Saddam Hussein sent tanks to massacre his own people. Nor did he kill thousands of people in demonstration of his power. But we turn a blind eye against China, and allow its leader to violate its people's rights and freedom...even to this day.

Maybe one day China will become a democratic country. Maybe the people will finally enjoy the freedom we now enjoy. But it will only happen if everyone wants it to happen. So as you are reading this blog today, please do me a favor, and do the people of China a favor, by letting everyone know about what happened. If everyone demands for change, the government will have no choice but to give it.

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North Korea, What Did the U.S. Expect?

2009-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

In case anyone hasn't been keeping up with the international news, the struggle in Sri Lanka is no longer the only U.S.'s only concern. North Korea, who has long been under U.N.'s watchful eyes, "shocked" everyone when it conducted a underground test of a nuclear weapon and several short-range missile launches in Pyongyang, its capital city. The test sent a clear message to the world: North Korea has nuclear capabilities. So the problem now is: what are they going to do with this power?

The U.N. is now terrifed that North Korea would soon put its nuclear missiles on the market as part of its billion dollar weapons trade. The U.S. also feel threatened, because the weapons could soon end up in the hand of terrorists. Both scenarios are very plausible, and is probably what North Korea is planning right now with its increasing secrecy. But truth be told, what did everyone expect?

Hey, we made them!

Think about it: we have never really treated North Korea as our friend. They are not one of our active trade partners. In fact, not only has the U.S. been closely monitoring them, even China has put them on its watch list. There are several countries in similar positions, and we're either fighting a war with them, or they are fighting amongst themselves. But North Korea is different. Its civil war has ended, and the country being the way it is, so instead of fighting, the country's president wants Kim Il-sung what every leader wants: make the country thrive and . To do that, North Korea needs resources.

But what does it have? It can't rely on the Western World, because we don't trust them! It can't rely on China, because that bully only needs an excuse to invade. But North Korea has weapons. Not only that, it has a kind of manopoly because it is willing to sell weapons to countries blacklisted by the world's power centrals. Also, by selling weapons to these countries, they would, in a sense, become North Korea's allies. So if war breaks out, North Korea would actually have a chance to stand its ground.

The U.N. can try to rally against North Korea, and the world leaders can condemn the country all they want. But I wonder how many of them ask themselves: what possible incentives would North Korea has to stop?

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World According to Air

"This rally will tell the world... that we still remember the Tiananmen Square"

North Korea, What Did the U.S. Expect?