【英语语言学习】天安门广场

June fourth marks the 24th anniversary of the Chinese government’s suppression of protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. As a public place, the Tiananmen Square is huge. On one side is The Great Hall of the People, where China’s Congress meets. In the center of the square is the final resting place of Communist China’s first leader, Mao Zedong. Looking north from the square are the high walls of The Forbidden City, home to China’s rulers for centuries.

A man stands in front of tanks near Tiananmen Square in June 1989.

On June fourth, 1989, tanks and soldiers entered Tiananmen to crush protests led by students and activists². The protesters started gathering³ there weeks earlier to mourn former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang, who had died in April. The demonstrations⁴ led to calls for reform and democracy in China.

 

Last Friday, American State Department officials released a statement marking the anniversary of the attack. It called on China to “end harassment⁵ of those who participated in the protests and fully⁶ account for those killed, detained, or missing.” The State Department called on China to “protect the universal human rights of all its citizens.”

 

On Monday, a Chinese spokesman said his country urges the United States to, in his words, end political prejudice and “correctly treat China's development." He went on to call the State Department comments, "a rude interference in China's internal affairs."

 

It is estimated that several hundred to several thousand protestors were killed when Chinese troops raided Tiananmen Square. It is not known exactly how many were injured or arrested.

 

China still considers the protests a "counter-revolutionary rebellion." The government bans discussion of the incident in public and on the Internet. The government has denied any wrongdoing and never provided a detailed⁷ explanation of what happened.

 

Last week, the New York-based group, Human Rights in China, released on open letter from the activist¹ group Tiananmen Mothers. It called for an open discussion and reconsideration of the events of June 4th.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。