30 years later, the Chinese people still yearn for the freedom that the Tiananmen protesters demanded

The Dallas Morning News China's Tiananmen uprising of 1989 is remembered today mainly for the brute force — the gunfire and tanks — with which China's ruling Communist Party, on June 4, snuffed out the peaceful protests centered in Beijing's vast Tiananmen Square. But it is vital to remember the uprising itself. It was a protracted act of incredible courage, in which for weeks millions of Chinese citizens defied their rulers to call for freedom, justice and democracy. In the 70-year history of the tyranny founded by Mao as a "people's republic," the Beijing Spring of 1989 was China's finest hour. It was the only interval in which China's people had a chance to freely assemble and speak up, not only to the world, but to each other. They asked for liberty and a real say in how their country was run. Some quoted Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address. They wanted government "of the people, by the people, for the people."