Of fading memories and dumpster fires — Editor’s Note for Friday, June 3, 2022

Dear reader,

It’s Dragon Boat Festival today, and I wish you a watery summer weekend!

Tomorrow, however, is the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. Here is our most comprehensive review of the events, and writing and film about it: Tiananmen Square 30 years on: 30 essential stories about June 4, 1989.

There’s almost no mention of it in the international media. Astute observer of China Bill Bishop had this to say in his Sinocism newsletter today:

Tough question, but 33 years later, and as the world and the PRC have changed so much, does 1989 even matter anymore, or is it just a fading memory for fewer and fewer people? And will it eventually be forgotten by all but a few?

One of the biggest lessons for 1989 is never underestimate what the Party will do when it feels threatened. Sounds obvious I know, but it seems like a lesson each generation needs to relearn.

What is not a fading memory by any means is the ongoing hostility between China and America. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent speech on China policy (that I called a nothingburger), and Chinese official and quasi-official reactions to it suggest that no change is coming from either side.

The enmity will almost certainly be inflamed by the new American system of verification that assumes any company with products and parts coming from Xinjiang is using forced Uyghur labor.

But maybe news today that the Biden administration might lift U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports will mark the beginning of a new phase.

On a related subject: The Carter Center’s scholar Liú Yàwěi this week tweeted about an “an amazing interview” with Wáng Jīsī 王缉思, President of the School of International Studies at Peking University:

He doesn’t believe the U.S. is in serious decline; he doesn’t think the U.S. has changed its Taiwan policy; he does believe the U.S. is trying to push Chinese leadership to make mistakes. [I] wish leaders on both sides [would] listen to him.

You can read the whole interview in English translation by David Cowhig here, or in Chinese here.

Our phrase of the week is: Let things go to shit, or more politely, throw in the towel or let things get to their worst (摆烂 bǎi làn).