June 4th

06-04-2020

Roger Berkowitz

Thirty-one years ago today the Chinese People’s Liberation Army forcibly cleared democracy protesters from Tiananmen Square. Marking that anniversary has been banned in China (something I found out the hard way when I foolishly wore an Amnesty International t-shirt onto Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1991 and nearly got arrested). Commemoration of the Tiananmen Square bloody crackdown has fallen to Hong Kong, where for 30 years an annual vigil has kept the democratic spirit alive. Until this year. As China cracks down on Hong Kong’s democracy movement and moves to eradicate Hong Kong’s independence and its commitment to the rule of law, China has outlawed protests and commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre. As Clifford Lo and Chris Lau write:

More than 3,000 riot officers will be deployed on Thursday to enforce a ban against the annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and other public gatherings, according to police insiders.
They said the ban was being officially enforced on health grounds, and those trying to circumvent the rules by splitting into smaller groups would still be breaking the law.

The warning of a heavy police presence came as organisers of the June 4 mass rally at Victoria Park said they still planned to go regardless, in groups of eight, the limit for public gatherings for at least two more weeks under Covid-19 restrictions.

“Police will observe and enforce the law as the situation requires,” a high-ranking officer told the Post.

The Chinese suppression of the June 4th anniversary protests is news on its own. But it is particularly meaningful at this moment. Two days ago President Trump mobilzed the United States military to clear protesters from Lafayette Square in order to make way for a photo op. Now, on June 4th,  United States Senator Tom Cotton has published an Op Ed in the New York Times calling for an overwhelming show of force by the U.S. military against unruly protesters. Cotton writes: 

One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.

Looting is wrong. One can and should condemn the looting and rioting while at the same time affirming the right of all Americans to exercise their constitutional rights to free assembly, protest, and dissent. Even Civil Disobedience is, as Hannah Arendt argued, a constitutional right deeply embedded in the American ethos. Looters should be arrested by civilian police. But the rhetoric of an “overwhelming show of force” by the army that vilifies an entire movement for police reform and an affirmation of black lives is exactly the kind of divisive politics that denigrates the United States Constitution.  And the symbolism of publishing such a call on June 4th is a sign of how fragile American constitutionalism may be.