protest - The Tiananmen Mothers

Yesterday I watched with a group of colleagues the testimonies of the relatives of a group of victims of the repression of the Tiananmen rebellion in Beijing on June 4, 1989, now almost 15 years ago. Rather impressive to see these women, angry and hear them tell what happened in those days. By letting those mental wounds fester, Beijing has created themselves a group of very strong-willed women, who for sure are able to generate much sympathy in their city and elsewhere.
But also mixed feelings. It all did not add so much new to what we all knew already. It is sad that it took 14 years to get these testimonies: they do create an image of helplessness. How convincing those women might be as individuals, China is busy with other things. I wonder whether in Shanghai - where most of the current generation even hardly knows about June 1989 - could be bothered.