May 4th Remembered

Today is an important anniversary in modern Chinese history. In 1919, thousands of Chinese students marched in Beijing and throughout China to protest the terms of the Paris Peace talks that led to Japanese control of German concessions in China. The “May Fourth” movement was the seminal political and intellectual event of the early 20th Century.

Of course, the Chinese authorities today are well aware of this anniversary and they have shut down the public protests to prevent a revival of the anti-Japanese protests they encouraged last week. They remember, of course, that the last Chinese government to allow protests on May Fourth fell soon afterwards.