Admire John Kasich for telling it like it is (was) about Tiananmen square protests (of 1989), in contrast to Donald Trump's remarks
Ravi: I have had the blessed good fortune of having been born in a democractic country (India) and enjoying the benefits of free speech (with some restrictions regarding hate speech especially in the context of religion which I find to be quite appropriate for India). Further, I have experienced many democratic protests in India even though I do not recall actively participating in any protest. And I have seen how the right to protest and right to engage in political action have resulted in largely non-violent change. Change through the ballot (including perceived influence of protest groups in future ballots) rather than the bullet!
As a writer and commenter on social media I felt I should do my small bit for democracy and so I am making a rare departure from my neutral stand in my informal study of the current USA presidential election cycle. I mean, as I have read and viewed (videos) about events around the world in the past few years, I have realized how FORTUNATE I am to live in democratic and largely peaceful India today. I used to take democracy and also peace, for granted. But even India's neighbouring countries have gone through army dictatorship, communist authoritarian rule or even civil war & anarchy. So a flourishing and largely peaceful & stable democracy like what I have enjoyed in India has been rather rare in the Indian subcontinent in the past few decades, and continues to be rather rare in the Indian subcontinent even today (the democracy in some neighbouring countries cannot be viewed as stable). And so I felt kind-of obliged to put up this post.
At around 39 mins in FULL CNN Republican Debate P2, CNN GOP Presidential Debate March 10, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkI0ORW-CU, we have the following exchanges:
Jake Tapper of CNN: Mr. Trump, some of your Republican critics have expressed concern about comments you have made praising authoritarian dictators. You have said positive things about Putin as a leader and about China's massacre of pro democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square. You said, quote when the students poured into Tiananmen Square the Chinese govt. almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. How do you respond ...
Donald Trump: That doesn't mean I was endorsing that. I was not endorsing (it). I said that is a strong powerful government that put it down with strength. They kept down the riot. It was a horrible thing. It doesn't mean at all that I was endorsing it. As far as Putin is concerned, I think Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. He's been a lot stronger than our leader that I can tell you. I mean, for Russia. That doesn't mean I am endorsing Putin.
Jake Tapper: But the word strong obviously is a compliment and many people would look at what the Chinese leaders have done and what Putin is doing as atrocities.
Donald Trump: I used to think Merkel was a great leader until she did what she did to Germany. Germany is a disaster right now. So I used to think that. And strong doesn't mean good. Putin is a strong leader. Absolutely. I can name many strong leaders. I can name very many very weak leaders. But he is a strong leader. Now I don't say that in a good way or a bad way. I say that as a fact.
Jake Tapper: Governor Kasich when you were a member of Congress, you were outspoken about the Tiananmen square massacre. What do you think?
John Kasich: I think that the Chinese government butchered those kids and when that guy stood in front - that young man stood in front of that tank, we ought to build a statue of him over here when he faced down the Chinese government. [APPLAUSE]
Now I will tell you, I don't believe that we need to make China an enemy. They are our competitor.....
--- end transcript of short segment ----
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989:
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件) or '89 Democracy Movement (八九民运) in Chinese, were student-led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the first half of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or the June 4 Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which students and other demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere between hundreds and thousands. The Chinese government condemned the protests as a counter-revolutionary riot, and has largely prohibited discussion and remembrance of the events.
--- end wiki extract ---
Ravi: Well, I think we have Governor John Kasich here, telling it like it is (was), and not Mr. Donald Trump. I admire and thank Gov. Kasich for these unambiguously pro democracy statements of his. I also applaud his words that China is not an enemy of the USA but a competitor. Further, 1989 was around a quarter century ago, and so one should not view China today in the light of what happened a quarter century ago.
Tiananmen Square protests seem to have been pro-democracy protests where unarmed students & other protesters were brutally suppressed by the Chinese army resulting in deaths of many protesters. I think the differences in responses between Mr. Trump and Gov. Kasich shows that Mr. Trump seems to have some sort of liking or appreciation for authoritarian rulers whereas Gov. Kasich comes across as a defender of the right of people to protest in a democratic manner. I wonder how a USA president Donald Trump might respond to democratic protests against him in the USA. Would he uphold the democratic right to protest (of the protesters protesting against him) or would he prefer to be a so-called strongman and try to crush democratic protests?
[I thank cnn.com and Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above short extracts from or related to their website or program, on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
As a writer and commenter on social media I felt I should do my small bit for democracy and so I am making a rare departure from my neutral stand in my informal study of the current USA presidential election cycle. I mean, as I have read and viewed (videos) about events around the world in the past few years, I have realized how FORTUNATE I am to live in democratic and largely peaceful India today. I used to take democracy and also peace, for granted. But even India's neighbouring countries have gone through army dictatorship, communist authoritarian rule or even civil war & anarchy. So a flourishing and largely peaceful & stable democracy like what I have enjoyed in India has been rather rare in the Indian subcontinent in the past few decades, and continues to be rather rare in the Indian subcontinent even today (the democracy in some neighbouring countries cannot be viewed as stable). And so I felt kind-of obliged to put up this post.
At around 39 mins in FULL CNN Republican Debate P2, CNN GOP Presidential Debate March 10, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkI0ORW-CU, we have the following exchanges:
Jake Tapper of CNN: Mr. Trump, some of your Republican critics have expressed concern about comments you have made praising authoritarian dictators. You have said positive things about Putin as a leader and about China's massacre of pro democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square. You said, quote when the students poured into Tiananmen Square the Chinese govt. almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. How do you respond ...
Donald Trump: That doesn't mean I was endorsing that. I was not endorsing (it). I said that is a strong powerful government that put it down with strength. They kept down the riot. It was a horrible thing. It doesn't mean at all that I was endorsing it. As far as Putin is concerned, I think Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. He's been a lot stronger than our leader that I can tell you. I mean, for Russia. That doesn't mean I am endorsing Putin.
Jake Tapper: But the word strong obviously is a compliment and many people would look at what the Chinese leaders have done and what Putin is doing as atrocities.
Donald Trump: I used to think Merkel was a great leader until she did what she did to Germany. Germany is a disaster right now. So I used to think that. And strong doesn't mean good. Putin is a strong leader. Absolutely. I can name many strong leaders. I can name very many very weak leaders. But he is a strong leader. Now I don't say that in a good way or a bad way. I say that as a fact.
Jake Tapper: Governor Kasich when you were a member of Congress, you were outspoken about the Tiananmen square massacre. What do you think?
John Kasich: I think that the Chinese government butchered those kids and when that guy stood in front - that young man stood in front of that tank, we ought to build a statue of him over here when he faced down the Chinese government. [APPLAUSE]
Now I will tell you, I don't believe that we need to make China an enemy. They are our competitor.....
--- end transcript of short segment ----
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989:
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件) or '89 Democracy Movement (八九民运) in Chinese, were student-led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the first half of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or the June 4 Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which students and other demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated at anywhere between hundreds and thousands. The Chinese government condemned the protests as a counter-revolutionary riot, and has largely prohibited discussion and remembrance of the events.
--- end wiki extract ---
Ravi: Well, I think we have Governor John Kasich here, telling it like it is (was), and not Mr. Donald Trump. I admire and thank Gov. Kasich for these unambiguously pro democracy statements of his. I also applaud his words that China is not an enemy of the USA but a competitor. Further, 1989 was around a quarter century ago, and so one should not view China today in the light of what happened a quarter century ago.
Tiananmen Square protests seem to have been pro-democracy protests where unarmed students & other protesters were brutally suppressed by the Chinese army resulting in deaths of many protesters. I think the differences in responses between Mr. Trump and Gov. Kasich shows that Mr. Trump seems to have some sort of liking or appreciation for authoritarian rulers whereas Gov. Kasich comes across as a defender of the right of people to protest in a democratic manner. I wonder how a USA president Donald Trump might respond to democratic protests against him in the USA. Would he uphold the democratic right to protest (of the protesters protesting against him) or would he prefer to be a so-called strongman and try to crush democratic protests?
[I thank cnn.com and Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above short extracts from or related to their website or program, on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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