It’s been over 35 years, but that hasn’t stopped 85-year-old Huang Chen-ya from remembering how much Hong Kongers “deeply loved” China.
A former Hong Kong legislator and neurologist, Huang was a leading figure in the city’s medical community in 1989.
The first thing he did when news broke of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, 1989 was contact major hospitals in Beijing.
“As a doctor, what I was most concerned about was whether I could do anything to help the people who had been killed or injured,” he told a rally marking the 36th anniversary of the Massacre, held in Ashfield, Sydney, on June 1.
“I called every major emergency relief centre, and the frontline doctors who answered were all extremely anxious, saying they had run out of everything …“ Huang said. ”All the major emergency hospitals in Beijing—every frontline doctor I spoke to—gave me the same response.”
He was prepping emergency medical aid to be airlifted from Hong Kong to Beijing, but it needed to be agreed upon by hospital leadership.
“When we reached the higher levels, each director immediately changed their tone and said that this matter wasn’t as serious as it seemed, that Beijing could handle it on its own, and didn’t need any outside help,” he said.
“The Tiananmen Square Massacre is not just a tragedy for the Chinese, not just for ethnic Chinese, not just for Asians—it’s a shared shame and trauma for all of humanity,” he said.
The Massacre was a watershed moment for both Australia and China.
For China and its people, hopes of democracy were instantly extinguished, while for Australia, 42,000 Chinese people were granted permanent residency—including students, doctors, academics, and artists—another addition to the evolving fabric of Australian society.
Staying Awake All Night in Sorrow
Li Yuanhua, then a lecturer at China’s Capital Normal University in Beijing, said he had gone home, admitting he was afraid of walking out.
“I was very sad after I got home,” he said.
Li waited at home while gunshots rang through the night like firecrackers on New Year’s Eve.
He didn’t sleep that night, figuring that the students at Tiananmen Square had met with misfortune.
“I took a small stool and sat at the doorstep, shedding tears silently.”
By Cindy Li
