Admission of Tiananmen must come

Mr. Ma, who spoke more in sorrow than in anger, acknowledged that history is “replete with examples of accounts of bloody conflicts between governments and their people, both in China and elsewhere,” including in the United States, Eastern Europe, Asia and, most notably, Taiwan itself, where an uprising on February 28, 1947 was brutally suppressed. For 40 years, a veil of silence was drawn over these events and it was only lifted 40 years later, after the end of martial law. Now, the government has apologized to the victims, paid compensation and erected historical monuments.

History, Mr. Ma said, “is a beacon that illuminates the way forward,” adding that what he wants is not to incite hatred but rather “to learn the lessons of history.”

It is true that there have been many cases of governments acting against their own peoples. And it is not uncommon for governments to try to whitewash the events, keep them out of the history books and not allow public discussion.

But, especially in recent years, many governments have come to realize that it is not only more just, but more healthy, to confront the past and, where necessary, to issue apologies and to offer compensation to victims.

Thus, the United States congress has apologized for slavery, the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, has apologized for the country's treatment of native Canadians, and the Australian parliament has similarly apologized to its native peoples for having “inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.”

Of course, it took a great many years before these governments gathered enough courage to make these apologies. But in the end they decided to do the right thing.

While 20 years may seem a long time to an individual, from the point of view of history, especially Chinese history, it is but the blinking of an eye. One must hope that, in due course, the Chinese government, too, will have the courage to do the right thing.

Frank Ching can be reached at Frank.ching@gmail.com

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