(Content Warning: Graphic descriptions of gun violence and physical trauma)

TLDR: Taiwanese war journalist Hsu Chung-mao survived being shot through the throat during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. Instead of letting his trauma define him or relying on self-pity, he dedicated his life to documenting history, proving that dignity and truth are the strongest shields against authoritarianism.

So there is a video that is made by Chai Jing that documents about the Tiananmen Square massacre (protest) that is a horrible event that happened. One of the most interesting quote coming from Hsu is, “I also dislike self-pity. Self-pity makes it seem like I have no achievements besides selling my trauma."

What Hsu said is that he doesn’t like self-pity. It’s a word of the term that means people have pity for themselves because they are ashamed or remember what happened to them that get them sad but for him to explain, that there isn’t any skills except selling his trauma.

> source: timestamp 12:44

> “我也很不喜欢自怜，因为这让我感觉到，除了贩卖这种东西（指创伤）以外，我没有其他本事。我绝对不要给人家有这种感觉。”

> (“I also dislike self-pity. Because it makes me feel as if, besides peddling this kind of thing [my trauma], I have no other skills. I absolutely do not want to give people that impression.”)

Before we continue with the following discussion, I want to introduce you to Hsu Chung-mao, a journalist who was shot through the throat at close range near Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The bullet entered the back of his neck it knocked out seven teeth. It left him with permanent nerve damage and constant pain for 37 years.

Hsu Chung-mao a Taiwanese war journalist and a dedicated collector of historical photographs. You can read more in here:

https://www.thinkchina.sg/culture/video-hsu-chung-mao-why-i-am-both-taiwanese-and-chinese

Getting back to what we are discussing, here is the continuation of what happened through his perspective:

> “因为子弹当时是从我的后颈，然后穿过我的喉咙……擦过我一点的脊椎，从嘴巴出来。所以我当时……当场牙齿大概有7颗，就是因为头又往下一撞嘛，7颗就没了。”

> “徐宗懋的交感神经永久受损，左侧身体半麻痹，右侧没有触觉跟温度。

> (“Because the bullet entered from the back of my neck, went through my throat... grazed a bit of my spine, and came out of my mouth. So at that moment... on the spot, about seven of my teeth—because my head jerked downward from the impact—seven were gone.” / “Hsu Chung-mao's sympathetic nervous system was permanently damaged. The left side of his body is semi-paralyzed, and his right side has no sense of touch or temperature.”)

During the interview that is ended up as a six hour interview with Hsu Chung-mao, spent of the most talking about his work avoiding discussing his wound. While they asked him about it, he joked, “If my wife ignores me that pain is much greater than the pain of June 4th."

> “没有啊，真得。有时候，我觉得如果太太因为某种原因不理我，那种痛苦比那个‘六四’的痛苦要大！”

> (“No, really. Sometimes, I feel that if my wife ignores me for some reason, that pain is much greater than the pain of June 4th!”)

The man who saved him was a carpenter who was from Jiangsu, China named Xiao Shao, Shao carried Hsu when he was covered in blood soaked through a military crackdown to get him to the hospital. When they tried to give him Chinese yuan for saving him, Xiao show him by pulling out a few yuan and said, “I have money too” Hsu never asked why he did it. And Hsu said people who does that kind of things didn’t hesitate and they acted out of kindness.

> Source Transcript (10:13 & 5:53):

> “这个不妥，我身上有钱。”

> “当时发生的事，他怎么样救我这些的细节，我没有去问。好像我本能上不想去谈那些事情……我一直在谢谢他……他说：‘那个你也不必特别强调。’……去做那些事（救人）的人是不会想半天的。而且你是当场就要做决定的嘛，所以你不会有思考的空间。”

> (“This isn't right, I have money on me.” / “As for what happened back then—the details of how he saved me—I didn't ask. It's like I instinctively didn't want to talk about those things... I just kept thanking him... He said, ‘You don't need to emphasize that.’... People who go and do those things don't think about it for a long time. You have to make a decision right there on the spot, so you don't have room for calculation.”)

While reading the transcript of the interview, there are many contradictions in the event where many things were happening as he witness and listen.

Hsu Chung-mao arrived in Beijing with ideas about revolution then he watched the student movement descend into what Hsu Chung-mao called "backyard steel-smelting”. Disorganized, corrupted, unable to control itself. Hsu Chung-mao saw a soldier surrounded by pleading citizens suddenly snap and say "I can't take this anymore." Hsu Chung-mao saw citizens throwing oil-soaked blankets onto burning tanks while a woman knelt begging them to stop fighting.

> Source Transcript (6:26, 6:09, 6:38, 19:17, 19:51): > “他们的民主形态，他们的组织形态，是一种土法炼钢的状态。”

> “谁拿了钱没有入账……然后一下就腐化了。因为上面管不了……他们也自己管理不了自己。”

> “有一个就是个性比较强……说：‘我已经忍无可忍了！’”
> “他看到一辆坦克熊熊燃烧，人们拿着棉被浇油盖在其上。”

> “他看到一辆坦克熊熊燃烧，人们拿着棉被浇油盖在其上。”

> “有一个妇女……就跪下来……：‘你们不要打，你们不要打，你们打不过他们的。’”

> (“Their democratic form, their organizational form, was in a ‘backyard steel-smelting’ state.” / “Who took the money and didn't record it... and it quickly became corrupted. Because those on top couldn't manage it... and they themselves couldn't manage themselves.” / “There was one with a stronger personality... who said: ‘I can't take this anymore!’” / “He saw a tank burning intensely, with people covering it with oil-soaked quilts.” / “A woman... knelt down...: ‘Don't fight, don't fight, you can't beat them.’”)

Years later Hsu Chung-mao helped repatriate the remains of an agent who was executed in Taiwan. People questioned Hsu Chung-mao. How could someone shot on June 4th do that? Hsu Chung-maos answer was: "When will this accounting end?"

> Source Transcript (31:11 & 31:17):

> “那请问我们这个账，要算到什么时候才停住？”

> “我因为在六四流血受伤，看过伤痛。所以，回头看民族过去的伤痛，希望能用更宽阔的心胸来看待它，进行和解。”

> (“So, let me ask, when will this account be settled before it finally stops?” / “Because I bled and was wounded on June 4th, I have seen the pain. So, looking back at our nation's past pain, I hope we can view it with a broader heart and seek reconciliation.”)

*For context: The remains belonged to Zhu Feng (朱枫), a Chinese Communist Party (CPC) intelligence agent executed by the Nationalist (KMT) government in Taiwan in 1950 during the White Terror.

*Why its important to add the context: The fact that Hsu, a Taiwanese journalist who was shot by the Chinese military in 1989, spent years of his life helping return the ashes of a CPC agent to her family in mainland China is the ultimate proof of his philosophy. It shows he actively chose humanitarian reconciliation over holding a grudge against the system that shot him.

There's also this 20-year-old students diary that keeps appearing throughout the interview. The student wrote about the chaos, the hope, the fear. The students last entry was at 11:20 PM on June 3rd describing students preparing to face " bayonets, with calm eyes." The rest of the diary is blank. The student is 57 now.

> Source Transcript (2:15, 20:18, 20:37, 8:50):

> “压着一本陌生人的日记，她来自天安门广场上一位20岁的女学生。”

> “以冷静的目光迎接血腥的屠刀，绝不后退。”

> “深夜11:20，她的笔迹中断。这本日记此后一片空白。”

> “写日记的那个女学生，今年已经57岁了。”

> (“Underneath these photos lay a stranger's diary. It came from a 20-year-old female student on Tiananmen Square.” / “Let us face the bloody butcher's knife with calm eyes, never retreating.” / “At 11:20 PM, her handwriting was cut short. This diary has remained completely blank ever since.” / “The female student who wrote that diary is 57 years old this year.”)

The most interesting thing about this story to me is that during the protest, many Chinese citizens back than try their best to save their country and its people. How people are doing random acts of kindness at the time of protest. Also, when people do random acts of kindness, the person you helped will never refuse to forget and be thankful for them. Does that response make anyone agree with his point of the conversation? What made you interested in this topic?

Chai Jung interview (59 minutes runtime; Chinese) https://youtu.be/nNcJxOd8T9o

The following post is translated by Google Gemini.

[The New York Times] - Chinese security officers have arrested an American citizen who studies politics in Myanmar, an authoritarian nation on China’s southwest border, and accused him of endangering national security, according to people with knowledge of the arrest.
The U.S. citizen, U Min Zin, was arrested in early June, the people said on the condition of anonymity because of sensitive diplomacy surrounding the previously unreported arrest. He disappeared on June 3 while in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar. American diplomats are aware of the arrest.
It is rare for China to arrest a U.S. citizen on charges of a national security crime, and the action against Mr. Min Zin takes place as President Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, are trying to establish a type of partnership between the two nations.
Mr. Min Zin is a political scientist and executive director of a policy research group originally based in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar. The group has worked from different locations since a 2021 military coup in Myanmar. Over the years, he has spent time in both the United States and his home country of Myanmar, once known as Burma, and he now lives in Thailand.
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He has written essays on Myanmar politics for the opinion section of The New York Times, Foreign Policy and other news organizations.
“We are aware of reports regarding a U.S. citizen detained in China,” the State Department said in a statement Thursday when asked about the arrest. “Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained, we work to provide the appropriate consular assistance.” It declined to give further details, citing federal privacy law.
What you should know about anonymous sources. The Times makes a careful decision any time it shields the identity of a source. The information the source supplies must be newsworthy, credible and give readers genuine insight.
Learn more about our process.
Mr. Min Zin’s wife did not reply to an emailed request for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington had no immediate comment, but sent a statement after this story was published on Thursday night, saying it was not familiar with the specific details of the case.
“China is a country under the rule of law,” the embassy said. “All foreigners living and traveling in China must observe Chinese laws, and those who violate the law and commit crimes will be held legally accountable.”
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The arrest took place less than three weeks after President Trump attended a summit and state banquet in Beijing hosted by Mr. Xi. Mr. Trump praised Mr. Xi during the meetings and in interviews afterward, and he said he aimed to form a “G2” partnership with China, emphasizing cooperation rather than competition.

Mr. Trump has long admired Mr. Xi, and he moved to accommodate China after its government retaliated against the United States during a trade war that Mr. Trump started last year.
China’s arrest of another U.S. citizen and its use of a national security charge complicates that rapprochement. One American official said that although Chinese officials insist they are serious about trying to establish what the two governments call “constructive strategic stability,” this arrest undermines that effort.
China keeps about 200 American citizens under some form of detention, said John Kamm, the founder of the Dui Hua Foundation, which advocates for prisoner releases in China. Some Americans are imprisoned on drug charges, while others are prevented from leaving the country on “exit bans,” often because of commercial or financial disputes.
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Mr. Kamm said he was unaware of any American currently held on a charge of endangering national security. Kai Li, who was convicted in 2016 of espionage, was among three Americans released by China in 2024 as part of a prisoner swap arranged by the Biden administration. Another American convicted of spying, Sandy Phan-Gillis, was expelled from the country in 2017 after having been detained for more than two years.
Mr. Kamm said he had heard of an American citizen detained two months ago on accusations of an economic crime.

It is unclear why Chinese security officers in Yunnan Province arrested Mr. Min Zin. There was once a sizable presence of people from Myanmar in Yunnan, but that has dwindled since the pandemic. China has at times provided aid to some armed groups from Myanmar that operate on both sides of the border. But it is unclear whether Mr. Min Zin was involved in research or activities involving those people.
The Chinese Communist Party and government have a close relationship with the military-linked government that rules Myanmar. Mr. Min Zin wrote extensively on China’s role in Myanmar.
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A Nepali research group said in an online post in May that Mr. Min Zin was scheduled to be a speaker at a policy and geopolitics forum in Nepal later this month. The speaker biography says his research group founded in Yangon, the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar, is “dedicated to promoting democratic leadership and strengthening civic participation in Myanmar.”
The biography also says he is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California at Berkeley, and his research interests include civil-military relations, democratization and ethnic conflicts. His LinkedIn page says he has a master’s degree in political science from Berkeley, which he attended from 2010 to 2016.
The handful of opinion pieces he has written for The New York Times have focused on those topics. Several were published soon after the Tatmadaw, the military of Myanmar, overthrew the elected government in early 2021.

In an essay in June 2021, he said that the military and the opposition appeared to be locked in an “intolerable stalemate,” and that the Tatmadaw “appears to believe it can force its way to and through a next election by way of brutal crackdowns, by dissolving the once-ruling National League for Democracy and by threatening to imprison Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s former de facto leader, for the rest of her life.”
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At the same time, he wrote, the anti-coup movement, which included Gen Z protesters and civil servants, “has been shifting tactics away from predominantly peaceful demonstrations to more violent kinds of resistance.”
What Mr. Min Zin observed and predicted then has unfolded with force, and Myanmar is now engulfed in a civil war. The Myanmar military carries out airstrikes on civilian areas using Chinese and Russian-made weapons.
In recent years, U.S. officials have pressed for the release of some American citizens held in China, as well as for the liberation of several prominent non-American prisoners: Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and newspaper founder imprisoned by the Hong Kong authorities; Jin Mingri, a Chinese pastor with the English name of Ezra; and Dong Yuyu, a Chinese journalist and former Harvard fellow convicted on espionage charges widely believed to be false.
Mr. Trump has said he plans to host Mr. Xi in Washington around Sept. 24 for a reciprocal visit.
Mr. Kamm said he was not hopeful that the summits would lead to prisoner releases by China.
“Human rights is not a priority for the U.S. government now in its dealings with China,” he said. “I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see any evidence to the contrary.”
Hannah Beech contributed reporting from Okinawa, Japan.
Edward Wong reports on global affairs, U.S. foreign policy and the State Department for The Times.

Gifted link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/us/politics/china-arrests-us-scholar.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.plA.ZKv4.J1UN2kgnyO6I&smid=url-share

Today in early June, the Chinese government began doing annual “Silent lockdown” via their interwebs.

To prevent any mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, the CCP’s censorship apparatus goes into a state of absolute paranoia. But instead of erasing memory, this extreme censorship backfires, turning everyday, mundane activities like paying for dinner, buying flowers, or playing cards into acts of coded political subversion.

[Gemini wrote this starting here]

Here is an in-depth look at how Chinese netizens are currently bypassing the Great Firewall or overseas using brilliant, dark-humored, and poetic camouflage.

A screenshot that was recently shared showing a WeChat user trying to split a bill among their friends. The total bill was 192 RMB, which is split three ways is 64 RMB. The user was frustrated and posted into threads.

> *Three of us ate dinner and spent 192. As a result, today we couldn't 'A' the money (split the bill), so I have to take the loss. I can only say A-Gong (*阿共 - slang for the CCP) is really acting ridiculous (闹麻了).

Botanical Camouflage

On platforms like Douyin (the mainland version of TikTok), users cannot post the name of Zhao Ziyang (赵紫阳)—the reformist General Secretary of the CCP who was purged and placed under house arrest for refusing to support the military crackdown in 1989.
To commemorate him, writers have turned to botany. The hydrangea is classically known in Chinese as "Ziyanghua" (紫阳花).
A widely shared literary essay about hydrangeas circulated on Douyin, completely disguised as a gardening guide but loaded with double meanings:
**"The Turn of Spring and Summer" (春夏之交):**The essay repeatedly notes that the flower blooms during this specific seasonal transition. In official CCP history books, the 1989 protests are officially referred to under the euphemism "the political disturbance at the turn of spring and summer in 1989." Any mainland reader instantly recognizes this phrase.

The "Scorching Heat" (高温): The text warns that the flower cannot survive high temperatures, noting that "once the temperature reaches 30 degrees and above, the flower buds will rapidly dry up and drop off." This is a metaphor for the rising political temperature and military crackdown.

The Month of June: The essay concludes: "Leaving the hydrangea forever and ever in the human world's June." Zhao Ziyang’s political life—and the democratic reforms he championed—were permanently ended in June 1989.

Poet Hai Zi (海子): The essay invokes the poet Hai Zi, who died in March 1989, right at the onset of that tragic spring, quoting his lines: "What on earth do you mean by the 'light' you speak of?"

By using botanical science and poetry, the author created a beautiful, haunting memorial that automated censorship algorithms couldn't easily flag. As a result from threads user, it was deleted.

The Tiananmen Card Game: Bold performance Art

Another viral image shared on Threads shows a user holding up a hand of playing cards directly in front of a military guard at Tiananmen Square.
The Hand: The cards held up to the camera are 8, 9, 6, and 4.

The Message: Together, they spell out 1989-06-04.

The Caption: "Do you wanna play cards, buddy?" (打牌吗哥们)

Holding these numbers in front of the highly guarded square is an act of high-stakes, dark-humored performance art. It highlights a generation that refuses to let the memory fade, using the simplest of tools, a deck of cards to mock the massive security apparatus standing right in front of them.

All of the pictures and poems that are available are in here:

https://dweno.substack.com/p/the-botany-of-censorship-how-chinese

You might remember Qi Hong, the Chinese dissident who made international headlines last year. While safely in the UK, he managed to remotely control a projector in Chongqing to display anti-regime slogans on a building, right on the eve of a major military parade.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/business/china-chongqing-protest.html

Now, he is in the news again, but for a highly concerning security failure within the UK.

Here is a piece from The Guardian:

[The Guardian] - Chinese dissident says he was berated by ‘pro-regime’ interpreter for UK police
Hong Qi, who orchestrated protest against Communist government, claims interpreter on 101 call launched political tirade

Daniel Boffey and Lyndon Li
Sat 30 May 2026 05.00 EDT
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A Chinese dissident who orchestrated an anti-government protest in China after fleeing to the UK has claimed that a “pro-regime” interpreter used by a British police force berated him when he sought help.
Hong Qi, who made headlines last year after using a mobile phone while in the UK to remotely project anti-regime slogans on to a building in his home city, Chongqing, contacted police after discovering that his bank accounts had been frozen.

The Chinese national rang 101, the UK non-emergency number, on 20 December and asked to speak to the closest police force via an interpreter out of concern he would have to sleep rough with his wife and two teenage daughters due to lack of funds.
Instead of receiving advice from Devon and Cornwall police, Qi, 43, claims the interpreter assigned to the call launched a political tirade, asking him why he did not “love China” and taunting him for his lack of money.
Qi, who along with his family had been staying in Exeter, explained, in a call that began at 2.54pm and lasted 20 minutes, that his bank accounts had been frozen by the Chinese authorities, leaving him unable to pay for accommodation for his wife and children.
According to Qi, the interpreter – who spoke with a mainland Chinese accent – interrupted the conversation to challenge him.


Dissident detained in South Korea after fleeing China in rubber boat

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“China is so good, why did you come out?” the interpreter allegedly asked. “You came out to claim political asylum? You brought your children out here to suffer.”
When Qi attempted to convey the desperation of his situation, he claims the interpreter refused to pass the message to the police representative on the call.

“I will not translate your emotions,” the interpreter said, according to Qi. “On what grounds should the British help you? If you have money, it is convenient everywhere.”
On 21 January, 22 days after he made a complaint, Devon and Cornwall police informed Qi, who has recently been granted asylum in the UK, that responsibility for the interpreter lay with a contractor that is paid £130,000 a year to provide translation services.
The contractor did not respond to a request for comment. The force has failed to provide a copy of the recording to Qi despite requests. The Information Commissioner’s Office has noted the force’s breach and issued a reprimand.
Qi’s allegation will add to fears of the widespread infiltration of the Chinese interpreting community by the United Front Work Department, an organ of the communist regime in China that is said to seek to suppress political dissent and shape opinion abroad.

View image in fullscreen
Qi claims the interpreter refused to pass on his message to police. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
A Home Office-sponsored report that was declassified in February pinpointed the dearth of Chinese language skills within the police as a risk given the attempts at infiltration of the interpreting community by the Chinese Communist party and organised crime.

The report’s author, David Wilson, a regional coordinator for the organised immigration crime domestic taskforce at West Midlands police and a former detective inspector, said there was “a lot of compromise” of Mandarin interpreters in the UK.
He said: “The United Workers Department will co-opt everybody. We have had it that people will absolutely not talk in front of interpreters. So we have had compromise. This is not unusual. The compromise will come both from the Chinese state and organised crime groups.”
Wilson said a solution was to increase the number of Mandarin speakers within British policing. His report noted that officers were at times having to rely on Google Translate to do their work.
During the recent trial of two men convicted of spying for China – including a UK Border Force officer – the court heard that eight suspects arrested in May 2024 as part of the alleged see spy ring had to be released after a shortage of interpreters meant the contents of their phones and laptops could not be translated before the 14-day statutory detention limit was reached. The suspects later left the UK.
Qi said he had been left at his lowest ebb after the conversation with the police interpreter. “To me, she was clearly pro-regime,” he said. “The police need to deal with this.”
Qi’s protest last August in Chongqing, a city of 30 million people, was staged on the eve of a major military parade and involved the projection on to a building of slogans such as “Only without the Communist party can there be a new China”.

The police soon after found the source of the projection in a hotel room. Qi later released video footage of five police officers entering the hotel room, rushing to the window and finding the projector hidden behind a half-closed curtain.
Qi, who was operating the projector and surveillance camera from London where he had arrived four days earlier, had left a handwritten letter on the coffee table addressed to the officers. “Even if you are a beneficiary of the system today, one day you will inevitably become a victim on this land,” it read.
One of Qi’s posts was watched by 18 million people in four days.
Sam Dunning, director of the research body UK-China Transparency saiid: “After WW2, Britain trained thousands in Russian language skills. Faced by what successive governments all agree are major challenges and threats from China, nothing remotely on this scale is being done today.”
A Devon and Cornwall police spokesperson said: “The Devon and Cornwall police professional standards department carefully reviewed the complaint, but as the interpreter was employed by a third party and not the force, no further action was taken.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/30/chinese-dissident-says-he-was-berated-by-pro-regime-interpreter-for-uk-police
(Make sure to support them and the journalist!)