Cause & Effect--My Hero Parents

My parents’ fortunes were changed because of their actions. There was an unforgettable event that happened in 1989. It was called “The Tiananmen Square protests and massacre”. The death of Chinese prime minister Hu Yaobang in April 1989 led many people to go to Tiananmen Square to commemorate him. He was the former president. He was hardworking, so people liked him. Therefore, many students and citizens were going to commemorate him after his death. In addition, students were protesting the lack of freedom and freedom of speech in the country. Eventually, the event turned into a demonstration against the government because the students wanted a democratic government. My parents also participated in this protest. However, my parents and students failed. Therefore, this event affected my parents’ rights to protest and free speech, and this also affected my parents’ right to democracy.

This event affected my parents’ right to protest. The government used force to stop people's right to protest during that time. Therefore, many people were scared to do or say anything against the government. My parents were twenty-three years old at that time. They were classmates at college, and they went to Beijing to join this protest together. In addition, the government ordered the army to ban students’ demonstrations.  My parents saw a lot of soldiers and tanks in Tiananmen Square, and the government allowed soldiers to shoot people and students because the government wanted to disperse the crowd and control the square. When my parents heard the shooting, they ran away because they didn't want to die. In addition, my parents didn't have enough food or water to stay in Beijing. Therefore, they had to leave Beijing. My parents had planned to stay in Beijing until the protest was successful. However, they had to go back home. Therefore, this changed my parents’ plan in Beijing which was to protest, and they had to left and went back home.

In addition, this event affected my parent’s right to free speech because the government didn't allow people to discuss this event. My parents saw the police arrest a lot of students. Moreover, they knew a person who was interviewed by an American journalist, and he was arrested later. At that time, the government only permitted news that was in favor of the government. When my parents went back home and watched the news of the day on the TV, they saw that the government made those who joined this protest plead guilty on TV. My parents were so scared to talk about this event because if they said something about this they might be arrested. Therefore, this event affected my parents’ ability to talk about this event and to speak freely. There is no free speech in China even today. In fact, the government today is cracking down on all kinds of speech including social media.

Furthermore, this event affected my parents’ right to live in a democracy. Before this massacre and since then, the Chinese government has not let people attend demonstrations and the government prevented people from gathering during the days and weeks after the massacre. My parents told me that the government checked people entering the city at all train stations because the government wanted to stop students at the train station, and they didn't let students go into Tiananmen Square to demonstrate. In addition, the government refused to talk to student representatives. My parents saw a lot of students make suggestions to the Chinese government, but the government ignored the students because they didn't want to implement any change. As a result, this event affected my parent’s right to make this country better and their chance to live in a democratic country.

In sum, after this event happened, my parents lost their rights. Although my parents tried to make China better, it was not easy to make the government change. They lost their right to protest and free speech. In addition, they lost their right to live in a democracy. In my opinion, my parents were brave to join this event. When my parents were young, they were heroes. However, Chinese politics today remains grim. People living in China still have no right to protest or speak freely. I hope my country will become more democratic one day in the future.