The bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square nearly three decades ago saved China from a Russia-style meltdown, according to a strongly held view among the generation that will enjoy unprecedented international clout as it takes up the baton of power in Beijing.
What do you expect them to say given the body count and aftermath of control?
Few are this brave.
As a wise man once said in the face of the power to kill:
What would they do to me,” [Captain Yossarian] asked in confidential tones, “If I refused to fly [the bombers]?”
“We’d probably shoot you,” ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen replied.
“We?” Yossarian cried in surprise. “What do you mean, we? Since when are you on their side?”
“If you’re going to be shot, whose side do you expect me to be on?” ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen retorted.
Wintergreen was a wise man. Not the bravest. But wise under the circumstances.