The Foreign Service Journal, September 2012

What’s In a Number? On June 4, the Shanghai Stock Ex- change ran afoul of the country’s cen- sors by appearing to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown that left hundreds of pro- democracy protesters dead. The gov- ernment has never provided a credible accounting of the number of victims or arrests in the sweeping crackdown that followed. In an unlikely coincidence clearly unwelcome to China’s communist rulers, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 64.89 points by the end of the day, matching the digits of the June 4, 1989, crackdown in the heart of Beijing. And in another odd twist, the benchmark had opened that morning at 2,346.98, a figure also seen as referencing the anniversary when read backward. Wisely, officials at the stock ex- change refused comment. Even so, “Shanghai Composite Index” soon joined the many words and phrases blocked by censors in China’s lively mi- croblog world. On the popular Sina microblog site, searches using “June 4,” “64.89,” “stock market” and “bench- mark Shanghai Composite Index” were all blocked. Such searches drew the cryptic re- sponse, “According to law such words cannot be shown.” That prompted some users to comment on the “magi- cal” nature of the market, while others groused about not being able to discuss the stock market online. Asked at a press briefing whether the government had changed its stance regarding the “June 4 issue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said: “I just knew you would ask this ques- tion. The political case you mentioned was concluded long ago by the ruling party and government.” He went on to denounce the U.S. State Depart- ment’s call for a reconsideration of the party’s stance as “rude interference in China’s internal affairs.” In Hong Kong, tens of thousands crowded into a large park to mark the anniversary. They held aloft white can- dles that transformed the area of soc- cer pitches into a sea of light, before observing a minute of silence. Activists then laid a wreath at a makeshift mon- ument dedicated to the Tiananmen Square victims, bowing three times as is customary in traditional Chinese mourning. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 C Y B E R N O T E S 50 Years Ago... Throughout the ranks, including the highest positions, the most deeply felt differences with prevailing foreign policy — on which members of the Foreign Service are more knowledgeable than any other group — must be silently confined within the internal processes of the government. … If an officer’s accumulated experience and judgment must be silently buried when it does not prevail, the nation itself loses the advantages of informed, audible argument over foreign policy. And it can be wondered if the career can thus rest upon foundations capable of giving genuine personal satisfaction. — From “A Letter of Resignation” by Edward E. Wright, FSJ , September 1962.