Speaker 1:

[Pung May Ching] wasn't supposed to walk again. The nerves in his lower back have been badly damaged.

Speaker 2:

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

He has no feeling in his left leg and barely any in the right one.

Speaker 2:

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

Ten years ago, Pung was a university graduate caught up in a swirl of hope that whipped up China's physical and political centre for seven weeks in 1989.

Speaker 2:

[inaudible]

Speaker 3:

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

This is where Pung May Ching's life took an irreversible turn when the people's army began firing on student protestors ten years ago.

Speaker 2:

They shot from here, just in front of Tiananmen. They were shooting in this direction. A lot of people were wounded there. I rescued two people then walked westwards. At the time I was wounded, when I was 25 and my life was full of vigour, I was really energetic and looking forward to a wonderful life. Then I was thrown into an abyss.

Speaker 1:

Mr. Pung spent four years in hospital. For the first twelve months he was bed ridden. After an agonising year of rehabilitation, he was able to stand. Two years later he was walking with the aide of crutches.

Speaker 2:

When I had the operation, a lot of people donated blood to me. They were all investigated, all questioned on their opinions towards June fourth and their relationship with me, a lot of trouble. At the beginning I thought about how to die.  Later I contemplated how to survive.

Speaker 1:

Ten years ago Mr. Pung had just graduated as a technician. He had a stable job and a promising future. Now no one dares to give him work, so he has to find it for himself. This month he's found space on the pavement, selling secondhand books to Beijing's migrant worker population. He struggles to make a living in a city where he's now become an outcast.

Speaker 2:

The Chinese people like to forget about things and to forget the past. I sometimes want to forget about it.

Speaker 1:

In the mid 80's China was fast becoming a [inaudible] as the nation's youth demanded reform, but in the aftermath of '89 the leadership unleashed a new economic boom giving the urban masses more opportunities to release their pressures. At the start of each season, China's universities hold sports carnivals to encourage a spirit of comradery. Throughout China's modern history students have occupied a special place in society. In the past, they've been the torch bearers for all the major political movements. Students are considered the hope of the nation and the intellectuals of the future.

But in the days since 1989, a nervous leadership has weakened the students has a political force. 21-year-old [Sun Lu Jing] is one of China's new breed of students.

Speaker 4:

I think students follow leadership of the state. It should be like this.

Speaker 1:

How does this compare with ten years ago?

Speaker 4:

The students of the 80's probably considered things more idealistically, but we are very realistic.

Speaker 5:

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

Like most of China's 20-somethings, Sun has grown up in the era of capitalist transformation. She's developed a taste for Western luxuries like Beijing's chic new American coffee chain where coffee costs about five dollars a cup. It's the place to be seen.

Speaker 4:

If I want to drink coffee or eat Dunking Donuts, but I can't find them. I wouldn't feel right. I'd be very disappointed.

Speaker 1:

In China's cities the good life is now within reach of more and more people. Bars, discos, nightlife provide urban Chinese with a taste for the finer things from the West. It's this kind of development that's won points for the leadership from young people.

Speaker 6:

Yes. Yeah.

(Cheering)

Speaker 1:

[Bill Yin] has taken to Beijing's new bar culture like a fish to water. He graduated from university in '89, but he's an unapologetic beneficiary of the post Tiananmen transformation.

Speaker 6:

I think, compared to ten years ago, young people have more and more opportunities, they can develop themselves in a broader way.

Speaker 1:

Groomed to work in a state factory, Bill Yin believes Beijing's burgeoning bar scene could turn millions of Chinese into darts enthusiasts, in turn, earning him a few million dollars. Ideals like democracy are pointless he says. What counts is the hard reality of having money.

Speaker 6:

I don't think the government wants western democracy. Poor people have the right to talk, but what can they say if they are starving? So I think China doesn't want western democracy, but money from the West. No matter whether it's the Chinese government or the people, they are looking forward to the money. They don't want other things.

Speaker 1:

Last month, at the instigation of the government, China's students rose up for the first time in ten years. It was the backlash which followed NATO's bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade, but the blame was laid squarely with the United States. In four days of protests, which were at times violent, at times theatrical, China's youth turned their backs on western notions of freedom.

Speaker 4:

Maybe we have different opinions against the government during normal times, but the government is our government. And in major directions, like economic reform, the conduct is actually consistent with the will and interests of the people.

Speaker 1:

Tiananmen survivor, Pung May Ching, watched the protests disgusted to see students behaving as tools of the government.

Speaker 2:

The news in China isn't news, it's propaganda. The propaganda serves our party, it is not pure news. Since its purpose has been decided it certainly serves the government.

Speaker 6:

I think ordinary Chinese people learned not to talk about politics and to do your own thing.

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

On the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, Bill Yin won't be sparing a thought for the naive goals of his former peers.

Speaker 6:

What the Chinese government learned is to change some policies, so the workers, peasants, business people, students, soldiers are satisfied.

[crosstalk]

[inaudible]

Speaker 1:

Like any other typical evening, Bill will dine with his friends. There will be no discussion of politics at the table

Speaker 6:

Even if they make shallow changes, it's enough because it's easy to satisfy the Chinese people.

[inaudible]

[crosstalk]

Speaker 1:

Sun Lu Jing also makes preparations to go out with friends. No doubt, they will maintain the rage about what the government has told them is US aggression in Yugoslavia.

Speaker 4:

Five bombs from different angles attacked our embassy. What excuses do they have? We have three compatriots sacrificed right?

Speaker 1:

Pung May Ching wants to commemorate the anniversary with other survivors, but doesn't know if the police will suddenly appear at his door. Like the deep scar on his back, he can't forget the night his life changed, and he cannot forgive the perpetrators.

Speaker 2:

My teeth itch whenever I mention them and I feel hatred. They deserve punishment, they should be eliminated.

Speaker 1:

By appearing in this story, Pung May Ching knows his life may be made even more miserable by the authorities. He says it's a price he's prepared to pay for a principle that shouldn't be forgotten.

Speaker 2:

Beijing is now facing choices if there is no complete reform, not only economic but also political reform. Beijing will be without hope. The whole of China will be hopeless, like entering a blind alley.

Speaker 4:

I saw the pictures and images of June fourth. I was very young at the time, I was in Grade Five. But I had a really deep impression of it. I know that many students also died, there was a meaningless sacrifice. I think it was meaningless.