Came and went

I think there will come a time when China's ready to talk about the incident 19 years ago, which around these parts doesn't need a name. But it certainly isn't this year: June 4 came and went, and not a murmur about it from anyone on TVs or newspapers.

Every year when the calendar flips to June, the day hangs right there, above everyone's brows, ready to dive back into everyone's conscience. It makes you wonder: how long, exactly, does the government believe it can keep the topic off limits? At some point, some brave soul will speak out, and all the emotions pent up over these last two decades will spill forth in ecstatic relief. Maybe? Will it be containable, then?

From around the blogosphere:

• Peking Duck: a very moderate post.
• Found in China: "The people who were assembled in Tiananmen Square on this day in 1989 formed a cross section of Chinese society."
• Time China Blog: "But to other Chinese, including many of the younger writers he lambastes… there's no doubt that the Tiananmen protests do seem an awfully long time ago, practically ancient history."
• Blogging for China: a poem.
• The China Beat (links within).
• Bokane: a picture.