Hacker News Reader

Comment by GordonS | Hacker News Reader

Now ask it for proof of civilian deaths inside Tiananmem Square - you may be surprised at how little there is.

I don't think this is the argument you want it to be, unless you're acknowledging the power of the Chinese government and their ability to suppress and destroy evidence. Even so there is photo evidence of dead civilians in the square. The best estimates we have are 200-10,000 deaths, using data from Beijing hospitals that survived.

AskHistorians is legitimately a great resource, with sources provided and very strict moderation: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/pu1ucr/tiana...

I appreciate you responding in good faith; I realise that not everyone is willing to even consider questioning historical accounts.

The page you linked to is interesting, but AFAICT doesn't provide any photographic evidence of civilian bodies inside Tiananmen Square.

The 10,000 number seems baseless

The source for that is a diplomatic cable from the British ambassador within 48 hours of the massacre saying he heard it secondhand

It would have been too soon for any accurate data which explains why it's so high compared to other estimates

Are you aware of any photographic evidence of civilian deaths inside Tiananmem Square?

I recently read a bit more about the Tiananmem Square incident, and I've been shocked at just how little evidence there actually is.

Huh? Please post the definitely proof you know to exist. Because it doesn't and that's one of the accusation toward the CCP, that they covered it up.

It's funny that when the Israel government posted some photos of the Oct 7 massacres, people are very quick to point out that some seem staged. But some bloody photos that look like Tiananmem Square from the 80s is considered definite proof.

Israel has nothing to do with this. The horrific, indiscriminate genocide of Palestine and the creeping invasion of Lebanon and Syria are all happening right now in 4K. People nowadays know that you can't destroy thousands of vehicles with AK47's, and we've seen countless videos of Israeli military personnel admitting they killed many of their own people in a 'mass hannibal' event.

You do raise one good point however - propaganda in the time of Tiananmem was much, much easier before the advent of smartphones and the Internet. And also that Israel is really, really bad at propaganda.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com