Schaer didn't specify the model, but I believe Sony only had one such transmitter at the time. The actual video was given to a tourist at the airport to hand to a CNN Producer in Hong Kong." We used the first generation sony still transmitter to get the first images out of China. "I was using my normal Sony BVU 330 camera at the time. (Remember, this was before the world wide web).ĭetermined to get the facts straight, I asked CNN senior photographer Jonathan Schaer about the equipment he used while covering the 1989 protests. Schaer was able to elude China's blockade of news photographs by transmitting the shot by telephone."īut surely Schaer, a television photographer, would have captured video, not stills? It didn't make much sense for CNN - a TV network - to bring a still video camera to Beijing, did it? Not in 1989, anyway. Photographer John Schaer of Cable News Network used such a camera to take the photo of a flower-carrying Chinese student facing down a tank in Beijing's Tiananmen Square during the 1989 rebellion. ![]() "The Promavica has two sensors that can capture 760,000 pixels. Works banned in different places can be published here, everyone has the opportunity to exchange ideas," she said.Ĭhung, like everyone in Taiwan mindful of Beijing's vow to take the island back, by force if necessary, said the play had a simple message: "Freedom and democracy should not be taken for granted.Mythbuster: How CNN captured and transmitted the iconic "tank man" photoĪccording to several sources (including a 1991 article published on cnn.com) one of the historical photos of the Tiananmen Square "tank man" was captured with a Sony Mavica still video camera: ![]() "Taiwan has become an important platform. "After facing some difficulties in Hong Kong, now we can re-enact this story in another place," said Lit, who is now based in Britain but was visiting Taiwan to see the performance. The founder of Hong Kong's Stage 64 theatre group, Lit Ming Wai, is working on an English version of "35th of May" to spread its message and keep it alive. "On the one hand, we want to safeguard the freedom of performing this show, on the other, we need to ensure that everyone's safe, including families in Hong Kong," said Chiu E-ling, secretary general of Amnesty International Taiwan. Some actors will use stage names and two Hong Kong actors will wear masks. The actors are actually quite brave," Chung said. Some worried about their careers or the fate of families and friends in China. 'IMPORTANT PLATFORM'Įven in democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, actors have been nervous about taking part in the play, Chung said. "May 35th", by playwright Candace Chong, is about a husband and wife dealing with the loss of their son who was killed when troops opened fire on democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square 34 years ago. Three were charged with inciting subversion and face up to 10 years in prison. The play has not been officially banned in Hong Kong but few doubt that authorities in a city where the Tiananmen crackdown has become taboo would move to block it.Īn alliance of Hong Kong activists that used to organise the annual Tiananmen vigil was disbanded after the arrest of several of its leaders in 2021. The theatre group that staged it, Stage 64, disbanded in 2021, citing pressure under the national security law. It was shown online because of COVID-19 restrictions. The last time the play was shown in Hong Kong was in 2020 before the enactment of a national security law that Beijing imposed on the city later that year. ![]() "It's not only talking about June 4 in 1989, it's talking about all kinds of authoritarian and totalitarian situations," Shinehouse’s director, Chung Po-yuan, told Reuters, explaining the importance of bringing the play to Taiwan. Restrictions on dissent in Hong Kong have all but snuffed out what were once the largest vigils marking the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, leaving cities like London, New York, Berlin and Taipei to keep the memory alive. The play is about parents grieving for their son killed in Tiananmen Square. Taiwan's Shinehouse theatre group, with the support of rights group Amnesty International, is putting on six performances of "35th of May" in Taipei from June 2-4. TAIPEI, June 3 (Reuters) - A Taiwan theatre is showcasing a Hong Kong play about Tiananmen Square to mark the 34th anniversary of the crackdown in Beijing, saying almost as much about shrinking freedoms in the former British colony as it does about the 1989 bloodshed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |