I always remember this day and this event. Mainly because it screwed up my plans to cross China and get the Trans Siberian railway home after 20 months backpacking. As it was my girfriend and I were in Sust the last village before the Khunjerab Pass that links Pakistan with China and is the highest order crossing the world. It was a glorious spot with the towering Karakorams in the distance. Anyway the plan was set until we met this English bloke walking down the road to us. He’d just crossed over the border which had been shut and told us what had happened.

Remember this was BG (before google!) and before email even. News came via GPO Poste Restante and the travellers grapevine. So that was the end of that idea. It’s actually the closest I’ve ever been to China which is still on my list on places to visit.

But a lot has changed since that fateful day in Tiananmen Square and yet much has remained the same. The Chinese authorities began their media clampdown many months ago by suspending YouTube and more recently by blocking Twitter (what a compliment!) and Bing (Crosby??). As well as the usual quiet word in the ear of any one thinking about protesting or even acknowledging the anniversary.

So fear still rules. But fear of what exactly? Many Chinese are pretty happy with the way their economy has grown and how the modern world has been welcomed in. Sure not everyone has benefitted but there is a certain pride within the nation that much has been accomplished in recent times. Times like this are a real test for an authoritarian society. Dissent cannot be tolerated at any level.

But truth is a slippery ball and when one looks across to Hong Kong, where over 100,00 people gathered to mark the occasion, one can see that the attempt to censor and punish any kind of inquiry or examination is really a waste of time. People know.

China is a unique country with a long history and strong culture. Change comes slowly but hopefully those in charge will come to see the futility of repressing protest completely and censoring mass media. One thing though is for sure:

Tank Man is an enduring image of the 20th Century and no amount of propaganda or control can ever change that.

News comes of Fouad al-Farhan and his release after 137 days in jail. He was detained for being critical of the Kingdom and its repressive approach to government. Following on from my previous post on human rights in Saudi Arabia, this is no surprise.

The Kingdom is very sensitive to any mention of reform or greater freedom of expression. It has huge strategic importance in the Gulf area and has always been a major bulwark for the West against Iraq and Iran. At the same time its treatment of its own citizens has left a lot to be desired. In some ways its an example of the ultimate trade off between human rights and strategic concerns.

But the key issue here is one of freedom of speech. Many organizations have worked long and hard around the world to support people like Fouad who are imprisoned on no charge and on spurious grounds at best.

Amnesty is one and needs no introduction but Index on Censorship is another organization doing great work in preventing and informing us on cases of repression and curtailment of speech.

It’s a cause all bloggers should support.

Following a huge campaign the death sentence on Pervez Kambaksh was lifted and we finally heard from him about his experience at the hands of the Afghani justice system.

Stories about the Taliban’s treatment of women and those who try to help them are legendary in their barbarism.

Now we hear about the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. It’s one thing to treat women with violence (we have plenty enough of that terrible behaviour in the non-Islamic world) but the dis-empowerment via lack of rights and education is really unacceptable at the most basic level. It means there really is no escape from a life of slavery.

This extremist form of Islam does a dis-service to mainstream Islam and shows how vast and wide that congregation is in terms of beliefs and practices.

You wont hear anyone in power being critical of Saudi Arabia because their strategic position is so important and of course they buy a lot of weapons and sell a lot of oil. The hypocrisy of human rights and trade is summarised nicely here.

This year it’s the 60th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights. The UN better start pulling its finger out before it gets done under the trades description act.

We’ve just finished Freedom Week here in New Zealand, a campaign run by Amnesty International to raise money and awareness. Also MyAmnesty has been launched. Get online and participate.

Some 130 collectors braved the southerly on Friday to collect in Christchurch (yes i was one of them) so well done to all those and to those who donated and stopped for a chat.

Without basic freedom we have nothing. Freedom to be, to think, to speak, write, draw or blog!

Whatever your political persuasion it is hard to to look away from the constant abuses of personal security whether for reasons of censorship or war. It’s all the same.

We can’t have a functioning economy without personal security. We can’t have functioning communities without personal security and we most certainly cannot have a decent environment without personal security.

We wouldn’t be sitting here in the blogosphere expounding our thoughts and views on whatever we fancied.

We should be grateful for the life we have here in New Zealand. It’s pretty good.