Is this really the Party Line?

Question

A few days ago someone, apparently echoing the Chinese Communist Party line, said on this program, that the protesters who were shot on Tian-anmin Square, Beijing, in 1989, were just hippie rabble, stirred up by outside influence.
This sounds odd, as in '89 there were no hippies AND BECAUSE the "hippy philosophy" (such as it was) had been POLITICALLY VERY MUCH FAR LEFT !!!"
Che Guavera and even Mao were their idols!!! True, true, true.

Thanks very much desert and dastard.
Dastard's views are Western-based (but not to be completely discounted for that, as he is clearly a clear thinker - by his own lights).
Desert: you're closer to the truth. I need to find out more, and am grateful to you both.

Answer 1

It was a bad choice of words and avoided the truth of the situation. But, so did the western media. They tried to portray the events around Tien An Min as a "thriving for democracy". It wasn't. The gathering of students was in reaction to a decision by the Education Ministry to reduce the monthly stipend given to college students. Money they used to purchase food. This violated the "iron rice bowl" doctrine laid down by Chairman Mao, which vowed no one would face starvation in China.
By attacking the students, the party violated long-standing Chinese dogma. You don't harm students! And the party had to resort to the use of troops who were not ethnically Han Chinese to deal with the students in the square through the use of violence.
I don't know if it is a good or bad thing for China to foster job security for "spin doctors". But, I suggest that is what has happened in the case of those remarks concerning "hippies".

Answer 2

Sure, generally hippies were leftist, but there are different forms of left ideology. Hippies were (are) about freedom mainly. Most communist governments are about restriction, ironically.
I say ironically because most communist systems started with a revolution to fight for freedom, and then systematically went about destroying all opposition and controlling every aspect of peoples lives. It's called totalitarianism. The beginnings of the revolutions could have started with hippy types, but the end result was perhaps more restrictive than before.
Hippies would have a real problem with the chinese communism. Although the same in basic philosophy (same rights for everybody, equality all round etc.), the communist state is in many ways very right winged, as can be seen with the contrast between the poor and rich in China today. As such the Chinese government would also have a real problem with hippies.
Hippies are still around today, in different forms and perhaps not so regimented as it was in the sixties and seventies. But the term hippy has come to represent many alternative types in western society today. You can still find them if you look in the right place. Any peace rally, you're sure to find some modern hippies, practising in sometimes different ways the old ethos: peace, free love, drugs and freedom for all. Also a free Tibet.
That's probably quite an important one too, modern hippies often support the Dalai Lama or at least a free Tibet. Lot's of people disagree with the Chinese occupation of Tibet just as much as they disagree with the War in Iraq, if not more. As well as the more recent human rights abuses by China, such as the imprisonment and experimentation on Felan Gong supporters.
Hence, although both the chinese government and hippies are left wing by name at least, the differences in ideologies are huge and in many ways hippies are in some way a threat to the Chinese Communist Party

Answer 3

No, it is not really the Chinese Communist Party line.

"Hippie" was an American term used to describe the communal youth of the early 1970's in America only.