Tiananmen Square - 19 Years On

It was on this day in 1989 that tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square to crush protests by students and workers which had been escalating for several weeks.
Since then, China has changed. The economy has soared, the standard and reach of education has improved dramatically and, as the government's response to the Sichuan earthquake showed, the Chinese Communist Party has learned some lessons from the past.
But progress is slow.
Most Chinese people still know little of the events of June 4. The date doesn't resonate the way 9/11 does in the U.S. - most people look at you blankly if you dare to rare the issue.
My attempts to read a Guardian report online about how some of those arrested in 1989 are allegedly still in prison were thwarted. The internet connection dropped because I clicked on an article with 'China' and 'human rights' in the text.
Likewise, the screen went blank when I Googled 'Tiananmen Square'; the Wikipedia page for Tiananmen remains permanently off limits; and this blog - like millions of others - is also blacklisted.
Many nations have done far worse things to their own than the atrocities committed by China in 1989. The Germans gassed German Jews, Americans suppressed black citizens, and Australia trampled on indigenous peoples.
The pain of those events lives on but the first step in salving the wound is acknowledging the it.
Australia's apology to Aboriginal people this year was a fine example of a mature democracy that deeply regrets its own past actions. Aussie's chose to face up to their mistakes instead of attempting to erase them.
How then can China ever make progress if it denies its own past?