Threats to owner accused of cashing in on tragedy
THE auction of a watch – one of 200 presented to Chinese soldiers who brutally crushed the Tiananmen Square protest – has been scrapped after online threats left its owner fearing for his safety.
Auctioneers Fellows, in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, was to have been the first UK auction house to sell one of the rare Tiananmen timepieces. It was scheduled to appear in its April 19 luxury watch sale and was expected to realise £3,000.
But the company announced it had been withdrawn after the owner was threatened on social media.
The seller was accused by trolls of attempting to make a profit from the tragedy.
No one knows how many lost their lives in the Beijing student protest, waged from April 15, 1989, to June 4, but the Communist Party released an official death toll figure of 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel.
That is considered extremely conservative.
The then British Ambassador to China, Sir Alan Donald, said 10,000 were killed.
The mass protests were sparked by the death of Communist general secretary Hu Yaobang, a politician who campaigned for social reforms. Thousands poured into the square demanding economic change and an end to political corruption.
To the Western world the demo was encapsulated by one iconic image. It showed a protester, carrying two shopping bags, “staring down” a line of tanks.
Announcing the cancelled sale, Felllows spokesman Liam Bolland said: “Threats made on social media against the owner of this watch has caused the vendor to express concerns about their safety. We have taken the decision to remove this watch from auction.”
He stressed the owner was not associated with the Chinese communist regime and explained the company’s stance:
“As an auction house, we often sell items with history. We believed this item is of international interest. It was a reminder of the events of June 1989. “In the past we have sold war medals from all sides of global conflicts, a ring commemorating the regicide of Charles I and watches acquired from prisoners of war. It is not our place to comment on events of the past. It is important for us to shine a light on historical events and report upon them in a respectful and unbiased manner.”
The watch was presented to a member of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army by the Communist
Party Beijing Committee and Beijing Municipal Government following the 1989 uprising.
It carries the inscription, “89.6 In Commemoration of Quelling the Rebellion” and was manufactured at Beijing Watch Factory.
Fitted to an original gold-plated bracelet and with a manual wind movement, the watch displays a profile of a PLA soldier wearing a green helmet.
The name of the PLA soldier who received the watch is not known. When unveiled for auction, Michael Jagiela, Fellows’ senior watch specialist, said: “We believe that this watch is incredibly rare. The provenance is significant as it relates to such an important, but poignant, historical event.
“We do not know if one of these watches has ever sold in the UK before and we anticipate a lot of people will want to view it.”