Exiled Chinese Democracy Activists to Commemorate Twenty Years Since Tiananmen Square Crackdown

China's 1989 Spring Political Storm

On June 4, 1989, a student-led democracy movement in China's Tiananmen Square resulted in a brutal military crackdown in which hundreds if not thousands of people were killed. A group of exiled Chinese democracy activists today Friday October 3 jointly announced that on next year's 20th anniversary of this tragic event, they would "commemorate June 4, recommit to justice, and strive to make China a homeland safe for its citizens."

1989 movement and exile community leaders Wang Dan, Wang Juntao, Hu Ping, Chen Yizi etc. all signed the statement. Activities will take place in major cities in China and worldwide. In addition they will form a "United Prisoners of Tiananmen" group committed to collecting documentation of the events of 1989, its political antecedents and aftermath, in order to protect rights and establish responsibility for the crackdown.

Because the Chinese government imposes a blackout on discussion of the events of 1989 in mainland media, and as a result the new generation of Chinese has little knowledge of the actual events, of course a large-scale commemoration of this kind faces many obstacles.

One of the liaisons for the planned commemoration, Hu Ping, told the BBC in an interview that the biggest obstacle of course is the Chinese government's prohibition against any discussion of the events of 1989 in mainland media. And as the 20th anniversary approaches, this prohibition will not only continue but be enforced even more stringently.

The Shadow of June Four

Hu Ping added that he has come into contact with many young Chinese born in the 1980s who were too young to remember the events. They truly have a superficial and distorted understanding of the true background of the events of 1989. Among these are many who do not dare to learn more about the events and don't want to learn more about the events.

Hu Ping reasons that part of the problem is that the events of June 4 1989 are not merely historical, but have an intimate connection with events that continue to take place in today's crisis-ridden China. Hu said: "As a direct result of the Tiananmen crackdown, China's democracy movement and activists from within the Communist Party have come under intense repression. The direction of China's economic reform also changed, becoming much more nakedly acquisitive with the privatization and profiting from political power, and this has inevitably led to increased corruption and social conflict."

Oppose Official Profiteering, Oppose Official Corruption, Original Objectives of Democracy Movement

On the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen events, Hu Ping wrote an article commemorating the events, and said: "Many of the original participants have left the movement to promote democracy in China... and some have even betrayed the cause."

On the eve of the 20th anniversary, Hu Ping reiterated that the many who have left the movement have not given up their hope for democracy in China, but they have grown tired of being in conflict with the Communist Party and lost confidence in the chance for success in the near-term.

Hu Ping believes that this makes the role of those who continue the struggle even more important. Every single effort, every act of struggle, may cumulatively result in a breakthrough and inspire and restore hope to the many who have become disheartened.

To those who criticize the efforts and emphasize the negative aspects of the democracy movement-in-exile, Hu Ping says: "The democracy movement does not have the advantage that the Communist Party possessed in the past, where all people can gather under one simple banner, in that case: Communism. If you look down on the efforts of the democracy movement, then you can simply take the lead and establish your own organization and your own democracy activities."

International Response

Hu Ping asks: in the present climate, when the Communist Party of China appears much stronger economically and politically than it was 20 years ago, what foreign government dares to respond to this call for a large-scale commemoration of the 1989 democracy movement?

"It is more important than ever to commemorate this historic event. As China emerges as a superpower, its continuation as a single-party dictatorship will bring increasing suffering to its freedom-loving people, and it will pose an increasing threat to international peace."

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