Tiananmen’s Wang Dan to Beijing: Democracy, or die
CNN PRODUCER NOTE nealmoore
told me, 'I've covered the Chinese dissident beat here in Taipei for
the past several years. I reached out to Wang Dan to share his thoughts
on the past, present, and future of the protests, and was surprised when
he got directly back with three powerful responses. I think there's a
lot to be learned from these students' sacrifice.'
- hhanks, CNN iReport producer
- hhanks, CNN iReport producer
Tiananmen’s Wang Dan to Beijing: Democracy, or die
By Neal Moore (CNN iReport)
Twenty-five
years ago, in early June 1989, as the People’s Liberation Army’s tanks
began to roll and automatic weapons fire rang out, the international
media, gathered in Beijing to cover a visit by Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev for a rare Sino-Soviet summit, found themselves in the midst
of a different story.
The
crackdown on civilian and student protestors at Tiananmen Square, also
known as the June 4 Massacre, would leave hundreds, if not thousands
dead. The government’s response against unarmed activists was beyond
brutal, and it played out on television screens and newspaper front
pages worldwide.
Twenty-five years later, on June 4, 2014, the world will pause to remember.
Wang
Dan was the most visible leader of the Tiananmen Square protest. You
might remember him. He was the one with the big glasses, slight build,
and the bullhorn. After the massacre, Wang was No. 1 on the Chinese
government’s “most wanted” student list. He was captured, and served
four years in jail before going into exile – first in America, where he
earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University, and then to Taiwan,
where he has taught cross-strait history at National Chengchi University
and National Tsing Hua University.
I caught up with Wang Dan via an email interview, and asked, in light of the 25th anniversary,
if he could remind people of the message he was trying to deliver to
the Chinese Communist Party at Tiananmen Square.
“We
had two appeals,” Wang told me. “No. 1: Dialogue directly with the
government, and No. 2: To modify the April 26 editorial of the People’s
Daily.”
The April 26
editorial, titled “The Necessity for a Clear Stand Against Turmoil,” was
broadcast on national radio and television in China, and appeared on
the front page of the People’s Daily, a Beijing-based mouthpiece of the
Communist Party. The editorial, penned by deputy chief of propaganda
Zeng Jianhui on behalf of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, deemed the
protestors part of “a well-planned plot … to confuse the people and
throw the country into turmoil.” The piece effectively changed the
party’s attitude toward the protestors, based on misinformation. The
students had not called on the government to step down, as alleged in
Jianhui’s editorial, but for a dialogue of reform and openness first
initiated by Deng in 1978.
Tiananmen
Square remains a pivotal, game-changing event in the history of
modern-day China. Although the students lost their bid for freedom,
their argument for a voice carried weight with the rest of the world,
and shaped how the world would view China, as well as themselves, in the
foreseeable future.
In
retrospect, 25 years later, I asked Wang what lessons he believes
China, and the world, have taken away from the Tiananmen Square protest?
“The
world needs to believe that from 1989, even Chinese people look forward
to democratization,” he explained. “Anytime they think they have a
chance, like in 1989, they will not hesitate to stand up.”
In
2011, protestors on the streets of 13 major Chinese cities did just
that in the form of loosely synchronized demonstrations dubbed the
“Jasmine Revolution” – the first sizeable, coordinated protests in China
since Tiananmen Square. At the height of this dissent, in late February
2011, I interviewed Tiananmen Square protest leader Wu’er Kaixi – cnn.it/1p4EMfL – who told me more about the short-lived “revolution.”
“The
brave Arabic people in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya – they have reminded
Chinese people, shocked Chinese people, encouraged Chinese people,”
Wu’er Kaixi said. “And that has a strong impact. That is one of the main
reasons why the Jasmine operation took place in China. … It triggered a
chain reaction. It’s coming back to China.”
And
so the world watches and waits. Will China enter into a dialogue of
openness suggested by Deng Xiaoping in 1978? Will it carry out
“political restructuring” as promised by Wen Jiabao at the United
Nations General Assembly in 2010? Or will it stay the course and
straddle what some observers refer to as a Leninism-plus-Consumerism
strategy?
According to Wang Dan, the choice is simple. My final question was what he would like to say to the leadership in Beijing today.
“Think about the party’s future,” Wang replied. “There will be only two choices: Democracy, or die.”六四25周年前夕，北京維穩力度空前
傑安迪 2014年05月28日
Petar Kujundzic/Reuters
北京天安門廣場守衛毛澤東肖像的警衛。
北京——政治敏感日到來之際，中國政府通常會對一些社會活動進行鎮壓；即便以這種標準來衡量，政府今年在六四紀念日之前採取的策略也堪稱格外嚴厲。1989年的6月4日，中國軍隊以殘酷手段制止了由學生領導的天安門廣場抗議活動。
每年的6月4日到來之前，政府經常會對大膽敢言的政府批評者實施軟禁，網上關於此次鎮壓的言論也會被刪得一乾二淨，連那些不敢明說的暗語內容也不例外。
- 檢視大圖
Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images香港抗議者舉着被捕律師浦志強的照片。
當年的流血事件震驚全國，幾乎使共產黨分崩離析。今年時值這一事件的25周年紀念，審查者和安保部隊發動了一場猛烈的「維穩」運動，令中國法律活動人士、自由知識分子和外國記者不寒而慄。
最近幾周有十多位著名學者和活動人士被捕，連一些看似無傷大雅的舉動——比如發佈在天安門廣場比劃「V」手勢的自拍照——都會使當事人遭到逮捕。
幾名記者表示，警方一直在警告西方記者，未來幾天不要靠近
天安門廣場，否則將「面臨嚴重後果」。這些記者曾被面無表情的公安官員叫去開會。國際特赦組織(Amnesty
International)發佈了一份名單，上面列出了中國各地近50名據該組織所說已遭逮捕、審訊或軟禁的人。
「他們說北京的春天到了，我的感覺卻像冬天，」艾滋病(AIDS)活動人士、資深異見人士胡佳說。過去三個月，他一直被強行關在自己的住所里。
遭到中國龐大安全機器清理的人還在增加，其中包括在北京一家酒店聚會的一些同性戀維權人士、幾名在中國中部城市武漢打坐時被抓的佛教徒，以及一名當過兵的藝術家。這名藝術家在朋友的工作室里進行了一次行為藝術表演，表演的靈感則來自中國政府努力讓全國民眾集體失憶的舉措。
人權觀察組織(Human Rights Watch)駐香港研究員阿蓮(Maya Wang)說，「這次的應對空前嚴厲、空前激烈。」
在政治分析人士和維權人士看來，此次運動進一步說明，已就
職15個月的國家主席習近平決意在一場針對自由主義思想的意識形態鬥爭中剷除異己，許多人都認為，這場鬥爭是一場旨在鞏固權力的大規模運動的一部分。「最
近這次鎮壓行動之前，我還不清楚習近平的態度，但最近的事件表明，如果做得到的話，他願意成為一個毛澤東式的強人，」加州大學河濱分校
(University of California, Riverside)的漢學家林培瑞(Perry Link)說。
公共言論的紅線往往會隨時勢和當權者喜好的變化而變化，但許多長期觀察中國的人士都表示，這次的變化讓那些最身經百戰的異見人士都吃了一驚。
他們表示，官方對一次研討會的強烈反應就是證明。此次集會發生在5月初，十多人在一處私人住所聚集，討論1989年的事件。接下來幾天，警方傳訊了這些集會參與者，其中包括鎮壓死難者的親屬。
但是，與2009年一起規模更大的相似事件不同，前述聚會的五名參與者遭到了正式逮捕。其中包括：北京電影學院教授郝建、中國社會科學研究院哲學學者徐友漁，以及頗有影響力的維權律師浦志強。他們的罪名都是「尋釁滋事」。
從那以後，警方多次對浦志強的律師事務所和住所進行搜查，用車拉走電腦、財務文件和一張關於異見藝術家艾未未的紀錄片DVD。艾未未曾是浦志強的客戶。
浦志強的律師之一張思之在採訪中表示，這些指控不合邏輯。他反問，「你怎麼可能在私人住所里尋釁滋事？」
張思之和其他一些人說，看樣子，與此前紀念日抓人的慣例不同，浦志強在6月4日後獲釋的可能性已經越來越小。
為了搜集針對浦志強的證據，當局逮捕了浦志強的一些朋友和工作夥伴，其中包括獨立記者吳薇和日本報紙《日本經濟新聞》(Nikkei)新聞助理辛健。朋友們稱他們不清楚當局為何扣押辛健，不過，一些人認為這可能與她之前採訪浦志強有關。
周二，辛健消失兩周之後，辛健的丈夫開始求助於社交媒體，上傳了一張家庭合影，發出了緊急求援的呼聲。「家裡一團亂麻，」辛健的丈夫王海春寫道。「你快回來！我一個人承受不來！」
劉偉的朋友同樣感到非常苦悶，劉偉是中國西南部一名年輕的
工廠工人，從北京回到家鄉重慶之後，他於5月17日因刑事罪名被捕。據劉偉的朋友黃成城透露，劉偉的罪行似乎是在網上發佈了他在天安門廣場拍的自拍照，其
中一張照片顯示他比划了一個V字手勢，這是中國遊客普遍使用的姿勢，但也可以被視為一種煽動顛覆的狡猾方式。
同性戀權利倡導人士也感受到了目前的緊張氣氛。過去幾周，當局取消了一些在北京舉行的活動，比如為紀念國際反恐同日舉行的電影放映活動和專題討論會。本月早些時候，警方突襲了一家酒店，一些公民社會倡導人士聚集在該酒店參加研討會，討論同性戀及艾滋病非營利組織面臨的阻礙。
活動組織者於方強表示，警方在下午一點半到達酒店，沒收了他的手機，然後用這部手機給大約30名準備參會的人發信息，告知活動取消。於方強和其他八人隨後被帶走接受審問，其中幾人受到的審訊持續到了第二天晚上。
有時候，當局對公眾動亂的擔憂導致了一些莫名其妙的舉措，例如取消原計劃於周四晚間在北京舉行的一場餐廳頒獎典禮。
其他一些時候，他們的舉措可謂極有創意。
北京的時事評論員、權益倡導人士陳永苗表示，警方給了相當於800美元（約合5006元人民幣）的錢，讓他離開北京。上周，正在中國西北地區旅行的陳永苗通過電話表示，「他們就是不想讓反對派人士待在北京這個政治中心。」
過去幾年， 政府會在4月中旬的胡耀邦忌日加強控制，這位倡導改革的共產黨總書記因「資產階級」自由化傾向於1989年遭到整肅。在胡耀邦於4月15日逝世後，公眾紛紛進行悼念，悼念活動最終演變成了席捲全國的要求公正、民主、終結官員腐敗的示威活動。
但很多活動人士表示，今年，政府提前幾個月就啟動了限制舉
措。艾滋病活動人士胡佳稱，他於今年2月底遭到軟禁時，警方告訴他，今年是「極其敏感」的一年，他們必須確保萬無一失。胡佳通過電話表示，「當局想製造恐
怖氣氛，並且已經在很大程度上取得了成功。」他列舉了一些朋友，警方強迫他們在5月份「去度假」，離開北京。
但胡佳表示，這場運動非常拙劣，最終不會有效果。雖然共產
黨領導人已經將該事件從中國的歷史課本及網絡中刪除，致使年輕一代對89年6月3日至4日的事件知之甚少，但胡佳估計，士兵向手無寸鐵的民眾開火併導致數
以百計的民眾死亡的那個晚上，北京街頭足足有100萬人，還可能更多。
「不管他們怎麼努力，」他說。「還是無法將這段經歷從所有人的記憶中刪除。」
安思喬(Jonathan Ansfield)對本文有報道貢獻。Patric Zuo對本文有研究貢獻。傑安迪(Andrew Jacobs)是《紐約時報》駐京記者。Tiananmen Square Anniversary Prompts Campaign of Silence
May 28, 2014
BEIJING — Even by the standards of the clampdowns
that routinely mark politically sensitive dates in China, the approach
this year to June 4, the anniversary of the day in 1989 when soldiers
brutally ended student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, has been
particularly severe.
The days preceding June 4
often mean house arrest for vocal government critics and an Internet
scrubbed free of even coded references to the crackdown that dare not
speak its name.
But this year, the 25th anniversary of the
bloodshed that convulsed the nation and nearly sundered the Communist
Party, censors and security forces have waged an aggressive “stability
maintenance” campaign that has sent a chill through the ranks of Chinese
legal advocates, liberal intellectuals and foreign journalists.
In recent weeks, a dozen
prominent scholars and activists have been arrested, and even seemingly
harmless gestures, like posting a selfie in Tiananmen Square while
flashing a V for victory, have led to detentions.
The police have been
warning Western journalists to stay away from the square in the coming
days or “face grave consequences,” according to several reporters
summoned to meetings with stone-faced public security officials. Amnesty
International has compiled a list of nearly 50 people across the country that it says have been jailed, interrogated or placed under house arrest.
“They say it’s springtime in Beijing, but it feels like winter,” said Hu Jia, an AIDS activist and seasoned dissident who has been forcibly confined to his apartment for the past three months.
The growing list of those
swept up by China’s expansive security apparatus includes a group of gay
rights advocates gathered at a Beijing hotel, several Buddhists
arrested as they were meditating in the central Chinese city of Wuhan
and an ex-soldier turned artist
who staged in a friend’s studio a performance piece that was inspired
by the government’s efforts to impose amnesia on an entire nation.
“The response has been
harsher and more intense than we’ve ever seen,” said Maya Wang, a
researcher at Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong.
To political analysts and
rights advocates, the campaign provides further evidence that President
Xi Jinping, 15 months into the job, is determined to stamp out dissent
amid an ideological assault against liberal ideas that many view as part
of a wide-ranging drive to consolidate power. “Until this latest
crackdown I was agnostic about Xi, but recent events suggest he would
like to be a Mao-style strongman if he could,” said Perry Link, a China
scholar at the University of California, Riverside.
Although the red line of
permissible public discourse often shifts with the seasons and the whims
of those in power, many longtime China watchers say the changes have
caught even the most battle-scarred dissidents off guard.
As evidence, they point to
the authorities’ forceful response to a seminar, held at a private home
in early May, during which more than a dozen people met to discuss the
events of 1989. In the days that followed, the participants, including
relatives of those killed during the crackdown, were summoned for
questioning by the police.
But unlike a similar, much
larger event in 2009, five of the attendees were formally arrested.
Among them: Hao Jian, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy; Xu Youyu, a philosophy scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and Pu Zhiqiang, a charismatic rights lawyer. All face charges of “creating a public disturbance.”
Since then, the police have
repeatedly searched Mr. Pu’s law office and home, carting away
computers, financial documents and a DVD of a documentary about the
dissident artist Ai Weiwei, a former client.
In an interview, one of his
lawyers, Zhang Sizhi, described the charges as illogical. “How can you
create a public disturbance while meeting in a private residence?” he
asked.
Mr. Zhang and others say it
seems increasingly unlikely Mr. Pu will be released after June 4, the
pattern of previous anniversary-related detentions.
In building a case against
him, the authorities have rounded up a number of Mr. Pu’s friends and
associates, among them Vivian Wu, an independent journalist, and Xin
Jiang, a news assistant with the Japanese newspaper Nikkei. Friends say
they are unclear why the authorities detained Ms. Xin, although some
thought it might be related to an earlier interview she conducted with
Mr. Pu.
On Tuesday, two weeks after her disappearance, Ms. Xin’s husband took to social media, posting a family photo
and a frantic cry for help. “It’s a mess at home,” the husband, Wang
Haichun, wrote. “Please come back. I can’t bear this alone.”
The anguish is shared by
friends of Liu Wei, a young factory worker from southwest China who was
detained on criminal charges on May 17 after returning home to Chongqing
from a visit to Beijing. According to a friend, Huang Chengcheng, Mr.
Liu’s apparent crime was posting online photos of himself in Tiananmen
Square, including one in which he flashed a victory sign, a common pose
among Chinese tourists that can also be seen as a sly act of subversion.
Gay rights advocates have
also been feeling the heat. Over the past few weeks, the authorities
have canceled a number of events in Beijing, including a film screening
and a panel discussion to mark International Day Against Homophobia.
Earlier this month, the police raided a hotel where a group of civil society advocates had gathered for a seminar focused on the obstacles facing gay and AIDS nonprofits.
Yu Fangqiang, one of the
event organizers, said the police arrived at 1:30 a.m., confiscated his
cellphone and then used it to text about 30 other would-be participants,
telling them the event had been canceled. Mr. Yu and eight others were
then bundled off for interrogations that, for several detainees,
stretched into the following evening.
Sometimes the authorities’
fears of public unrest have led to confounding measures, like the
cancellation of a restaurant awards ceremony scheduled for Thursday
night in the capital.
Other times their efforts were nothing if not creative.
Chen Yongmiao, a political
commentator and rights activist from Beijing, said the police gave him
the equivalent of $800 to leave town. “They just don’t want people from
the opposition in the political center of Beijing,” Mr. Chen said by
phone last week as he traveled through northwest China.
In past years, the noose
would tighten in mid-April, coinciding with the anniversary of the death
of Hu Yaobang, the reformist Communist Party secretary purged for his
“bourgeois” liberal leanings in 1989. It was an outpouring of public
mourning after his death on April 15 that coalesced into the
demonstrations that swept the nation with demands for justice, democracy
and an end to official corruption.
This year, however, many
activists say restrictions kicked in months earlier. When they placed
him under house arrest in late February, Mr. Hu, the AIDS activist, said
the police told him this was an “especially sensitive” year and that
they were taking no chances. “The authorities want to create an
atmosphere of terror, something they’ve largely succeeded in doing,” he
said by phone, listing a number of friends who had been compelled by the
police to “go on holiday” and leave Beijing for May.
But Mr. Hu said he thought
the campaign was ham-handed and ultimately ineffective. Although party
leaders have expunged the episode from Chinese history books and the
Internet, leaving a younger generation unfamiliar with the events of
June 3-4, Mr. Hu estimated that a million or more people were on the
streets of Beijing the night soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians,
killing hundreds, if not more.
“No matter how hard they try,” he said, “they cannot erase this experience from everyone’s memories.”
Jonathan Ansfield contributed reporting. Patrick Zuo contributed research.
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