On the 15th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square UprisingChristina Fu June 3, 2004 When I think about June 4th Tiananmen Square movement, many pictures come before me. Tens of thousands peaceful students and citizens in the Tiananmen Square; A solitary man in front of massive tanks; Death; Survivors crying out and in tears; Tiananmen Mothers; And innocent people in jail for their quest for freedom… Yet, the truth of this heroic struggle has been suppressed and to this day is still unknown to millions of Chinese people. Each year, when groups of concerned people in Boston where I live gather together on the campus of Harvard University to commemorate the Tiananmen uprising, videos show the fiery images of the event. Everyone who has a heartbeat can feel their heart pounding. There are always new students and scholars who just came from China, who watch it with their eyes wide open, because they had no idea it had happened. When the truth of Tiananmen is depicted, the hurt in their heart is overwhelming. Why do we hear two different stories in China and here? Why do some Chinese leaders keep the truth away from its people? Why are they so afraid of the truth? There are so many questions for which I do not have an answer. June 4th of 1989 changed my husband’s life and changed mine as well. We, who were among the thousands of young Chinese students realized then, and we realize now that economics alone cannot make China great, that China needs a more fundamental change. China needs to hear the cries of her people and be responsible to their needs. Therefore, Chinese patriots today are continuing, with great courage and vision, the same struggle for justice and freedom begun in Tiananmen. I have come here today to pay my deep respect to those peaceful students and citizens who died for freedom in our beloved homeland 15 years ago; who died so innocently that they did not even know why. Death came to them too suddenly to have time to realize its coming. Many lives ended far too young. I also want to pay respect to the families, to those mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers and sisters who forever lost loved ones. Especially, since I have had children of my own, I value even more the preciousness of each and every life. I admire your bravery and your strength to live on, which has given me strength to face the challenges in my own life with hope. To those imprisoned, and to my husband, Yang Jianli, because of your deep belief in those universal human values which honor life and liberty, I share your pain and your struggle. I’m here this evening, also to pay my respect to all of you, who continue to uphold the torch of freedom in carrying on the cause of those who could not finish their work. Every one of you deserves a big bow. To Wang Dan, Wuer Kaixi, the embodiment of Tiananmen spirit; To Xu Wen Li, another great leader, who spent 16 years in jail, and continues to work for the noble cause; And also to Arthur Liu, another great patriot and a good friend of my husband’s. He is here on his 3rd day of hunger strike for my husband and for all the prisoners of conscience in China. And I want to thank all of the American people and all those people around the world, who have given so much of their time, energy and love to me, to my family and to our great cause – the universal cause of freedom. Indeed, as we heard from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, we should all be heartened by the action of the U.S. House of Representatives, which, this afternoon, on a vote of 400-1 adopted a resolution to commemorate this anniversary and to reiterate the call for democracy and human rights in China. To this endeavor, I would like to conclude with my husband’s words, which are taken from his numerous writings. “In every heart, there is goodness, and there is knowledge of right and wrong. That is where our hope comes from.” “Let me ask you, my dear friends. Let our eyes penetrate the danger of today to the light of hope of tomorrow. Let us look beyond the freedom we enjoy outside China to envision the freedom in the future of China.” “I long for the day when all of us are free; I long for the day when we can live together in peace.” God Bless America, and God Bless China.
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