{"id":1188,"date":"2014-06-04T04:51:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T04:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=1188"},"modified":"2014-06-04T04:51:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T04:51:58","slug":"tiananmens-most-wanted-four-inspiring-activists-remember-the-crackdown-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/tiananmens-most-wanted-four-inspiring-activists-remember-the-crackdown-part-one","title":{"rendered":"Tiananmen\u2019s \u2018Most Wanted\u2019: Four inspiring activists remember the crackdown – Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 June 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\u0642\u064f\u062a\u0644 \u0623\u0648 \u062c\u064f\u0631\u062d \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0626\u0627\u062a\u060c \u0625\u0646 \u0644\u0645 \u064a\u0643\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0622\u0644\u0627\u0641\u060c \u0644\u064a\u0644\u062a\u064a 3 \u06484 \u064a\u0648\u0646\u064a\u0648 1989 \u0645\u0639 \u0627\u0642\u062a\u062d\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a \u0645\u064a\u062f\u0627\u0646 \u062a\u064a\u0627\u0646\u0627\u0646\u0645\u0646 \u0642\u064f\u062a\u0644 \u0623\u0648 \u062c\u064f\u0631\u062d \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0626\u0627\u062a\u060c \u0625\u0646 \u0644\u0645 \u064a\u0643\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0622\u0644\u0627\u0641\u060c \u0644\u064a\u0644\u062a\u064a 3 \u06484 \u064a\u0648\u0646\u064a\u0648 1989 \u0645\u0639 \u0627\u0642\u062a\u062d\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a \u0645\u064a\u062f\u0627\u0646 \u062a\u064a\u0627\u0646\u0627\u0646\u0645\u0646 \u00a9 Hong Kong Alliance<\/p>\n

\u201c
\nWhen you have rows and rows of tanks moving together, the ground shakes. I saw people with bloody shirts; people being carried on rooftops to safety so they could go to hospital. It was not safe on the road with stray bullets flying everywhere.
\n\u201d
\nShen Tong.<\/p>\n

\u201c
\nI was going to stay in a hotel but I found out my picture from the \u2018Most Wanted\u2019 list was posted in the reception. I hid for two months.
\n\u201d
\nLu Jinghua
\nTwenty-five years ago the China People\u2019s Liberation Army opened fire on unarmed protesters in Beijing\u2019s iconic Tiananmen Square.
\nHundreds, if not thousands, were killed or injured on the night of 3 and 4 June 1989 as tanks rolled into the square to quash one of the biggest pro-democracy movements in history.
\nIn the aftermath of the bloody crackdown the authorities published the names of those \u201cMost Wanted\u201d for their role in the protests. Besides the student activists who led the movement, those singled out by the authorities also included ordinary workers and others who felt inspired by their struggle.
\nIn the first of a two-part series, two of those \u201cMost Wanted\u201d told Amnesty International their extraordinary stories and shared their hopes for China today.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nShen TongShen Tong: \u2018We didn\u2019t believe the government would commit such a horror\u2019
\nShen Tong was a reluctant leader of the 1989 student protests. Despite only being 20 years old, he was considered a veteran activist by many of his peers at Peking University.
\n\u201cThe vast majority wanted reform not revolution. We really felt we were patriots. We believed we were actually helping the government,\u201d Shen Tong explains from his home in New York where he now runs a successful media company.
\nWhen the government declared martial law on 20 May, support for the students who had been protesting in Tiananmen Square grew among ordinary workers.
\n\u201cThe arrogance of the government was the main source of the acceleration of the protest. More and more people came out. Some Beijing citizens managed to stop troops moving to Tiananmen then. There was an incredible spiritual uplift. We felt invincible. We had defied the government on their first attempt to end the protests.
\n\u201cThe troops were trapped in and around Beijing. Old ladies, mothers with children in their arms, workers, would give daily lectures to soldiers on what the movement was about and why the troops should leave.
\n\u201cThat was the atmosphere before the massacre. We were all exhausted but as alive as anyone can be.\u201d
\nOn the night of the crackdown, Shen was staying at his family home in Beijing. He had returned to be with his mother as his father was seriously ill in hospital.
\n\u201cMy father being sick probably saved my life. I felt compelled as a son to stay with my mum. Otherwise I would have been in Tiananmen.
\n\u201cMy neighbourhood was off Chang\u2019an Avenue where most of the killing took place. That\u2019s why I saw the start of the massacre -soldiers opening fire at protesters.\u201d
\n\u201cAt first we thought they were rubber bullets. We didn\u2019t take the live ammunition claims seriously. We didn\u2019t believe the government would commit such a horror.\u201d
\nShen TongBut the soldiers\u2019 weapons were fully loaded. They had strict orders to clear the square of protesters by 6am on 4 June.
\n\u201cWhen you have rows and rows of tanks moving together, the ground shakes.
\n\u201cThen it finally sunk in. I saw people with bloody shirts; people being carried on rooftops to safety so they could go to hospital. It was not safe on the road with stray bullets flying everywhere.\u201d
\nShen carries a heavy burden from the horrors of that night: \u201cI know it\u2019s irrational but I do feel responsible for those casualties. This has been with me for 25 years.\u201d
\n\"\"He has analysed over and over again what the students could have done differently.
\n\u201cLooking back we were too naive. Such a protest in a police state is a paradigm shift. There\u2019s no telling where the line is. We were redefining the line.\u201d
\nImmediately after 4 June, friends and strangers helped Shen to hide from the authorities. Despite being on the \u201cMost Wanted\u201d list, he was able to leave undisguised from Beijing Airport on 11 June. He boarded a flight to Tokyo, and then on to Boston, USA.
\nHe continued his studies and at the same time campaigned tirelessly for human rights in China.
\nIn August 1992, Shen decided to return to Beijing. He was detained and spent two months in jail before being returned to the USA.
\n\u201cThe Chinese regime today is the largest, most brutal mafia structure known to mankind. The 1980s held much more promise. As horrible and terrible as it was, it was less brutal than today.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t care if the official account changes or not. We know what happened. We did an effective job of telling the world.\u201d
\nLu Jinghua: \u2018One body fell by me, then another\u2019
\nIn the spring of 1989, Lu Jinghua made her living selling clothes at a small stall in Beijing. Each morning on her way to work, the 28-year-old mother would pass Tiananmen Square and see the students protesting.
\n\u201cI became interested and would visit them to ask why. I really supported their call for an end to corruption. So I brought food and water for them,\u201d Lu Jinghua recalls in her clear and commanding voice.
\nA few days after martial law was imposed, Lu joined The Beijing Workers\u2019 Autonomous Federation in Tiananmen Square. It was a decision that changed her life.
\n\u201cI volunteered to be a broadcaster because of my voice. I would stand in Tiananmen Square and share the latest news over the loud speakers. At night I would sleep in a tent at the square.
\n\"\"\u201cI would go to the factories to make special announcements, to urge the workers to come and support the students. I really enjoyed those days. I was happy. The movement changed my life.\u201d
\nBut then, on 3 June, the day after her daughter\u2019s first birthday, the army began their assault to clear Tiananmen Square.
\n\u201cI was really angry at the government. I announced on the speaker: \u2018The Chinese government is trying to kill us.\u2019 I saw people getting killed and injured. When the tanks approached the square at about 2.30am on 4 June, I told the students: \u2019You need to leave. If you stay you will be killed.\u2019
\n\u201cWith the army approaching we had to leave. I heard bullets whizz past and people getting shot. One body fell by me, then another. I ran and ran to get out of the way. People were crying out for help, calling out for ambulances. Then another person would die.\u201d
\nFor several days after 4 June, Lu was overcome by sadness: \u201cI could not believe the government had tried to kill us.\u201d
\nWhen the government published the \u201cMost Wanted\u201d list, she was the only woman among the six workers who were singled out.
\nThe army descended upon her family home. They kicked down doors and searched every room. They shouted at her mother and father and even put a gun to her sister\u2019s head.
\nBut Lu was already in hiding. A week after the crackdown she had left Beijing and travelled to Guangzhou in south China.
\nLu Jinghua\u201cI was going to stay in a hotel but I found out my picture from the \u2018Most Wanted\u2019 list was posted in the reception. I hid for two months. I called contacts in Hong Kong, pleading for them to help me. I was confused about whether I should leave or stay. If I didn’t try to escape I would be in danger, but my daughter was only one year old. I hadn\u2019t seen her for months. It was an impossible decision. But I needed to save my life and that\u2019s why I accepted I had to go.\u201d
\n\"\"Lu\u2019s contacts in Hong Kong helped her to plan her escape. In the dark of the night, she and five others swam up a river to a small boat. They were then transferred to a speed boat and out to sea.
\nShe made it to the safety of Hong Kong and in December that year she flew to New York, where she was granted refugee status.
\n\u201cI was able to have one telephone call with my mum and daughter. I cried on the phone. I hadn\u2019t seen my daughter for six months. I told my mum: \u2018I will work so hard to make a good life for my family, for my daughter\u2019.\u201d
\nHer voice cracks as she recalls the pain of being separated from her family.
\nIn 1993, she attempted to return to China to see her family: \u201cWhen I got off the plane the authorities stopped me. I could see my mum holding my daughter on the other side of the gate but the police wouldn\u2019t let me talk to them.
\n\u201cAll I wanted was to say hello. The police took my arm and kicked me. They took me away and sent me back to the USA. I never got to see my family.\u201d
\nShe would have to wait another year to be reunited with her daughter, who was able to join Lu in the USA on 16 December 1994.
\nWhen her mother died in 1998, and her father a year later, the Chinese authorities refused to grant Lu visas to attend the funerals.
\nIn New York, Lu continued to campaign for workers\u2019 rights. She became a representative for a garment workers\u2019 union, before becoming a real estate agent.
\nTwenty-five years on, she is proud of what the Tiananmen Square protests achieved.
\n\u201cWe will never forget what happened. It was the right thing to do. I was young, doing something. I still believe in this. I still fight for human rights in China.
\n\u201cI was just a 28-year-old woman riding past Tiananmen Square on my bicycle. Nobody respected me but afterwards people wanted to hear what I had to say.\u201d
\nAnd Lu is clear in what she wants the Chinese government to say.
\n\u201cWhat I want is for the government to say it is sorry. To apologize for what they did in 1989. They need to give us an apology.\u201d
\nFrom\u00a0http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/news\/tiananmen-s-most-wanted-four-inspiring-activists-remember-crackdown-2014-06-02<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 June 2014   \u0642\u064f\u062a\u0644 \u0623\u0648 \u062c\u064f\u0631\u062d \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0626\u0627\u062a\u060c … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,95],"tags":[94,303,101],"views":950,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1190,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188\/revisions\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}