LONDON—Protesters laid hundreds of red roses in front of the Chinese Embassy in London on Wednesday evening to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
One man not likely to forget the occasion was Shao Jiang. As a student leader in 1989, he witnessed the shootings and was subsequently imprisoned for 18 months and subjected to harassment and persecution thereafter, only managing to escape to the UK in 1997. Speaking to the assembled crowd he said; "We are not here today to back the Chinese government. We are here to demonstrate the power of the powerless, we are here to warn them not to underestimate our determination and persistence."
"One day our small actions will bring a big change. Human dignity will prevail in every corner in China. A man disappeared but he showed us dignity and hope, a man disappeared but millions of others will stand up" he said.
Tiananmen Mothers representative Xia Ze's cousin was shot dead near Tiananmen. She addressed embassy staff who were within earshot of the loud sound system, urging them to quit the Chinese Communist Party. She said;
"I was born in China and brought up in China, I love China but I never ever loved the Chinese Communist Party, which has brought human suffering and tragedy to the Chinese people. "
"Staff inside the Chinese embassy, please, do you realize that while the CCP is in power, Chinese people will have suffering. Please be clear minded, don't go with the CCP and remember, quit the CCP."
She said that disinformation has lead to today's young Chinese believing that students attacked and killed soldiers in 1989 and that student victims deserved to be killed.
Amnesty International's UK Director, Kate Allen, appealed to the Chinese government to grant Tiananmen Mothers the freedom to mourn the deaths of their children without harassment and an investigation into the events of June 1989.
Wei Jingsheng who was imprisoned for nearly 18 years for publishing essays and starting an underground magazine did not have anything to say to the Chinese government.
"They do understand what human rights is, but they don't give human rights to their own people because they are a Communist regime," he said.
Speaking of past atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party he said, "Some people are saying that those are all in the past but I have to tell you that this is still going on in China. In recent years, the Communist Party has killed many people from Falun Gong and also other religious groups."
Wei Jingshen went on to accuse the Chinese Government of killing thousands of Tibetans in the recent crackdown and far from praising the authorities for their response to the Sichuan earthquake, blamed government corruption for the collapse of schools.
"Many many young children were killed in the earthquake disaster because the Communist Officials and the contractors didn't make the buildings strong enough" he said.
They [the parents] understood very clearly that their children were not really killed by the earthquake but by the poor quality school buildings made by the corrupt government. Those parents are very angry; they are protesting and blaming the Chinese government right now."
Wei Jingsheng will give a talk on Thursday 5th of June at Amnesty International Headquaters in London. Tickets can be booked at: www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.
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