WASHINGTON—The China democracy movement and hopes for reforming the communist regime of China were shattered on June 4, 1989 in the Tiananmen Square Massacre. To this day, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conceals information on the massacre from the Chinese people.
As the 20th anniversary approaches in just a few weeks, several people in the U.S. and in China who were directly affected by the tragedy are coming forward and demanding the truth be told. They are also looking for support from the new U.S. administration as the anniverary of the massacre approaches.
“I am here to remind the American government and the American people that the communist dictatorship that took my legs and the lives of thousands of innocent civilians on the morning of June 1989, is the same government that is in power today,” said Mr. Fang Zheng, who was trying to leave Tiananmen Square on that night when he was run over by a tank.
Mr. Fang was speaking on May 18 at a press conference on Capitol Hill, sponsored by human rights group, Initiatives for China. Fang was one of two survivors of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre invited to tell his experience and thoughts on the current communist regime.
In China, it is not permitted to freely discuss the Tiananmen Massacre with media, and Chinese media do not write about it. The incident is also censored on China’s Internet, which is among the most tightly controlled in the world.
As the 20th anniversary approaches in just a few weeks, several people in the U.S. and in China who were directly affected by the tragedy are coming forward and demanding the truth be told. They are also looking for support from the new U.S. administration as the anniverary of the massacre approaches.
“I am here to remind the American government and the American people that the communist dictatorship that took my legs and the lives of thousands of innocent civilians on the morning of June 1989, is the same government that is in power today,” said Mr. Fang Zheng, who was trying to leave Tiananmen Square on that night when he was run over by a tank.
Mr. Fang was speaking on May 18 at a press conference on Capitol Hill, sponsored by human rights group, Initiatives for China. Fang was one of two survivors of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre invited to tell his experience and thoughts on the current communist regime.
In China, it is not permitted to freely discuss the Tiananmen Massacre with media, and Chinese media do not write about it. The incident is also censored on China’s Internet, which is among the most tightly controlled in the world.
