Days of 1989: June 14, More Arrests and Crackdowns

On June 14, 1989, under the intense pressure of the Most Wanted, Zhou Fengsuo was arrested at his home, reportedly turned in by his own sister. (Zhou Fengsuo later claims that his sister had been deceived.) Xiong Yan was caught in a train. Ma Shaofang and Xiong Wei chose to turn themselves in separately.

Also arrested on this day were Dai Qing and Gao Xin.

More Most Wanted were published, this time include leaders of the Workers Autonomous Federation Han Dongfang, He Lili, and Liu Qiang.


Days of 1989

Zhou Fengsuo Participates in Hong Kong's Occupy Central Movement

For the first week of November, former 1989 Chinese student leader Zhou Fengsuo (周锋锁) joined in the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong, demanding a "real popular election" of the chief executive of the local government.

Zhou Fengsuo spent most of his time at the Admiralty occupation site, crashing in a tent for 7 days. As the first and so far only significant figure from the 1989 generation in this movement, he received considerable interest in the local media, resulting numerous interviews and reports. He also gave public speeches and held many discussions with the Hong Kong student leaders.

Sometimes emotional, Zhou Fengsuo expressed his appreciation of the Hong Kong movement for giving hope to China as well as allowing him to relive the days of Tiananmen.

Former Student Leader Visited China Briefly

Zhou Fengsuo (周锋锁), a former 1989 student leader, managed to sneak into China at the 25th anniversary. He paid a brief visit to the Tiananmen Square before being detained and deported.

In 1989, Zhou Fengsuo was heavily involved in the works with the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation as a representative from his Tsinghua University. That landed him on the fifth spot in the 21 Most Wanted list. After the massacre, he was arrested and jailed for a year, but was never formally charged or sentenced. The arrest and release should have technically cleared his "wanted" status.

According to his interview with the New York Times, Zhou Fengsuo now holds an American passport and has already had two previous, low-profile visits to China in recent years.

Among the 21 Most Wanted, so far only Li Lu was able to visit China without consequences, albeit under a specially arranged circumstance.

Chai Ling Lost Court Case Against "Gate of Heavenly Peace" Producer

A couple of years ago, former 1989 student leader Chai Ling, her husband and their company Jenzabar, filed lawsuits in a Massachusetts court against the Long Bow Group, the producer of famed documentary Gate of Heavenly Peace. In 1998, the court threw out claims for defamation, but the case involving a trademark claim dragged on.

This week, a trial judge summarily rejected the trademark claim.

This lawsuit had generated quite some interests. Chai Ling's supporters, led by his former husband Feng Congde, issued an open letter claiming to "defend the name of June 4th". That letter was co-signed by a few more 1989 leaders including Fang Zheng, Zhang Jian, Xiong Yan, Zhou Fengsuo, Cheng Zhen, Zheng Yi, etc.

On the other side, a group of intellectuals published an open letter supporting the Long Bow Group in the name of freedom of speech.

It is quite clear, however, that Chai Ling's lawsuit on the ground of trademark is nothing but a thinly wailed attempt to silence the Long Bow Group, whose use of her "Last Words" video record cast her in a controversial light. With this court ruling, it appears that she had lost this battle.

Liu Xiaobo Arrested

Another round of crackdown is quietly in progress in Beijing as hundreds of activists cosigned a "Charter of 08" on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the U. N. convention on human rights. One of its initiators, scholar Liu Xiaobo, was arrested and charged with "conspiracy and inciting subversion".

Liu Xiaobo was a professor in Beijing Normal University in 1989. He was visiting Columbia University in New York that Spring when he decided to return to Beijing. On June 2, he led a hunger strike by what to be called "Four Gentlemen" in Tiananmen Square, hoping to be able to assert more adult influence to the students there. The effort paid off when the "Four Gentlemen" were instrumental in leading the students safely out of the Square in the night of massacre.

Liu Xiaobo was initially blamed as the "black hands" of the movement but eventually was released without a formal charge. He did serve 20 months in detention however.

Also arrested is an activist by the name of Zhang Zuhua (张祖桦). Unconfirmed report has also been circulating on the internet in recent days that former student leader Zhou Fengsuo has been arrested while attempting to return to China.

NYT Archive 1989: Two Student Leaders Arrested

Zhou Fengsuo and Xiong Yan, two students who had been involved in the movement from the very early stage, were arrested, as reported by New York Times on June 15, 1989:

The television news announced tonight that 2 of the 21 student leaders who had been placed on a wanted list on Tuesday had been captured. It said that Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student in Beijing, had been turned in by his sister and her husband. The television program showed the couple being interviewed by the police.
The other student leader who was reported arrested was Xiong Yan, a 24-year-old graduate law student in Beijing. The circumstances of Mr. Xiong's arrest were not reported.

Partly because he was turned in by his own sister, Zhou Fengsuo was never formally tried or sentenced. He was released after a year in prison. He is currently living in California.

Xiong Yan spent nineteen months in detention and then fled to US in 1992. He then chose a unique path for his life: joining the US Army. He has served as a chaplain in Irag.

Zhou Fengsuo Harassed During the San Francisco Torch Relay

Fueled by the unrest and crackdown in Tibet, the Tibet Independence crowd has been the main force behind the protest against the Beijing Olympic torch relay in London, Paris, and San Francisco. Their voice and action has overshadowed many other concerns, including the human rights situation in China (besides Tibet), especially with the jailing of Hu Jia.

Perhaps bowing to the extreme nationalist sentiment, most Chinese dissidents in exile are in support of Beijing Olympics, with only few noted exceptions. They are also noticeably absent in any protest or support rallies during the Olympic torch relay.

But not for Zhou Fengsuo (周锋锁), one of the 21 Most Wanted student leaders after the 1989 massacre. A web site reported that Zhou was in San Francisco, attempting to protest the human rights and the Hu Jia case during the torch relay. But he and his friends were harassed and even beaten by the large pro-China crowd.

According to Zhou himself, they were near the AT&T park in the early morning. After they put on T-shirts with Hu Jia's picture and the words "Don't Forget June 4", they were quickly spotted by the crowd. He heard people asking each other: Are they "their people"?

They tried to talk about human rights issues on the crowd, but they were shouted down and separated. The crowd took away their flags and banners, which were made for the Tiananmen Massacre. One of them was hit at the back of head so hard that he is left bloody. There were police nearby but they chose not to interfere.

During the mayhem, Zhou also saw a few other people were beaten as well. One of them wore a white T-shirt and carried a black flag with the word "For Justice" on it. Zhou went to help him and learned his name is Leo.

Zhou recalled that he felt like he was in one of those crazy and violent mass abuse sessions during the Culture Revolution when he was constantly harassed, cursed, and pushed by the crowd.