Wang Dan Calls For Commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre

October 1 is the National Day of the People's Republic of China. On this day, Wang Dan released a statement calling for the preparation of a world-wide commemoration of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.

The statement, titled as "Commemorating June 4th, Recover Justice, Let China become the Safe Homeland for all Chinese", is cosigned by his fellow exiled leaders Wang Juntao, Hu Ping, Chen Yizi, Liu Gang, Xiang Xiaoji, Li Jinjin, and Li Hengqing. It proclaims the planning of a series of commemorative activities in Hong Kong, Washington DC, and all over the world, as well as the publication of books and art works. It also calls for volunteers to join the efforts.

Premier Wen Jiabao Talks About Tiananmen

During his recent visit to the United States, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was interviewed by CNN's Fareed Zakaria. During the interview, Wen Jiabao was asked questions regarding Tiananmen massacre. Here are the excerpts from CNN's transcript:

Zakaria: When I go to China and I'm in a hotel and I type in the words Tiananmen Square in my computer, I get a firewall, what some people call the Great Firewall of China. Can you be an advanced society if you don't have freedom of information to find out information on the Internet?
Wen Jiabao: China now has over 200 million Internet users, and the freedom of Internet in China is recognized by many, even from the west. Nonetheless, to uphold state security, China, like many countries in the world, has also imposed some proper restrictions. That is for the safety, that is for the overall safety of the country and for the freedom of the majority of the people.
I can also tell you on the Internet in China, you can have access to a lot of postings that are quite critical about the government.
It is exactly through reading these critical opinions on the Internet that we try to locate problems and further improve our work.
I don't think a system or a government should fear critical opinions or views. Only by heeding those critical views would it be possible for us to further improve our work and make further progress.
I frequently browse the Internet to learn about a situation.

Zakaria: I will take advantage of your kindness and ask you a question that many people around the world wonder about. There is a very famous photograph of you at Tiananmen square in 1989. What lesson did you take from your experiences in dealing with that problem in 1989?
Wen Jiabao: I believe that while moving ahead with economic reforms, we also need to advance political reforms, as our development is comprehensive in nature, our reform should also be comprehensive.
I think the core of your question is about the development of democracy in China. I believe when it comes to the development of democracy in China, we talk about progress to be made in three areas:
No. 1: We need to gradually improve the democratic election system so that state power will truly belong to the people and state power will be used to serve the people
No. 2: We need to improve the legal system, run the country according to law, and establish the country under the rule of law and we need to view an independent and just judicial system.
No. 3: Government should be subject to oversight by the people and that will ask us, call on us to increase transparency in government affairs and particularly it is also necessary for government to accept oversight by the news media and other parties.
There is also another important aspect that when it comes to development of democracy in China, we need to take into account China's national conditions, and we need to introduce a system that suits China's special features, and we need to introduce a gradual approach.

In the early dawn of May 19, just a day before the martial law, then (and already disposed) General Secretary Zhao Ziyang made a surprise visit to students in Tiananmen Square for a teary farewell. Among the officers who accompanied Zhao Ziyang was Wen Jiabao, then the equivalent of Chief-of-Staff in the central government. The picture Fareed Zakaria was referring to must be one showing him with Zhao Ziyang in the Square at that moment.

At the time, Wen Jiaobao had been considered to be solidly in Zhao Ziyang's camp and was expected to be disposed in the aftermath. Yet Wen Jiabao survived the purge and eventually became the Premier himself.

Hu Jia Rumored For Nobel Peace Prize

It's probably just a rumor, though.

Wang Dan Denied Visa to Hong Kong

Wang Dan was invited to participate in a conference in Hong Kong but his application for an entry visa was denied by the Chinese consulate. In exile, Wang Dan has maintained his Chinese citizenship but his passport had expired in 2003, when the Chinese officials refused to renew it. Early this year, he had planed for a protest on his citizenship rights, which was later indefinitely postponed due to the earthquake disaster in China.

Wang Dan had also been denied visa to visit Hong Kong in 1999. But other student leaders were able to visit Hong Kong in the past.

Hua Guofeng Passed Away

The one-time "Wise Leader of China", Hua Guofeng (华国锋), has passed away with only a whimper in China. The official announcement only mentioned that he had served in "important positions within the [Communist] Party and the government" without mentioning what those positions were.

In 1976, the previously little-known provincial leader became the surprise successor of the "Great Leader" Chairman Mao Zedong. He assumed the positions of the Party Chairman, President of the nation, as well as the Premier. But his main accomplishment would be the arrest of the so-called Gang of Four that included Mao Zedong's own widow, barely a month after Mao Zedong's death. The coup also signaled the end of the decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

Hua Guofeng nonetheless chose to cling to the ideologue of Mao Zedong and saw his grasp of power eroding with the re-emergence of Deng Xiaoping. In December, 1978, Deng Xiaoping engineered a much less dramatic coup to depose Hua Guofeng. That action kicked off the great reform of China.


After losing the top leadership posts, Hua Guofeng lingered on as a nominal leader, making rare and insignificant appearances only at large Party Congresses. He was 87 years old.

Washington Post Looking For Traces of Tiananmen Massacre

Washington Post reports today that "In Tiananmen of Games, No Trace of '89 Massacre". It interviewed or reported the stories of Liu Xiaobo, Wang Dan, Ding Zilin, and Fang Zheng. The report mentioned that Liu Xiaobo has never returned to the Tiananmen Square since the night of the massacre, although he lives in the city of Beijing.

Neither Liu Xiaobo nor Wang Dan sees any hope for an open discussion of the events of the 1989 any time soon. Wang Dan was quoted saying that "The government lacks the confidence. It's very clear a crime was committed against the people. They're afraid of being blamed."

Yang Jianli Denied Entry In Hong Kong

Yang Jianli, who had embarked on a walk for Tiananmen anniversary, is currently stuck in detention at Hong Kong. He was en route from Japan to Sichuan, where he said he intended to visit the earthquake disaster area and found a new school with donations he had collected overseas. He refused to be sent back to Japan.

Yang Jianli is traveling with a valid passport from the People's Republic of China. His original Chinese passport had become invalid after the government refused to renew it for his activities during the 1989 student movement. In 2002, he entered China with a friend's passport and was caught, for which he served out a five-year sentence in China. After his release, he was able to obtain a new passport before leaving the country. Yang Jianli stated that he had used the passport to travel to Hong Kong earlier this year without any problems.

Hong Kong, a special territory of China, technically has the right to deny entry any person who is not a resident, even Chinese citizens.