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Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition News and Article Release Issue: A18-G9
中国民主运动海外联席会议新闻与文章发布号：A18-G9
Release Date: June 12, 2003
发布日：2003年6月12日
Topic: DC Vigil for the 14th Anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen Massacre
标题：天安门屠杀十四周年
华盛顿"六·四"烛光纪念
Original Language Version: Chinese
(English at beginning, Chinese version at the end)
Please visit our website if you have problem to read Chinese in this issue
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
Candlelight Vigil in Washington DC honoring
the 14th Anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen Massacre
To commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Tiananmen Democratic Movement and
its bloody suppression by the Chinese communist regime, a candlelight vigil,
"In Memory of June 4th and Never Forget the National Tragedy", was held on
June 1, 2003 at Tiananmen Park in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington
DC. The event was sponsored by over ten organizations, including the
Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in the US (IFCSS),
the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition, the Wei JingSheng Foundation, and
the Greater Washington Network for Democracy in China (GWNDC), the Global
Alliance for Democracy and Peace, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.
The candlelight vigil was presided over by Mr. Yi, Danxuan of IFCSS and had
over
100 participants. The speakers included US Congressman Sherrod Brown; Mr.
Wei,
Jingsheng, Chairman, Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition (OCDC); Dr. Ho-I
Wu, Chairman, Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace; Wang, Dan, student
leader of the '89 movement; Ms. Gao, Zhan, research fellow of the American
University; and Mr. Martin Lee, former Chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic
Party and a legislator.
The memorial service started with a documentary video titled "We Shall Never
Forget," which faithfully depicted the 1989 Tiananmen Democratic Movement and
its bloody suppression. Participants were visibly moved by the scenes of
totally unarmed students butchered on and around
Tiananmen Square.
After the video, a letter to IFCSS from Ms. Ding, Zilin of the Tiananmen
victim groups was read. "14 years have passed since the June 4th Massacre. To
the majority of Chinese, it's already history. However, for 14 years, you
have gathered to commemorate the victims year after year, you have provided
selfless humanitarian aid to the relatives of the victims and the injured and
disabled. We shall never forget your compassion and love."
Mr. Wei, Jingsheng, the Chairman of OCDC stated, "When the democratic
movement is at its low tide, it is most important to hold on to the belief in
justice. No matter what others are saying and doing, we need to be able to
bear the loneliness. In difficult times, persistence is the key."
Mr. Wang, Dan, a student leader of the movement 14 years ago, made a special
trip to
Washington
to participate in the candlelight vigil held in front of the embassy of the
Chinese regime. "Many had thought that the dictatorship and brutality of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was the internal affair of China and irrelevant
to international affairs," said Wang, Dan. "From the explosive spreading of
SARS and the disasters and chaos it has brought to international society,
people can clearly see the tremendous impact a dictatorial regime sustained
by deception is able to cause to mankind."
US Congressman Sherrod Brown, a member of the US Congressional-Executive
Commission on China praised the courage shown by Wei Jingsheng for his
decades of devotion to Chinese human rights and democracy, as well as these
died during the '89 democratic movement. "When we trade with China, we need
to ensure that the human rights, labor, and environmental conditions in China
are up to good standards," he said. "For the members of the
Congressional-Executive Commission on China who care about human rights, we
believe that to improve human rights situations in China, we need everyone to
step forward, to speak out, and to inform us on the democracy and human
rights situations, which we need to know on an ongoing basis."
Mr. Martin Lee, who had just arrived in Washington, also gave a speech. He
said that for the 14 years, he had participated in every candlelight vigil
held at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4 of each year. "14 years ago, I
was in the million-people demonstration of Hong Kong as a vice president of
the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of
China." This year, for the first time, Mr. Lee missed the 6.4 anniversary in
Hong Kong and made an appearance outside instead - the reason was to lobby
the US government against
Hong Kong
legislation Article 23 that is intended to align with the Beijing government
to restrict the freedom and the basic rights of Hong Kong citizens'.
Dr. Ho-I Wu, the Chairman of Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace, brought
with him copies of Time and Newsweek vintage magazines of 1989. The covers
depicted scenes of the June 4th massacre. On the cover of one Time magazine,
a mother was heart-stricken for her son crushed to death by a tank. Dr. Wu
was wearing the same clothes that he wore 14 years ago when joining tens of
thousands of people in a demonstration supporting the students in Beijing. "I
came here every year to grieve over this sad day," Dr. Wu said. He called on
the CCP to give everyone liberties and dignity of life. He mentioned
Catholics and FaLunGong in particular. "One does not have to practice
FaLunGong. But one cannot condone the atrocity of the CCP. CCP should give
FaLunGong the right to exist, and should give social groups freedom of
association," he said.
Ms. Gao, Zhan, a research fellow of the American University who was detained
by the Chinese government for months, came to the event and attended the
whole proceeding even though her baby is almost due. She said, "In the
future, we should forever eliminate the word "over-ruling" when talking about
the June 4th massacre." She stated that asking the CCP regime to "over-rule"
the June 4th event and to give another verdict meant bowing to the power,
meant recognizing its authority and legitimacy, and meant expecting it to be
able to face history and examine, disapprove, and go beyond itself. "I have
to say "No" to that!"
In the candlelight vigil, IFCSS announced the 2003 IFCSS Free Spirit Award
winner, Mr. Jiang, Qisheng, a student leader of '89, who has just been
released from prison. After the June 4th suppression, Mr. Jiang was
imprisoned for holding dialogues with the regime as a student representative.
Then in 1999, he was again jailed for openly appealing to have the June 4th
verdict corrected. This time he received a 4-year sentence. The awarding
statement of IFCSS said, "Under the authoritarian ruling of CCP, Chinese
people are enslaved. Spiritual mutes, deaf, and blind are everywhere.
However, there are still a few who are awake, strong, and brave, who would
rather be citizens than subjects." The statement praised that Mr. Jiang,
although being in prison twice, was still brave and fearless, was speaking
out loudly, and was courageous enough to be an advocate of the citizens.
IFCSS awarded the third Freedom Spirit Award to Mr. Jiang, Qisheng, as "a
model of the nation, to recognize his conviction, his persistence, and his
firmness."
A song specially composed by Ms. Demian for the June 4th massacre was played
during the candlelight vigil, which was concluded with a chorus of the song,
Wounds of History, by all participants.
(We are grateful for the help and input from IFCSS and DaJiYuan for this
issue.)
中文版
天安门屠杀十四周年
华盛顿"六·四"烛光纪念
全美中国学生学者自治联合会（IFCSS）、中国民主运动海外联席会议、魏京生基金会、大华府支持民运联委会、全侨民主和平联盟、及肯尼迪纪念等十多个团体，六月一日晚于美国首都华盛顿中国大使馆前天安门公园，联合举办"纪念六·四、勿忘国殇"烛光晚会，纪念天安门民主运动及中共血腥镇压十四周年。
烛光纪念会由全美学自联易丹轩主持，一百多名中外人士出席。参加纪念会并发表演讲的有：美国国会议员谢洛·布朗（Sherrod
Brown）、中国民主运动海外联席会议主席魏京生、全侨民主和平联盟主席巫和怡、八九学生领袖王丹、美利坚大学研究员高瞻及香港民主党前主席、立法委员李柱铭。
纪念会以题为"我们决不会忘记"的录像片开始。该片真实记录了一九八九年天安门民主运动和六·四血腥镇压的场面。参加活动的中外人士看到天安门广场手无寸铁的学生惨遭残杀的一幕幕，无不为之动容。
晚会接着宣读了天安门难属丁子霖女士致全美学自联的信。丁子霖女士在信中表示："六·四惨案十四年过去了，对于大多数中国人来说，那场杀戮早已成为历史。然而十四年来，你们年复一年集会纪念六·四遇难者，年复一年给予六·四难属和伤残者无私的人道帮助。我们将永远铭记你们的这份同情和关爱。"
中国民主运动海外联席会议主席魏京生说："民主运动在低潮的时候，坚持正义的信念最重要，无论外界如何，要耐得住寂寞，在困难时期，坚持是最紧要的。"
当年的学生领袖王丹也专程赶来华盛顿参加中国大使馆门前的烛光会，王丹说："很多人都认爲中共的集权和残暴是中国国内的事务，与国际事务没有关系，萨斯的爆发，和给国际社会带来的灾乱，人们清楚地看到，一个靠欺骗维持的专制政权，将会给人类带来何等冲击。"
美国国会议员谢洛·布朗赞赏了数十年来魏京生为民主奋斗以及六·四民主运动中中国人民的勇气。作为美国国会中国事务委员会成员之一，他说，"我们在同中国作贸易时，一定要确定中国的人权，劳工及环境状况要达到标准。"谢洛·布朗说，"那些重视人权的中国事务委员会成员相信，中国人权要靠所有人继续站起来，继续说出来，继续告诉我们我们所需要知道的有关中国民主和人权方面的讯息。"
刚刚赶到华府的李柱铭也作了演讲，他说，十四年来每年的六·四在香港维多利亚公园都举办烛光晚会，他每一年都参加。但这次他缺席了-因为他们七人代表团专程赶到美国华盛顿游说政府官员和国会议员来反对限制港人自由的香港23条。
全侨民主和平联盟主席巫和怡特别带来了多本1989年美国的时代杂志和新闻周刊。杂志的封面都是六·四屠杀的场面，其中一期时代杂志的封面上，一位母亲因儿子惨死在坦克下面而悲痛欲绝。他今天特别穿上14年前在华府上万人集会支持北京学生时穿的衣服。巫和怡说："我每年都会来这里，哀悼这个悲痛的日子。"他呼吁中共必须给所有人生活的自由和尊严，他特别提到天主教徒和法轮功团体，他说："你可以不练法轮功，但不能认同中共的残暴镇压，中共应该让法轮功自由活动，让社会团体有自由结社的权利。"
美利坚大学研究员高瞻即将临产，但坚持参加了全程活动。她在演讲中指出："在我们今后关于六·四话语中把'平反'两个字永远去掉。"她表示，要求中共政权平反六·四，给六·四重作结论，意味著你向强权低下你高贵的头颅，承认中共政权的权威，承认它存在的合法性。期待他还有坦然面对历史，检讨自己的能力，期盼他还有否定和超越自己的理性，在这里我要说'不'!"
在烛光纪念会上，学自联宣布将2003年度全美学自联自由精神奖授予刚刚在北京获释的八九学生领袖江棋生。在六·四镇压后，江棋生因为代请愿学生与政府对话首次入狱。一九九九年，他因为公开呼吁平反"六·四"被再度判刑四年。全美学自联在授奖辞中指称："在中共极权统治下的中国，臣民奴性十足，精神哑巴、聋子和盲人充斥。然而有醒者、强者和勇者，不做臣民，要做公民。"
授奖辞称颂江棋生两度蒙难，却无畏无惧，并大声宣告，勇做公民的代言人。全美学自联将第三届"自由精神奖"授予江棋生这位"民族的楷模，以表彰他的信念、他的执着、他的坚韧"。
烛光纪念会还播送了Demian女士特为六·四创作演唱的歌曲，最后在全体出席者同声合唱"历史的伤口"声中结束。
（本期得到了全美学自联与大纪元的帮助，特此鸣谢！）
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