Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A944-W608

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A944-W608

Release Date: June 9, 2016

发布日：2016年6月9日

Topic: On the 27th Anniversary of the June 4th Massacre, Do You Choose to Forget or Remember? (Voice of America "Issues and Opinions" Program)

标题：六四屠杀27周年，你选择遗忘还是记忆？(美国之音“时事大家谈”节目)

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

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Editor's note: the following is the VOA introduction of its "Issues and Opinions" talk show on June 2, 2016, featuring Xia Ming, Huang Ciping, and Wang Xueli.

On the 27th Anniversary of the June 4th Massacre, Do You Choose to Forget or Remember?

- by Yu Zhou, Voice of America

2016.06.03 04:54

Washington -

On June 4th 27 years ago, tanks and gunfire on the streets of Beijing became indelible memories for generations of Chinese. More than a quarter of a century later, the memories are still being suppressed by the Beijing authorities; even simplest observances were banned in the Chinese society. Facing the date of June 4th, how do we choose in between forced forgotteness and active memory? Why this choice is so important to us?

What were the Ideological Roots and Political Roots of the 1989 Democracy Movement in China?

Xia Ming, political science professor at the City University of New York, said that the ideological roots of the 1989 democracy movement were in a whole ideological liberation movement after 1979, including the opening of the Chinese society. At that time young people were subject to influence and enlightenment from thoughts of liberalism and democratic movement. Meanwhile, there were still many senior members of the Communist Party who advocated reform, such as Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, etc. These reform individuals had relatively bold ideological emancipation and reform ideas. Especially the economic development led the Chinese people to think that the high-level Communist Party still wanted a democratic reform starting from top toward the bottom. At that time, more than one hundred cities had demonstrations.

Huang Ciping, the Executive Director of the Wei Jingsheng Foundation, thinks that at that time the students and citizens in China still had a relatively good impression of the Chinese Communist Party, so people still expected a reform within the system. However, 27 years later, the reform has not happened; the Communist Party has intensified its bad doings, especially now with an increasingly fierce crackdown after Xi Jinping came to power. Now people have awakened to a certain extent, and they realize that the desire for the high-level Chinese Communist regime to promote democratic reform is unlikely. But overall it still needs people to push for the reform.

Professor Xia Ming said that the direct beneficiaries of the June 4th Massacre were definitely Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji. To some extent, the peaceful settlement of the Shanghai student movement paved the way for them to enter the top Communist leadership in Zhongnanhai. So in this case, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji have consciously drawn a line between themselves and the Tiananmen Square Massacre by calling it as "storm" and "event"; nor do they have any incentive to vindicate it. Later, Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao relatively avoided this issue. But currently Xi Jinping seems to clutch the "ownership" of the June 4th into his own hands.

Huang Ciping thinks that the blocking of the memory of the June 4th Massacre by the Chinese government every year in fact proves that the people do not trust this government. At the same time it shows how nervous and alarmed the government is. Even so, this kind of so-called "maintaining stability" will not make people to forget the painful memories of June 4th Massacre. As for Xi Jinping, as a princeling of the Communist Party, he wishes to maintain the red Communist color in China, even though he and a lot of his cronies were impacted during the 1989 Democracy Movement in China. However, due to the consideration of his own political interests, Xi also will not take the initiative to vindicate June 4th, and may also be suppressing the memories more violently.

How are we to Evaluate Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang?

Xia Ming thinks that as a staunch communist, Hu Yaobang ruled the country with a more open mind and humanity, so if his thoughts were implemented, even though he may not have brought a democratic transformation in China, he would have allowed China to have a relatively large progress. But Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang were slightly different. As the supreme leader, Zhao refused to stand opposite to the students. His humanity was actually greater than his loyalty to the Party. In the later time when Zhao Ziyang was under house arrest, he transformed into a person who supported a multi-party political system, so he and Hu Yaobang had this difference. It is important to save and organize the memory of the June 4th Massacre to let the world know, while looking for the possibility of future China moves towards democracy, to reflect the naiveness and inadequacy of that time regarding organization and responses.

Ms. Huang Ciping thinks the June 4th Massacre had successfully shattered the fantasy Chinese people had for the Communist government. Although in recent years June 4th is not allowed mention inside China, the Chinese people now still hold their democratic thoughts from the 1989 Democracy period and have not yielded to the Communist regime. Meanwhile, Chinese compatriots overseas, compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan, are also doing their best to help those who resist the suppression of the Communist regime.

What about Western Society's Attitude to the June 4th Massacre?

Professor Xia thinks that this whole thing is more complicated. During that time, because of Gorbachev's visit to China, Western reporters were gathered in Beijing. So the reports from the foreign correspondents were much more than the domestic coverage. But there was not enough support from the attitude of the then US President G. H. Bush. Especially after the take-off of the Chinese economy there were increasingly close economic exchanges between China and the USA, so afterwards, the administrations include George W. Bush and Obama did not provide sufficient attention.

Ms. Huang Ciping thinks the 1989 democracy movement had a broad impact outside of China, yet unfortunately did not have a very big impact inside China. Later due to the motivation of interest, the Western world also maintained a trend of silence. In recent years, the attitude of the Western society has had a turn on China, so we still need to observe carefully the future situation.

What is the Purpose and Feasibility of an Inscription of the June 4 Massacre?

The editor of "Yibao" Wang Xueli said, in 1992, UNESCO launched a project to protect the literature. It aims to protect precious literature worldwide, and to ensure that documents can be disseminated more widely. The planning of an inscription of June 4th was from the beginning of November last year. Untying the knot of June 4th is one of the unavoidable steps for China to move toward political civilization and is a necessary condition for democratic transition in China. Yet, solving the issue of June 4th depends on two things: the citizens' right to know the truth of the June 4th Massacre, as well as rights for freedom of expression about the June 4th Massacre.

Ms. Wang Xueli said that since the announcement in early December about this inscription project, responses were received from many colleagues at home and abroad. The current work includes collecting and sorting out copyright information, and on the learning of the application process. The current team has understood the complete inscription nomination process, and also has submitted the first application for inscription to UNESCO. The main sources of information are historical archives and the information saved by the witnesses.

Original link of this VOA report:

http://www.voachinese.com/content/june-4th-27-years-io-20160602/3359318.html

Related video:

http://www.voachinese.com/media/video/voa-io-20160602/3358831.html#relatedInfoContainer

or:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2016/HuangCP&XiaMon64anniversary160602VOAtalkshow.mp4

and on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-H6Ozo5PBw

or:

https://youtu.be/wRb4-Zbk8ec

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A944-W608

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A944-W608

Release Date: June 9, 2016

发布日：2016年6月9日

Topic: On the 27th Anniversary of the June 4th Massacre, Do You Choose to Forget or Remember? (Voice of America "Issues and Opinions" Program)

标题：六四屠杀27周年，你选择遗忘还是记忆？(美国之音“时事大家谈”节目)

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2016/report2016-06/XiaM&HuangCPon64anniversary160609VOAtalkshowA944-W608.htm

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(编者按：以下为2016年6月2日美国之音“时事大家谈”节目的介绍。)

六四屠杀27周年，你选择遗忘还是记忆？

-- 美国之音雨舟

2016.06.03 04:54

华盛顿-

27年前的6月4号，北京街头的坦克和枪声成为了几代中国人无法磨灭的记忆。超过四分之一个世纪过去了，这个记忆仍然被北京当局所压制，民间最简单的纪念活动都被封杀。面对六四，我们如何在强迫遗忘和主动记忆之间进行选择？为什么这种选择对我们又如此重要？

六四的思想根源和政治根源？

纽约城市大学政治学教授夏明表示，当时六四的思想根源是1979年之后整个的一个思想解放运动，包括当时的对外开放。当时的青年人都受到了自由主义思潮和民主运动思想的熏陶和启蒙。同时，八九年时中共高层中还有许多主张改革的人，如胡耀邦、赵紫阳等都还有比较大胆的思想解放和改革想法。尤其是经济上的发展使当时中国人民对于中共高层进行自上而下的民主化改革还有想法，全国一百多个大中城市都出现了游行。

魏京生基金会执行主任黄慈萍认为，当时的学生和中国国民对共产党还比较有好感，所以人民还在期望一场体制内的改革。然而27年过去了，改革并没有发生，而且共产党变本加厉，尤其在习近平上台后镇压越来越凶猛。现在民众在一定程度上觉醒了，期望中共高层推动中国民主化的改革是不太可能了，但是整体来说仍然需要民众去推动。

夏明教授表示，六四的直接受益人肯定是江泽民和朱镕基。从某种程度上来说，上海学运的和平解决为他们进入中南海铺平了道路。所以在这种情况下，江泽民和朱镕基都有意识地把自己和天安门的屠杀划清界限，认为六四只是风波和事件，所以他们也没有动力去平反六四。而后来的温家宝和胡锦涛则相对回避这个问题，但是到了习近平这里，他似乎将六四的"所有权"又攥到了自己的手里。

黄慈萍认为，现在中国政府每年对于六四记忆的封杀，事实上反而证明了老百姓对于政府的不信任。同时政府有多么的紧张和惊慌，而这种所谓的维稳也并不会让人们忘记对于六四的惨痛回忆。而对于习近平来说，作为太子党，他希望维持他的红色江山，即使他和他周围的亲信很多人都在六四时受到了冲击，但是出于他自己的政治利益的考虑，他也并不会去主动平反六四，同时还有可能更加猛烈地打压。

胡耀邦和赵紫阳的定位？

夏明认为，胡耀邦作为坚定的共产党人，对于国家的统治是比较开明和人性的，所以他的思想如果能够贯彻实施，尽管可能他并不能给中国带来中国民主政治的转型，但是也能让中国拥有相对大的进步。而赵紫阳和胡耀邦稍有不同，他作为当时的最高领导人，拒绝了和学生站在对立面。他的人性实际上是大于党性的，而且在后期，赵紫阳被软禁过程中已经转型成了一个支持多党制的政治人士，所以他和胡耀邦还是有区别的。对于六四的记忆重要的是抢救、整理，让世人所了解，同时寻找未来中国走向民主的可能性，反思当时在组织和应对方面的幼稚、不足。

黄慈萍女士认为，六四事件成功地破灭了中国民众对于政府的幻想，近年来虽然中国内部不提六四，但是现在中国人仍然还具有六四时期的思想，并没有屈服。同时海外同胞、港台同胞也在尽自己所能的帮助国内的六四人士反抗中共高层的镇压。

西方社会对于六四事件的态度？

夏明教授认为，这整件事情比较复杂，因为当时西方的记者都因为戈尔巴乔夫的访华而云集在北京。所以当时外国记者对于六四的报道比国内的报道完善得多。但是当时的布什总统对于六四的态度确实没有提供足够的支持，尤其是之后中国的经济起飞，使得中国与美国的经济交流越来越紧密，所以之后的包括小布什、奥巴马等政府都没有提供足够的关注。

黄慈萍女士认为，六四当时在中国国外产生了广泛的影响，但是遗憾的是在中国并没有产生非常大的影响。而且之后由于利益驱使，之后的西方世界也对六四保持了一个噤声的态势。近年来，西方社会对于六四的态度也有了一个转向，所以未来是怎么样的状况还是需要观察的。

六四申遗的目的和可行性？

《议报》主编王雪笠说，联合国教科文组织在1992年启动了文献保护的项目，目的是在全世界范围内保护珍贵的文献、并确保文献能够得到更广泛的传播。而六四申遗是从去年11月开始筹划的项目，解开六四的死结是中国走向政治文明无法回避的一步，也是中国实现民主转型的必要条件之一。而六四问题的解决又取决于两点：公民对于六四屠杀真相的知情权，以及对于六四屠杀自由表达的权力。

王雪笠表示，在十二月初公布了这个申遗的项目以来，得到了海内外许多同僚的响应。现在的工作主要包括资料的搜集、版权的梳理、对申请流程的学习等。而目前申遗团队已经了解了申遗的完整流程，同时也已经在发过向联合国教科文组织提交了第一份申遗的申请。资料的来源主要是史料存档和目击者所保存的资料等。

报道的原始链接：

http://www.voachinese.com/content/june-4th-27-years-io-20160602/3359318.html