Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A1214-W836

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1214-W836

Release Date: June 1, 2019

发布日：2019年6月1日

Topic: In Memory of Those Who Sacrificed Their Lives in 1989 -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：纪念1989年的牺牲者们 -- 魏京生

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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In Memory of Those Who Sacrificed Their Lives in 1989

-- Wei Jingsheng

Today's young people may not be fully aware of the pro-democracy movement that happened in 1989 in China. However, scenes of the enormous and earth-shaking demonstrations, and the blood-shedding massacre that ended these, were permanently etched in the memories of many middle-aged and older folks. Millions of people in major cities across China -- students, citizens, intellectuals, and officials of the Communist Party and government agencies took the streets with massive, spontaneous protests, which not only greatly shook the Communist Party in China, but also tremendously moved the entire world.

Followed in the night of June 3rd and early hours of June 4th, gunshots started to ring out in cities, especially in Beijing, the capital. On streets and in Tiananmen Square, people were falling onto the ground, and blood was flowing everywhere. Thousands of students and citizens were mowed down by machine guns firing live ammunition or run over and crushed to corpses by tanks. For demanding democracy and freedoms, for wanting happier lives for themselves and their children, countless brave people sacrificed their flesh and blood, indeed their lives, against armed-to-the-teeth combat troops.

In this massacre, some soldiers showed their conscience as human beings. Their representative was General Xu Qinxian, then the commander of the 38th Army. He was court-martialed for refusing to obey orders to open fire at the protesters. There were also soldiers who pointed their guns above people's heads, and thus avoided hurting their fellow folks. However, there were also many heartless ones who showed no humanity, who used their machine guns and tanks to slaughter the people indiscriminately, including some middle school students.

For 30 years, the Chinese Communist regime has been forbidding people in China to talk about this movement, let alone commemorating the merciless massacre. As a consequence, many young people seem to forget or even have not heard of this struggle of their elders. However, many others have not forgotten the sacrifices their loved ones gave. They are commemorating, fighting, and demanding redress and compensation from the Communist regime. There are also many, led by overseas movements for democracy in China, who publicly commemorate those heroes and victims every year; while even more in Mainland China, fearful of suppression and persecution by the Communist regime, carry out their own memorials secretly and privately.

The Communist Party and the troll army on its payroll have not been totally silent about the pro-democracy movement either. One of their arguments is that you characters have been trying for three decades without success. They have also concentrated their attacks on the overseas democracy movement, asking what we have achieved in those years. Their aim is to provoke people's dissatisfaction with the democracy movement.

Would it ever be easy for a quarter of the world's population to achieve democracy and enjoy freedom? The United States, which had only a few million people when it was founded, was successful only after the forefathers had struggled and fought for more than two centuries. Why would the Chinese people have to succeed in just three decades? I believe it is the duty of our generations to do whatever we can to lay the foundation for the final victory in the future without looking for an instant reward today.

There are people who have been working relentlessly without much or any compensation, they have been contributing time, energy, and money, sometimes even jeopardizing their relatives' welfare due to the ruthless control of the communist regime. They have been carrying on like this for the last three even four decades. They are the elites of our nation. Our comrades in Mainland China deserve even more respect. They have endured much worse conditions, been in and out of jails, and some were even murdered under the guise of diseases. They are true heroes. We really should not be too critical on them. Of course, there are propaganda trolls paid by the regime would be harsh and harmful against them. There are also these real fools, who are stupid enough to help the regime's agents without even knowing it.

From the Internet, I have got a feeling that people often have a wishful mentality, thinking wonderful things will eventually fall upon them from the sky. The regime's propaganda agents have been working hard to cultivate and promote such thinking amongst the people. That is exactly why rubbishes such as "peace, rationality, and non-violence"; "reconciliation" think tanks, and "constitutional leadership dominated by the Communist Party" types of fooling effort have been gaining popularity. These have all been designed to feed na?ve people with pipedreams, intoxicating them into believing that wonderful things will indeed fall from the sky.

Of course, a peaceful evolution would be the best outcome we hope for. However, without convincing those in power that violence will eventually be met with violence and they will face the direst consequences because of that, why would they surrender their power for the evolution? Without the determination to fight for what you believe in with your lives, will the rogue thugs of the regime give in to people's desire? Peaceful evolution is not going to happen simply because we have wished for it. Without paying a huge price, it will never happen.

Even after democracy has been established, good results can still only be achieved with people's demands for them and will come with costs. Democracy and rule of law only provide a peaceful, rational, and non-violent environment for people to fight without resorting to bloody violence. In addition to oppression and exploitation, an authoritarian tyranny is typically plagued with irrational and violent political struggles. It is not just ruthless to common folks, but also merciless to those in politics. Wonderful things from the sky are always just a dream that will never come true.

Original link of this commentary:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-05292019164649.html

To hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2019/WeiJS190529on64commemoration.mp3

(Written and recorded on May 29, 2019. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A1214-W836

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1214-W836

Release Date: June 1, 2019

发布日：2019年6月1日

Topic: In Memory of Those Who Sacrificed Their Lives in 1989 -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：纪念1989年的牺牲者们 -- 魏京生

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/report2019/report2019-06/WeiJS190601on64commemorationA1214-W836.htm

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纪念1989年的牺牲者们

-- 魏京生

现在的年轻人，可能不太清楚1989年的那场民主运动。轰轰烈烈的场面和血腥屠杀的场面，是中老年以上的那几代人难以忘却的记忆。全国各大城市上百万的人，学生、市民、知识分子和党政机关的干部，在街道上形成了声势浩大的自发的游行抗议。这给共产党造成了极大的震撼，也给全世界造成了极大的震撼。

随后在六月四号的凌晨，枪声响起。广场上，街道上一片血肉狼藉，成千上万的学生和市民倒在了机枪坦克的铁蹄之下。为了民主自由的理想，为了这一代人和后代更幸福的生活，无数勇敢的人们用血肉之躯和武装的军队对抗，付出了牺牲。

在这场屠杀中，有些军人表现出了作为人的良心，他们的代表人物是三十八军的徐勤先军长。他因为拒绝执行屠杀人民的命令，而被送上了军事法庭。也有很多军人抬高了枪口，避免伤害父老乡亲。但也有很多虎狼一般没有人性的军人，用机枪坦克无差别地屠杀人民，连十几岁的中学生也不放过。

三十年来，中共害怕谈论这场毫无人性的屠杀，导致很多年轻人似乎忘记了自己先辈的历史。但是也有很多人没有忘记自己亲人的牺牲，他们在纪念，在抗争，在寻求政府的平反和赔偿。也有很多人，以海外民主运动为首，每年公开纪念这些英雄和牺牲者。更多的在国内的人，迫于共产党的压制和迫害，只能在内心里和私下的场合纪念他们。

共产党和他们豢养的五毛也不是不谈论民主运动，他们的一个论调就是：三十年了你们还没有成功。并且集中攻击海外民运说：三十年了你们都干了什么?借此挑拨人们对民主运动的不满。

人类四分之一的民主和自由，是那么容易就能够得到的吗？建国时只有几百万人口的美国，也是在先贤们奋斗努力了二百多年才成功。为什么中国人就必须在三十年内成功呢？我觉得我们这几代人就是为他人作嫁衣裳，给后几代人的成功打基础。

在自己无所得的前提下默默奉献，出钱出力牵连亲属，而能坚持为他人做嫁衣裳三十年甚至四十年，这些人才是民族的精英。国内的同道们更可敬，他们还要时不时地去监狱里报到，甚至被疾病死。除了为了五毛钱就能吃掉良心的人，有人会对他们苛责吗？没拿钱就跟着特务瞎起哄的人，更是蠢得忘了自己是谁。

从网络上看，人们普遍有一种梦想心态，以为天上终究会掉下馅饼来。中共的文化特务也在极力推动这种心态的发展。所以什么和平理性非暴力，什么和解智库，什么党主立宪之类的大忽悠，便风行一时。这些都是利用人们善良的梦想设计的，其前提就是天上可以掉馅饼。

和平演变，当然是我们的最高理想。但是没有暴力斗争的严重后果作对照，人家凭什么让你把他们的特权演变掉呢？没有以命相搏的决心，流氓暴徒们会向人民让步吗？和平演变不是天上掉下来的馅饼，没有不付出代价的和平演变。

甚至民主之后，每一个好的结果，也都是人们通过斗争并且付出代价得到的。民主、法制，只是给人们提供了一个和平理性非暴力的斗争环境，不必经常进行流血的斗争。专制暴政提供给人们的，除了压迫和剥削，就是不讲理的暴力政治斗争。不但对老百姓，对当官的也是一种残忍的政治。天上掉馅饼，永远只是一个不可能出现的梦想。

本篇评论在自由亚洲电台的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-05292019164649.html