Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1670-W1205

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1670-W1205

Release Date: June 15, 2024

发布日：2024年6月15日

Topic: Historical Issues of the 1989 Democracy Movement in China -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：八九民运的历史问题 -- 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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Historical Issues of the 1989 Democracy Movement in China

-- Wei Jingsheng

It has been 35 years since we started commemorating the 1989 democracy movement and martyrs who sacrificed their lives during that movement. The commemorative activities in China and Hong Kong have become increasingly weaker due to the blockade and suppression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As a result, many young Chinese are no longer very clear about the situation of that movement, let alone the lessons learned.

It is necessary to revisit that period of history and summarize the history for the new movement. It is also necessary for the CCP to constantly distort and smear to create false images, thus to mislead or hinder the new movement. That movement in 1989 almost shook the CCP's autocratic regime, and the fear and threat it brought to the autocratic ruling group was unprecedented. Therefore, the CCP also spared no effort to distort and smear.

The low-level abuse and smearing by the CCP Internet agents and the affected prisoners are easy to identify, which makes it difficult to deceive people and cannot be used to create public opinion, thus no need to be concerned. However, some so-called theories that have been popular for many years are enough to confuse the truth and mislead public opinion, which brings wrong understanding and confusion to young people. Among them, the most popular and confusing one is that “the CCP government is guilty and the (protesting) students are also wrong”.

The deceptiveness of this theory lies in its apparent fairness. First, it admitted that the CCP government was guilty, which is recognized by the whole world, and even people within the CCP cannot deny it. It admitted the facts, appeared impartial, and seemed fair, which made it deceptive. A group of unscrupulous intellectual elites also followed suit, flattering and pretending to be fair, which is in line with the characteristics of speculators who benefits from both sides.

Many ordinary Chinese who believed in this argument were fooled into confusing black and white and thus fell into the CCP's discourse trap. Why is it said that black and white are confused? That is because the students' strategies may not have been so thoughtful and clever, but they adhered to the minimum principles and the lowest requirements, and there was nothing wrong with them. It has nothing to do with the June 4th massacre caused by the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Making students share the responsibility for the massacre is not distinguishing right from wrong and confusing black and white. It is a well-hidden rhetoric.

Moreover, those demands for democracy and freedom are not only the ideals hoped for by the people of the whole China, but also the ideals claimed by the CCP itself for many years. It is also the common ideal of mankind that the CCP dare not deny to this day. How can this be said to be wrong? It is even slandered as counter-revolutionary turmoil, or called a riot. Isn't this a reversal of right and wrong and a slap in one’s own face?

For this magnificent large-scale movement involving the whole nation, people with conscience inside of the CCP also advocated solving it through dialogue and reform. The democrats represented by student groups also advocated solving differences through dialogue. There was no need to solve the problem through bloody massacres. However, a small group of reactionaries insisted on sending troops into the capital and instigated the PLA to shoot and massacre the people, creating bloodshed to maintain the extreme authoritarian rule. This crime should be entirely the responsibility of a small group of reactionaries within the CCP government and the PLA.

If there was any mistake made by the students and the masses, it is that they lacked understanding of the anti-democratic and anti-people nature of the CCP. They thought that they could negotiate and consult peacefully and rationally with this group of dictatorial and authoritarian people who had lost their humanity, and even to abolish their privileges of oppressing and exploiting the people. For this naive mistake, the people paid the price of blood and lives of thousands.

The lesson left by this massacre to the Chinese people is that they should not trust the "goodwill" of a small group of authoritarians. The experience and lessons of the democratic system of the mankind are also that they should not unconditionally believe in the unrestrained monopoly of power of one political party. The politics of one-party dictatorship can only be a tyranny against the people. Only politics that is supervised and restricted by the people can serve the interests and rights of the people.

During the April 5th Movement in 1976, the movement participants demanded to make a choice within the authoritarian party, the CCP. After the internal struggle ended, the victors quickly rehabilitated the events and related people. The movement in 1989 was to choose between autocracy and democracy. Before the establishment of a democratic system or before the overthrow of autocracy, the CCP would not rehabilitate the event and related people. Only after the overthrow the autocracy can we commemorate the heroes. By then, there would be no need for the autocratic government to rehabilitate the heroes who fought against autocracy.

(This English version is translated by Ciping HUANG, without any compensation. Wei Jingsheng and the Wei Jingsheng Foundation appreciate her decades of contribution, especially for allowing the use and distribution of her translations of these commentaries.)

Original link of this commentary:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-06102024142202.html

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

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2024/WeiJS240609on1989DemocracyMovement.mp3

Related screenshot of Wei Jingsheng’s commentary on RFA website:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-2/WeiJSon1989DemocracyMovement240610RFApage.jpg

(Written and recorded on June 9, 2024. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia on June 10, 2024.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1670-W1205

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1670-W1205

Release Date: June 15, 2024

发布日：2024年6月15日

Topic: Historical Issues of the 1989 Democracy Movement in China -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：八九民运的历史问题 -- 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/report2024/report2024-6/WeiJS240615on1989DemocracyMovementA1670-W1205.htm

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八九民运的历史问题

-- 魏京生

纪念八九年的民主运动和牺牲的烈士们，已经三十五年了。国内和香港的纪念活动，因为受到中国共产党的封锁和压制，声音越来越弱。以至于很多年轻人已经不太清楚那场运动的情况，更不要说经验教训了。

现在重提那一段历史，为新的运动总结历史很有必要。而共产党方面，不断歪曲抹黑制造假象，为新的运动带来误导或者阻力，也十分有必要。那一场运动差一点就动摇了共产党的专制政权，给专制统治集团带来的恐惧和威胁，也是前所未有。所以共产党也是不遗余力地歪曲和抹黑。

五毛和踩缝纫机的囚犯们的低级谩骂和抹黑，很容易辨别，很难骗人也造不成舆论，不足为惧。一些多年来流行的似是而非的所谓理论，却足以乱真误导舆论，给年轻人带来错误的认识和混乱。其中流行最广也最有迷惑性的，就是政府有罪，学生也有错。

其迷惑性就在于其貌似公允，首先承认了政府有罪。因为这是全世界公认的，甚至是共产党内的人也不能否认的。承认了事实，显得不偏不倚，貌似很公正，这样才有了欺骗性。一帮无良知识精英也跟着起哄，曲线马屁拍着还能假装公允，符合两面吃的投机分子特色。

很多相信了这套论调的老百姓，就被忽悠得混淆了黑白，落入了共产党的话语陷阱。为什么说是混淆了黑白呢？因为学生们的策略也许不那么周到和高明，但他们坚持起码的原则和最低的要求，并没什么错误。和造成军队屠杀更没有半毛钱的关系。让学生分担大屠杀的责任，这就是不分是非，混淆黑白。是隐藏得很好的话术。

而且那些民主和自由的要求，不但是全国人民所希望的理想，也是共产党自己多年来声称的理想。也是共产党至今也不敢否认的人类共同的理想。这怎么就被说成是错误了呢？甚至被污蔑为什么反革命的动乱，或者被叫做暴乱。这不是颠倒黑白，自打耳光吗？

对于这场全国人民参与的特大规模运动，党内有良知的人士们，也主张通过对话和改革来解决。以学生团体为代表的民主派们，也主张通过对话来解决分歧。本来也没必要通过血腥的屠杀来解决问题。可是一小撮反动派硬是把军队开进首都，并且鼓动煽动军队开枪屠杀人民，以制造血案来维护极端专制的统治。这个罪责，完全要由政府和军队内的一小撮反动派来负责。

要说学生和群众有什么错误，那就是对共产党反民主和反人民的本性，缺乏认识。还以为和这帮丧失了人性的独裁专制主义者们，还可以和平理性地谈判和协商，取消他们压迫剥削人民的特权。为了这种幼稚的错误，人民付出了成千上万鲜血的代价。

这场大屠杀给中国人民留下的教训，就是不能相信一小撮专制主义者们的“善意”。人类民主制度的经验教训，也是不能无条件相信不受制约的政党独掌政权。一党专政的政治只能是反人民的暴政。只有受到人民监督和制约的政治，才能是服务于人民利益和权利的政治。

1976年的四五运动时，运动者们的要求是在独裁政党内部做选择。内斗结束后很快就由胜利者进行了平反。八九年的运动是要在专制和民主之间做选择，在建立民主制度之前，或者在推翻专制之前，共产党不会为之平反。只有等到推翻专制之后，才有纪念英烈们的可能。那时候也没必要让专制政府来为反专制的英雄们平反。

(本评论的英文版本由黄慈萍翻译。魏京生和魏京生基金会感谢她数十年来相关的无偿贡献，特别是使用和发布此译文的许可。)

评论的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-06102024142202.html