Every year, as June 4 approaches, I write articles to commemorate the 1989 pro-democracy student movement in China. The Tiananmen Massacre occurred on June 4th, 34 years ago. As a Chinese living outside of China, I have the privilege of “witnessing” the amazing courage of Tank Man and learning the true history of the event. […]
Tag: 1989 Tiananmen Square Masscre
Thirty-three years ago, I was one of the college students who were sitting in the gigantic Tiananmen Square day and night, demanding freedom and hoping China’s communist regime would change into a democratic system. Thirty-three years ago today was a hot day. At nightfall, military tanks started moving from the western suburb of Beijing to […]
Recently, I was offered a full-time job after I successfully defended my doctoral degree. My American friends often ask me, “How do you like your job?” I answer, “I love my job; I feel I am respected as a human being.” My reply seems odd to them, because it is a basic norm in the […]
After three decades, Tank Man is still unknown in China. We Chinese, who have learned the true story of Tank Man and the bloody Tiananmen Square Massacre, keep blaming its cover-up on the Chinese Communist Party. Except for the tens of thousands gathered at a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong yesterday night to mark 29 years […]
Beijing. June 3, 1989. The night was hot, humid … and long; very long. As dusk reluctantly gave way to the darkness, the 109-acre Tiananmen Square looked like a gigantic, steaming cauldron; the heat trapped by the concrete slabs during the day, painstakingly evaporating into the evening’s somewhat cooler air. From the distance, scattered lampposts […]
The still unknown Tank Man defying a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square. Photo by Jeff Widener, AP I graduated from Peking University in 1989. Just a few years ago, when I arrived in the U.S., a friend of mine asked me about Tank Man. “Tank Man?” – I shook my head; he could have […]