DATE=6/3/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43565
TITLE=TIANANMEN ANNIV / DISSIDENTS REMEMBER
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: TEN-YEARS AGO, ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 3RD TO 4TH, CHINESE
SOLDIERS AND TANKS MOVED THROUGH THE STREETS OF BEIJING, CLEARING
THE CITY OF PROTESTERS. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND MANY
MORE INJURED IN THE ARMY OPERATION THAT BROUGHT AN END TO NEARLY
TWO-MONTHS OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS. V-O-A'S STEPHANIE
MANN REPORTS ON THE MEMORIES AND REFLECTIONS OF A FEW
PARTICIPANTS IN THE TIANANMEN SQUARE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT.
TEXT: ONE WITNESS TO THE BLOODSHED WAS WANG JINTAO. IN THE LATE
1980'S, MR. WANG CO-FOUNDED AN INDEPENDENT ECONOMIC RESEARCH
ORGANIZATION IN BEIJING AND MET PERIODICALLY WITH STUDENTS TO
DISCUSS ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL ISSUES OF CONCERN.
DURING THE WEEKS OF PROTESTS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1989, HE MET DAILY
WITH HIS COLLEAGUE (CHEN ZIMING) TO ASSESS THE SITUATION.
WANG JINTAO SAYS THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT WAS THE NIGHT OF
JUNE 3RD WHEN HE WAS WAITING AT A HOTEL FOR HIS FRIEND TO ARRIVE.
HE SAYS HIS DRIVER TOLD HIM THE MAJOR STREETS WERE BLOCKED BY
SOLDIERS SHOOTING AT PEOPLE, SO MR. WANG WENT OUT AND SAYS HE WAS
MOVED BY WHAT HE SAW.
// WANG ACT //
WHEN I ARRIVED THERE I SAW A MAN LYING IN THE STREET, IN
THE CENTER OF THE STREET. HIS HEAD HAD BEEN BROKEN,
BLOOD AROUND HIM, AND HIS EYES NOT CLOSED, AND (HE) JUST
LOOKED AT HEAVEN, THE DARK HEAVEN.
// END ACT //
WANG JINTAO SAYS THE SIGHT OF THAT DEAD MAN STARING BLANKLY AT
THE DARK SKY, WITH SOLDIERS STILL FIRING AT OTHERS NEARBY, MADE
HIM REALIZE THE TIANANMEN SQUARE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT HAD COME TO
AN END. HE DESCRIBES IT AS A TURNING POINT IN CHINESE HISTORY --
SAYING CHINA HAD LOST ITS LAST CHANCE IN THIS CENTURY TO CARRY ON
DEMOCRATIC REFORM.
WHEN THE GOVERNMENT PUT OUT ITS LIST OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
TIANANMEN PROTESTS, IT LABELED WANG JINTAO AND HIS COLLEAGUES THE
"BLACK HANDS" BEHIND THE STUDENTS. MR. WANG WAS SENTENCED TO
13-YEARS IN PRISON. HE WAS RELEASED IN 1994 ON MEDICAL PAROLE
AND ALLOWED TO SEEK TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. HE IS NOW A
GRADUATE STUDENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK PREPARING FOR
A DOCTORAL DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.
ONE OF THE STUDENTS WHO TOOK PART IN THE TIANANMEN PROTESTS, SHEN
TONG, ALSO HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF THE BLOODY CRACKDOWN.
// SHEN ACT IN CHINESE - FADE UNDER //
MR. SHEN SAYS THE EVENT THAT HAD THE MOST IMPACT ON HIM OCCURRED
DURING THE NIGHT OF JUNE 3RD TO 4TH. HE SAYS HE WAS AT THE BIG
XIDAN (SHEE DAN) INTERSECTION, WEST OF TIANANMEN SQUARE WHERE HE
SAW MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE KILLED. HE SAYS A GIRL STANDING NEXT TO
HIM WAS SHOT. TO THIS DAY, MR. SHEN SAYS THE WEIGHT OF WHAT
HAPPENED STILL HANGS VERY HEAVY ON HIM, AND HE DISAGREES WITH
THOSE WHO SAY TIME WILL HEAL SUCH EMOTIONAL SCARS.
SHEN TONG CAME TO THE UNITED STATES AND NOW LIVES IN BOSTON,
WHERE HE LEADS A GROUP CALLED THE DEMOCRACY FOR CHINA FUND.
ONE OF THE STUDENT LEADERS OF THE TIANANMEN MOVEMENT, WANG DAN,
WAS NUMBER ONE ON CHINA'S "MOST-WANTED LIST" DISTRIBUTED JUST
AFTER THE CRACKDOWN. WANG DAN SAYS HE HAS DONE A LOT OF THINKING
ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 1989, AND SOME OF THE MISTAKES THE
STUDENTS MADE.
HE SAYS THERE HAS BEEN MUCH DEBATE IN THE PAST 10-YEARS ABOUT
WHETHER THE STUDENTS WAITED TOO LONG TO WITHDRAW FROM TIANANMEN
SQUARE. BUT HE SAYS THE MAIN MISTAKE THEY MADE WAS IN
MISHANDLING THE MOVEMENT'S TRANSITION FROM A STUDENT MOVEMENT TO
A POLITICAL MOVEMENT. WHAT BEGAN AS A STUDENT MOVEMENT, MR. WANG
SAYS, CHANGED WHEN PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE JOINED IN THE
PROTESTS.
// WANG ACT //
THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STUDENT MOVEMENT AND
A POLITICAL MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. A STUDENT MOVEMENT
COULD CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS APPEALS TO THE GOVERNMENT,
BUT A STUDENT MOVEMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO MAKE COMPROMISE.
OUR GOAL WAS ONLY TO APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR MORE
FREEDOM AND FOR SOME DEMOCRACY. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,
POLITICS IS MADE UP OF THE ART OF COMPROMISE. IN A
POLITICAL MOVEMENT, EACH SIDE MUST BE WILLING TO MAKE
COMPROMISES.
// END ACT //
WANG DAN SAYS WHEN THE NATURE OF THE PROTESTS CHANGED, THE
STUDENT LEADERS DID NOT CHANGE THEIR STRATEGY. FOR EXAMPLE, HE
SAYS HE SAYS THE STUDENTS DID NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES IN THEIR
DEMANDS TO THE GOVERNMENT. AND THE STUDENTS DID NOT FORM AN
EFFECTIVE UNITED LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE WITH INTELLECTUALS AND
PRO-REFORM ELEMENTS IN THE GOVERNMENT. IF THAT HAD HAPPENED,
WANG DAN SAYS, THE OUTCOME OF THE MOVEMENT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
DIFFERENT. HE SAYS ANY FUTURE CHINESE REFORM MOVEMENTS SHOULD
LEARN LESSONS FROM 1989.
MR. WANG WAS IMPRISONED IN CHINA UNTIL LAST YEAR, WHEN HE WAS
ALLOWED TO LEAVE FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. HE
IS NOW A STUDENT AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY (IN MASSACHUSETTS).
(SIGNED)
NEB/SMN/RAE
03-Jun-99 1:03 PM EDT (1703 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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