Hundreds of Chinese gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Thursday to commemorate the 37th anniversary of June Fourth. From afternoon till evening, they expressed their thoughts and called for the dissolution of the Chinese Communist Party to allow the Chinese people to enjoy human rights and freedom.
At the event, a stage was set up across the street from the consulate, with a large banner bearing the words “June Fourth Massacre” and white wreaths laid to mourn the victims. People wearing white bands saying “Never Forget June Fourth” stood on both sides, holding banners that included messages such as “Establish a free and democratic China, end the evil rule of the CCP,” “No change in faults, accumulating evil as habits,” and “Never forget June Fourth, the spark will not die.”
The city government closed the streets in front of the consulate upon the organizer’s request. By 4pm, hundreds of people had gathered at the scene, and the numbers continued to increase. During the gathering, several June Fourth witnesses and leaders of the Chinese Democratic Party took to the stage to speak.
Chen Chuangchuang, the Executive Director of the Chinese Democratic Party, and a lawyer, raised a question in his speech: What experience has the Chinese Communist Party learned from the June Fourth massacre over the past thirty-plus years? He stated, “The next time there is a large-scale reckoning, they will open fire.”
Chen proposed a new idea to end tyranny: reviving the “nonviolent non-cooperation” movement. He pointed out that there are various ways of non-cooperation, such as voting with their feet by leaving China or adopting a “lying flat” attitude domestically. The goal is to make more people realize that the CCP must be overthrown.
Chen suggested that exiled Chinese people elect representatives through a “one person one vote” system in the next phase. Using the example of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, he mentioned that despite the small number of legislators, the CCP fears them greatly and goes to great lengths to arrest, frame, and sentence pro-democracy legislators, demonstrating the CCP’s fear of people uniting for governance.
Pastor Zhang Bolin stated during his speech that the 1989 democracy movement was a “national funeral,” making it clear to the Chinese people that the CCP “is not the government of the people, but the government controlled by Satan, a tool for slaughtering the people.” He believed that unless the historical issue of June Fourth is addressed, the Chinese people will not achieve spiritual freedom.
Zhang Bolin quoted a famous line by Milan Kundera, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting,” and emphasized, “Preserving memory is our responsibility regarding the Chinese democratic movement.” He urged overseas Chinese to continue spreading the truth, exposing the evil of the CCP, and to “persist in mourning the victims of June Fourth, as in this prolonged battle, whoever can endure to the end will be the victor.”
Jie Lijian, Chairman of the International Alliance of the Chinese Democratic Party, attended the gathering despite a recent incident where his car was maliciously rammed on the way back from New York to Los Angeles. The technical staff at the repair shop found a tracking device under his car.
Jie, in his speech, mentioned that he had “died many times,” both domestically and abroad, and regardless of the CCP’s methods like assassination, espionage, or torture, as long as there is breath in him, he will continue to resist. He also called for justice organizations overseas to set aside differences and unite, as this is what the CCP fears the most.
Liu Yinquan, Chairman of the Chinese Social Democratic Party, reminded in his speech that the CCP tries to divide overseas anti-CCP forces; regardless of beliefs or viewpoints, everyone should first work together to end the CCP and establish a free and democratic constitutional government in China, so that Chinese people will no longer have to live in exile.
After the speeches, the crowd defaced a CCP red flag and staged a simulation play with a tank model pressing on the crowd; hundreds signed the memorial wall for June Fourth; in line with Chen’s speech, there was also a “one person one vote” booth set up on the scene.
The afternoon event brought together various groups such as the International Alliance of the Chinese Democratic Party, the Chinese Democratic Party, the Los Angeles Chinese Democratic Platform, the Chinese Democratic and Human Rights Alliance, the Chinese Social Democratic Party, the Hong Kong Social Democratic Party, the Liberty Sculpture Park, and the Civil Resistance Association.
In the evening, groups such as the Los Angeles Hong Kong Forum held a “candlelight night vigil” in front of the consulate, continuing the commemoration activities. Former student leader of June Fourth, Wang Dan, rushed from Washington DC to Los Angeles to participate in the evening activities after attending a congressional hearing focusing on the CCP’s cross-border repression and threats to the United States.