Last Sunday afternoon, dozens of Chinese gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles to hold a commemorative event with the theme “Looking Back at the Four Tunes Bridge: Conscience Endures, Courage Persists,” in support of Peng Lifa, who three years ago in Beijing’s Four Tunes Bridge, protested with his own body, and in memory of Wan Runnan, a pioneer of thought with connections to the “Four Tunes.”
The event was hosted by member of the Los Angeles Chinese Democratic Party, Yi Yong. In his speech at the gathering, he said that the events at the Four Tunes Bridge three years ago were not isolated incidents, but a flame that pierced through fear and silence, igniting the White Paper Movement and the New Citizen Action, “Peng Lifa brought true words back to the public space with his own body, showing that even under high pressure, truth can still penetrate surveillance and censorship, awakening conscience.”
During the frequent lockdowns by the Chinese Communist Party due to the outbreak in 2022, on October 13, Peng Lifa hung a banner on the Four Tunes Bridge in Beijing with the words “No nucleic acid, just food; no Cultural Revolution, just reform; no containment, just freedom; no leader, just votes; no lies, just dignity; not slaves but citizens,” shaking both domestic and international communities. Wan Runnan founded the “Four Tunes Company” in 1984, publicly supported the student movement in 1989, and went into exile after June Fourth, yet remained committed to the pursuit of truth.
Yi Yong stated that although Wan Runnan and Peng Lifa belong to different generations, they resonate spiritually: one challenges taboos with thoughts, the other tears silence apart with actions.
Several members of the Chinese Democratic Party spoke at the event, recollecting details of the Four Tunes Bridge incident, protesting the CCP’s deprivation of Chinese citizens’ rights and freedom of speech. Participants held up banners with Peng Lifa’s portrait, chanted slogans, expressed their support, and called on the international community to continue to pay attention to human rights and freedom of speech in China.
Xing Lunji, a member of the Chinese Democratic Party, said that Peng Lifa was just expressing normal civil rights demands, but in China, in the 21st century, he was sentenced to nine years in prison by the CCP on charges of provocation.
“We must not forget Mr. Peng Lifa, we cannot let brave individuals be forgotten in silence like this. Mr. Peng Lifa’s heroic deeds must be passed on,” he said. “We call for the release of Peng Lifa and the overthrow of the Communist Party.”
Zhao Wenlong, another member of the Chinese Democratic Party, mentioned during his speech that in heavily guarded Beijing, Peng Lifa risked his life on the Four Tunes Bridge to openly voice the aspirations of the Chinese people for freedom and human rights.
“Every Chinese person who has gained freedom after the lockdown should be grateful for Mr. Peng Lifa’s courageous act,” he said. Without Peng Lifa’s calls to sacrifice and awaken public opinion, perhaps the Chinese people would still be enslaved under the strict containment of Xi Jinping’s “insisting on dynamic zero cases,” leading to “more Chinese people dying in poverty, sickness, and despair.”
Lao Shaohai, a member of the Chinese Democratic Party, mentioned during his speech that ten days ago, in his hometown of Guangxi, a large number of innocent members of the Zion Church were arrested. He said that a hundred years ago in China, students could still take to the streets to protest; a hundred years later today, it is already the 21st century, yet the Communist Party’s enslavement has become more severe, “This is a significant regression in freedom, democracy, and human rights! Not only political freedom, but even religious freedom has completely disappeared, these basic human rights have all vanished.”
Throughout the one-hour protest event, the organizers called for more people to recognize the dangers of the CCP, “Let conscience persist, let the truth endure.” ◇