Stanford University’s Hoover Institution held a seminar on the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident on June 4 (Tuesday), discussing the history and impact of the event, and exploring pathways to freedom and democracy in the Greater China region.
The keynote speakers at the seminar included Chinese social movement historian Rowena He and renowned American sinologist Perry Link. The conference was chaired by Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Rowena He, former Associate Professor of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was denied a work visa extension by the Hong Kong Immigration Department in late October last year, leading to her dismissal by the university.
During the seminar, He emphasized people’s thirst for truth and justice. Despite 35 years passing since the Tiananmen Incident, it remains a political taboo. Hong Kong, once a beacon of light, can no longer openly commemorate “June Fourth,” and she was dismissed for researching the Tiananmen Incident.
Many question the relevance of China’s human rights issues to them. He mentioned that following the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, such questions should cease. The violation of human rights faced by Dr. Li Wenliang, the whistleblower, ultimately impacted the rights of people globally. “This is not just about the past; it’s also about the present, about each and every one of us,” she said.
Renowned sinologist Perry Link expressed that each year, he is asked the same questions: what does “June Fourth” signify? Why should we remember “June Fourth”? To answer, he recited a prose poem he wrote five years ago. Several lines in the poem state: “We remember ‘June Fourth’ because it revealed the true face of the Chinese Communist Party. At that moment, the party stripped off all disguises, unabashedly. No book, film, or museum can make it so clear.”
“We remember ‘June Fourth’ because it was a massacre—not just suppression; not an accident, incident, or disturbance; not a counter-revolutionary riot, nor a vague memory. It is not a blank slate like a child in China today could recall. It’s not something else; it’s a massacre.”
“We remember ‘June Fourth’ because some people desperately want us to forget. Forgetting helps them maintain their power. How despicable! We must resist tyranny, and remembering this massacre is our only form of resistance.”
He recounted various stories of “June Fourth” victims at the seminar, including a mother’s testimony who visited 44 hospitals and saw at least 400 corpses. She lamented that as her son was cremated, two large plastic bags full of bodies were next to him. She considered her son “lucky” compared to those nameless, orphaned children.
Another story involved a friend bringing a teenager shot by bullets to a children’s hospital, but even after seven days, no one came to claim the child’s body, which was eventually disposed of collectively.
She stated that such stories instill fear in the CCP as they not only document the massacre experienced by the people but also involve moral judgment of history. The CCP’s distortion and manipulation of history have twisted Chinese societal values. The Tiananmen Incident is not just about facts and politics but also about values and humanity.
She further mentioned that the CCP has long manipulated public opinion through so-called patriotic education, and these narratives are highly influential.
Today, the CCP exports these narratives worldwide. By using the guise of freedom in classrooms and media, they weaken democracy through various mechanisms. Therefore, she emphasized the danger of these narratives created, constructed, and instilled in democratic societies and the need for increased vigilance.
She noted that post-pandemic, Chinese youths have begun to lose faith in the CCP regime. The CCP always claims to help people escape poverty; their slogan being, “We give you food, not democracy.” However, post-pandemic, people realize that without democracy, they may be confined at home and starve.
She also shared an incident where she addressed a group of mainland Chinese students in a secret online lecture after the passing of the national security law. Following the lecture, she received feedback from four to five hundred students who said, “Professor He, no matter how many young people attack you in the future, remember us, remember the students you met tonight. We will remember what you taught us, we want to know more, even though we live in small cities.”
She stated that the pursuit of truth and the desire for democratic reform are human instincts. The CCP says democracy is not suitable for China, “This is nonsense.” When someone says Chinese people cannot have democracy, her Harvard students would say, “Isn’t this racism? Saying Chinese people can’t have democracy is racism.”
At the seminar, a Chinese international student asked what they could do under the CCP’s deepening control and repression. He stressed that this question was “of great significance.” When the youth begin questioning the truth of things, “you are already doing something; in fact, you are already participating in this activity, we may not need to perform exceptionally.”
In George Orwell’s “1984,” there is a classic quote, “Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present, controls the past.” He mentioned that we must not let the CCP control our present and past, thereby controlling our future.
She referred not only to China’s future but to the world’s future. The best we can do is collectively focus on democracy and freedom, strive in daily life, and protect ourselves.
The seminar also delved into the historical background and reasons of the “June Fourth” incident, the situation at the time, the reasons behind the CCP’s use of force to suppress the “June Fourth” incident, the symbolic significance of the Goddess of Democracy, and the reasons and impacts of Western societies adopting appeasement policies towards the CCP, among other issues.