On the evening of June 3rd, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) in Washington, D.C. held a candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the June 4th massacre in Beijing.
Experts and scholars spoke out, declaring the battle against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a struggle between good and evil, asserting that the CCP must be dismantled.
Renowned China affairs researcher Gordon Chang stated that the free world cannot coexist with the CCP because “the CCP believes in only one survivor.”
“This is a battle of freedom against oppression, democracy against tyranny, and good against evil,” Chang emphasized, urging for the elimination of the CCP for a better future for all.
Former lawyer in mainland China, Chen Guangcheng, emphasized the urgency of ending the CCP’s communist authoritarian regime, branding the CCP not only as humanity’s archenemy but also a threat to the entire world.
“Mandating the cooperation of democratic countries with the devil would not only destroy democracy in China but also jeopardize the freedom and universal values of the United States and other democratic nations,” Chen stated, urging those who recognize the evil nature of the CCP to take immediate action to end the regime.
David Yu, Executive Director of the Tiananmen Massacre Memorial Hall, echoed the sentiment, stressing the imperative of dismantling the CCP.
Anna Kwok, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, highlighted various memorial gestures in Hong Kong to commemorate the June 4th events, including bookstores displaying slogans like “May 35th”, Christian newspapers leaving their front pages blank, and Hong Kong residents commemorating “June 4th” even from within prison.
She praised the silent but powerful gestures of remembrance and resistance, citing an artist who, despite being surrounded by police, silently made the hand gesture symbolizing June 4th on the streets of Hong Kong.
Eric Patterson, Chairman and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), referenced Charles Dickens’ famous quote to describe 1989 as both the best and worst of times, noting that while the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries shook off communism through movements such as the Velvet Revolution, the tragedy of the June 4th movement remains a stark reminder of the CCP’s brutality.
Piero Tozzi, Chief of Staff at the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), emphasized the importance of remembering the June 4th events, dismissing the death toll as merely a statistic to communism.
He echoed the sentiments of Stalin, who famously said, “One death is a tragedy; one million deaths is a statistic,” underscoring the significance of not only remembering what happened in 1989 but also honoring those who sacrificed their lives for it.