LOS ANGELES - Several civil groups and organizations gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Los Angeles on the evening of Jan. 22 to pay tribute to Zhao Ziyang, the former premier and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party who died Jan. 17, and to say goodbye for good to the party. At the assembly, the group condemned the party’s repression of democracy and freedom so it can to maintain its despotic, totalitarian rule.

Wang Chaohua and Wu Renhua, two survivors of the student leaders who participated in the June 4th 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement, gave speeches at the rally. Wang once had negotiated with Li Peng, the former premier, on behalf the students on hunger strike on Tiananmen Square. Wu was a graduate student from Beijing University who participated in the strikes during the June 4th movement.

Caoan Jushi

Caoan Jushi, a politics analyst, hosted the assembly. The participating groups and organizations include Chinese Alliance for Democracy of Greater Los Angeles, Press Freedom Guardian, the Visual Artist Association, Chinese Affairs website, The Epoch Times Jiuping website, The Epoch Times webpage for CCP withdrawals, the democracy Education Foundation, U.S. west branch of China Social Democracy Party, the U.S. west branch of the Political Asylum Association, Alliance of Abandoning the CCP, the Global Alliance to Bring Jiang Zemin to Trial, and others.

A portrait of Zhao Ziyang

Participants displayed posters and unveiled two banners saying “Mourn Zhao Ziyang and say good-bye for good to the CCP” in Chinese and English, and lit candles in front of the portrait of Zhao. All the participants observed a minute of silence for Zhao. The editor in chief for Press Freedom Guardian, Wu Renhua, Ken Aaron and Leslie Levy from the Visual Artist Association, editor in chief for Chinese Affairs Web site, Wu Fan, Wan Deyao from Chinese Alliance for Democracy of Greater Los Angeles, Wang Chaohua, Su Pan from the Jiuping Web site, Li Xusheng from the website for CCP withdrawals, Liu Yinchuan from the U.S. west branch of China Social Democracy Party, Hui Zi from Greater Alliance of Abandoning the CPP, Liu Jiesheng from the Global Alliance to Bring Jiang to Trial, then-vice chairmen of Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in the US, Chen Shizhong and Feng Guojiang delivered speeches during the gathering.

Wu Fan said that after Zhao died, the CCP has not allowed the people to mourn him, and blocks off the flow of the news to deceive the world. It reflects the weakness and panic of the CCP, he said.

Many government officials and members of the media delivered speeches and commentaries on Zhao’s death. The White House, the U.S. State Department, Japanese prime minister, former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and others expressed their mourning over Zhao’s death.

Caoan Jushi said that in photographs one can see that Zhao’s children have put on traditional Chinese clothes in the mourning hall to pay tribute to their father and greet those who came to express their grief. The authorities prevented them from wearing traditional mourning apparel, so they wore the traditional Chinese clothing.

Wang Chaohua

Wang Chaohua said that the CCP has deliberately removed all the images and recordings of Zhao. “In fact, it helped Zhao to complete and consummate his moral life. The CCP was unable to eliminate its fear of the old man who had been silenced for 15 years. Such actions demonstrate that Zhao’s conscience and morality won the will of Chinese people.”

Wu Renhua said that the most precious merit of Zhao was his firm stand opposing the armed suppression on the democracy movement during his 15-year political persecution and house arrest.

“He was an exception among many of the party leaders, including Deng Xiaoping.

“Many Chinese people always hold a traditional mentality, hoping a good leader will come to power. When Zhu Rongji came out, many people held strong illusions about him, hoping that he would be the Chinese Gorbachev; And when Hu-Wen came onto the stage, people again hoped a new system would emerge.

Wu Renhua

“Under the control of the CCP, however, no matter who is in power, the persecution never ceases, such as the persecution of the democracy activists and Falun Gong. The persecution was even unavoidable for Zhao, who joined the CCP at 13 years old and once held the post of general secretary of the CCP, but was eventually brought down to such a pitiful condition.

“Zhao’s tragic experience enables us to clearly see the brutality of the Chinese communist party system,” Wu said. “The violation of human rights and freedom in China is not due to any individual leader, but to the evil system. Today, we mourn Zhao here to expose and condemn the inhuman and despotic CCP’s political power, and to clearly recognize their shameless and despicable nature.”

Wu ended his speech saying: “Ziyang, we will continue with the ideal you left behind, you will live in our heart and we will live in your cause forever! Rest, Ziyang.”

Wang Deyao commented on the four generations of the CCP leaders: “Mao Zedong was relentless; Deng Xiaoping, a betrayer, regained his rights after his right was deprived three times; Jiang Zemin is an inept person who became a leader just because he is a villain; and Hu Jintao, who says he will serve the people, but the suppression of political dissidents he has committed goes beyond any previous supression.

Wang Deyao

“We once had a distinguished leader. It was Zhao Ziyang, who is among the several leaders advocating reform. When he served in Sichuang province, people always said ‘If you want to eat grain, go to Zhao Ziyang.’ In 1989, since he firmly opposed using force to subdue the students and people of Beijing, he lost all his rights, his high ranking and 15 years’ of freedom.

“Today, as we memorialize Zhao, we should realize that a great leader is not powerful enough to bring happiness to our country and people. It is necessary for all the Chinese people to uniformly resist and discard the tyranny of the CCP. This is the best way to memorialize Zhao.”

Liu said: “The CCP does not dare to return freedom to an old man until his death, which completely exposes its evil nature and the state of its fear and weakness. With the opportunity of Zhao’s passing,” he said, “we appeal to all Chinese people of conscience to reconsider and recall the history of the CCP’s killing and violence over 50 years, to recognize the evilness of the CCP and to square the crimes the party committed against people and human nature throughout China and the world.”

Huizi said: “Zhao parted with the CCP by his unyielding death. The powerful response to mourn Mr. Zhao is to liquidate the widespread, pernicious influence of the culture of the CCP and get rid of the evil possession from the depth of heart.”

Li said: “Zhao was so helpless. Only by his death could he get rid of the CCP and free himself. We, the survivors, must grasp this chance in a moment to extricate ourselves from the CCP’s tentacles, and to truly gain our deserved freedom.”

Su said: “After Zhao passed away, his daughter said that her father “is finally free.” It is the sadness of Zhao to extricate himself from the CCP by his death. We, living people, should prevent such tragedy from happening in the future.

“Read the Nine Commentaries and pass it on, quit the Party and save the country, and say good-bye for good to the CCP. Please let us hope, in the near future, in a China without the CCP, we could speak to our moral conscience and to our offspring that the CCP has died already and we are free at last. This will be the greatest consolation to Zhao Ziyang.”