On the 18th anniversary of the June 4th, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre, more than 20 Chinese women, known as the "Tiananmen Mothers" who lost their sons or other loved ones during the massacre, will jointly hold a public forum to tell the truth of the massacre, rather than relying on a joint public letter, as they have previously done.
Ding Zilin, a spokesperson for the mothers, said in an interview with Central News Agency on May 27, that every year since 1995, 27 mothers jointly wrote a public letter to ask the Chinese communist regime to reveal the facts of the June 4th massacre, but the regime always ignored their plea.
Ding indicated that the Chinese authorities always assume a low profile approach to handle issues around the June 4th massacre. The authorities believe that as time moves on, the problem around the incident is going to evaporate and they want to leave the problem alone until all the relevant players die with the passage of time. Ding said, "The communist regime has fooled around with us and consumed our energy. Fourteen authors who participated in drafting the 1995 letter have since passed on."
She sighed emotionally, saying that time and tide wait for no man and that she was 53 when her son was killed by the Chinese army and now she is 71 and ailing.
Ding Zilin invited the June 4th victims' families to hold a forum twice recently. They shared about what they had done over the past 18 years and also talked about what they should do in the current situation. The families of the victims decided to publish the summary of their conversations on the 18th anniversary of the incident in lieu of the regular public letters they wrote in the past. This will be the first time the Tiananmen Mothers have expressed themselves in this manner.
In the summary of their conversations, more than 20 families tell the stories of how their relatives were killed and how they miss them today. They also express the hope that the Chinese regime will reveal the facts of the June 4th massacre, apologize for their actions and compensate the victims' families.
Jiang Peikun, Ding's husband, said the Chinese regime are trying to play down the incident so the incident will fade from the people's memory, and that the Chinese people should continually clarify the facts about the incident and reveal the truth of what the Chinese regime has been doing in order to obtain support from the entire world and exert pressure on Chinese authorities.
He said that with their effort, little by little, the truth of the June 4th massacre would be gradually exposed to the world, and the day that June 4th is rehabilitated will necessarily be closer. They might be too old to see the final resolution, but he hopes younger people are going to see it.
Mourning Their Children on the Tragic Spot
On the eve of the 18th anniversary of the massacre, three Tiananmen mothers will offer flowers and a candlelight vigil on the spot where they lost their lives.
Ding said that until last year, a week prior to the June 4th anniversary, there had always been security personnel standing at the main entrance of her house to monitor her and her family. She and her husband were put under house arrest, not allowing them to go out.
Ding pointed out that at least 50 family members of the victims encountered similar surveillance, monitoring, tracking and criminal detention as she did.
She said that the victims' family members were not prohibited from sweeping the graves last year. However prior to this, the Chinese communist authorities gave public warnings, and did not allow family members to mourn the deceased ones, even not allowing the sweeping of graves on Chinese Qingming Day.
She said that because of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the communist regime had suddenly put up their human rights mask just like the "changing faces" that is a magic unique skill of Sichuan Opera. Early this year, some foreign reporters were allowed to interview her; the security personnel monitoring her family at the main entrance to her house during the past months went off; and they were allowed to sweep graves on Chinese Qingming Day.
Ding and two other Tiananmen Mothers decided to take the advantage of this year's relatively loosely controlled security as an opportunity to mourn their deceased ones on the spot, and at the time, that they were killed.
She said she hopes to place fresh flowers, light up candles, and scatter liquor on the tragic spot. She wants to mourn in silence over her son from 9 p.m. until 11:10 p.m., the time her son was killed. If the Chinese authorities do not allow such silent mourning, the human rights mask will fall off.
On June 3, 1989, the People's Liberation Army gathered on the streets of Muxudi area in Beijing, and killed Ding's 17-year-old son, Jiang Jielian. His ashes are still kept in Ding's house. Ding hopes that when the June 4th incident is rehabilitated, half of her son's ashes will be placed in a "June 4th Monument" and the other half will be scattered at Tai Lake in Jiangshu Province, their homeland, along with the ashes of Ding and her husband after they die.
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