This year marks the 36th anniversary of the June 4th Incident. Taiwan is the only place on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in Hong Kong and Macau where public commemoration can be held. In addition to the gala, the Chinese Democratic Academy also held a photography exhibition at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. Taiwanese June 4th survivors Yan Kefu and Wu Renhua both stated that preserving the truth about June 4th can help Taiwanese society recognize the brutal nature of the Chinese Communist Party and raise awareness of its infiltration. Taiwanese civic groups, as well as Hong Kong residents and Tibetans in Taiwan, have joined in the demonstration, commemorating June 4th while resisting totalitarianism and cross-border repression.
The Chinese Democratic Academy held a gala at Taipei's Liberty Square at 7 p.m. on June 4th this year to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the June 4th Massacre. It also held a human rights photography exhibition at the Taipei Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, displaying many photos of Tiananmen Square that year. The exhibition opened early on Tuesday (May 20th) and invited Taiwanese June 4th survivors Yan Kefu and Wu Renhua to attend.
Artist Yan Kefu, who now lives in Taiwan, was a student stationed at the Tiananmen Square supply station in 1989. He vividly remembers the students' collective efforts to secure the hand of the Goddess of Democracy and the support they received from Beijing residents. Yan Kefu expressed his responsibility as a survivor to continue to pass on the truth of that time and to remind those who are unaware of the truth to see the true face of the CCP.
Yan Kefu said, "Freedom is a heavy burden. As participants, we're not holding on to the past. Forgetting June 4th would mean betraying those who died in Tiananmen Square, including the Tiananmen Mothers today. It's something we will never forget. It also has practical implications for Taiwan, because China currently presents a false and empty image, as if its people are living a good life. But behind that facade, the CCP remains essentially unchanged. The wall between civilization and barbarism is the CCP, and June 4th is an insurmountable threshold for China's future liberalization. The truth must be made public."
June 4th remains a taboo in the Chinese Communist Party, and mourners have been prosecuted and imprisoned for 36 years.
Wu Renhua, who was a teacher at China University of Political Science and Law during the June 4th Incident, said that the June 4th Massacre was a human rights incident that shocked the world. There are a large number of records and reports, but the Chinese Communist Party is worried that the truth will affect its rule and prohibits people from mentioning or discussing it. In the past 36 years, many people have been suppressed for mourning and discussing the truth of June 4th, including his student Pu Zhiqiang.
Wu Renhua said, "In China, the June 4th Massacre has always been a very sensitive topic, tightly suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities. Over the past 36 years, many Chinese people have suffered various forms of political persecution for commemorating the June 4th Incident. Among them is Pu Zhiqiang, a human rights lawyer I know well. He was sentenced and had his lawyer's license revoked for commemorating the June 4th Incident. Wang Miaogen, a member of the Shanghai Workers' Autonomous Association, has persistently demanded the redress of the June 4th Incident and, to this day, is still detained in a Shanghai mental hospital."
Taiwan follows Hong Kong in continuing the June 4th commemoration, warning Taiwan to take the CCP's brutal nature seriously.
He stated that Hong Kong has shouldered the responsibility of safeguarding the truth about the June Fourth Incident for years, and the candlelight vigil attended by tens of thousands in Victoria Park has helped the world remember the events. However, the National Security Law has led to the fall of Hong Kong, with the last chairman of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Lee Cheuk-yan, and vice-chairman, Chow Hsing-tung, now imprisoned. Taiwan has become the only place in Chinese society where June Fourth can be publicly commemorated. He believes Taiwan has reasons to remember June Fourth.
Wu Renhua said, "Today, the only threat to Taiwan's democratic system and the Taiwanese people's existing free way of life comes from the Chinese Communist regime. Holding the June 4th commemoration in Taiwan is not only to mourn the victims of this human rights tragedy, but also to highlight the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian regime. If we Taiwanese people do not recognize the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party regime, if we lose our vigilance, this will be a huge threat to democratic Taiwan."
The gala commemorated the June 4th Incident while highlighting cross-border repression, with Hong Kong and Tibetans in Taiwan offering solidarity.
This year's gala, in addition to commemorating the June 4th Incident, will also focus on resisting cross-border repression and opposing the expansion of totalitarianism. Several Taiwanese groups, Hong Kong residents in Taiwan, and Tibetan groups will also participate in the event. Hong Kong protesters living in exile in Taiwan, Fu Tang, expressed their participation in the June 4th gala not only to commemorate the victims of the past but also to share the stories of Hong Kong and other communities persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party with the world.
Fu Tang said, "Thirty-six years have passed, and the CCP has never stopped its oppression. Its methods have become increasingly sophisticated and widespread, extending beyond China and even abroad. As an exile, I deeply feel the reality and cruelty of this cross-border oppression. The CCP's eyes and hands have long been all around us. As Hong Kong exiles, we cannot and will not remain silent. We want to tell the world that totalitarianism knows no borders, and neither do our struggles."
Fu Tang said that Chinese, Hong Kongers, Tibetans and Uyghurs on Chinese soil are suffering from the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party. A free Taiwan can provide exiles with space to hold activities to resist the Chinese Communist Party. He hopes that people from all walks of life will mourn the deceased on June 4th and also pay attention to different groups that are suffering from cross-border repression and persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
