Tianjin dissident Zhang Changhong was recently released from prison for a second time, ending a four-year sentence for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." He had been repeatedly arrested and detained, and even forcibly committed to a mental hospital, for his years of persistent advocacy for the redress of the June 4th Incident. In an interview with Radio Free Asia at his home, Zhang Changhong stated that local police continued to monitor his "ideological state" after his release, and that he was simply expressing his commitment to historical truth.
In 2021, Zhang Changhong was imprisoned again for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released from prison on April 19, 2025 and returned to his home in Tianjin. However, his life did not return to normal.
Zhang Changhong told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Tuesday (6th): "I was sentenced to three years and three months in prison in 2017 and released in 2020. After my release, I was arrested and imprisoned again and sentenced to another four years, all on charges of provoking disturbances. In reality, I simply wrote about the truth about the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre, and it caused quite a big impact in the public eye."
Zhang Changhong also said that the police viewed his comments on June 4th as challenging the official tone and therefore convicted him again: "He (the police) said that the government had already reached a conclusion on this issue (about June 4th). If you still want to overturn the established rules, you are provoking trouble. I was imprisoned the first time in Zhangbei Prison, and the second time in Tianjin Prison."
After he was released from prison, the police's "concern" for him continued. He told our station, "The police station chief just called and said he'll be at my house soon. How about this: Call me back on Sunday."
As the reporter attempted to conduct further interviews, the police arrived at his door and knocked. Zhang Changhong quickly ended the call: "I'm telling you, they're knocking on the door. The police are coming now and will be here in about a week. They're knocking right now. I'm hanging up now."
From 1989 to the Jasmine Revolution, upholding democratic ideals for over 30 years
Zhang Changhong has been engaged in human rights protection since the June 4th Incident in 1989. That year, he personally went to Tiananmen Square to support the students and gave a speech at Tianjin University, sharing his observations in Beijing. As a result, he was detained by police for over four months. In the years that followed, he continued to post big-character posters commemorating the June 4th Incident and calling for redress, resulting in repeated detention.
Reportedly, in 2011, when the "Jasmine Revolution" broke out in the Middle East, similar "strolls" occurred in China. Zhang Changhong was taken away by police after holding up a large-character poster at Tianjin's Drum Tower that read, "Egypt's Tahrir Square, China's Tiananmen Square" and "Same Demands, Different Results."
In a previous interview with Liu Feiyue, founder of the website Minsheng Observation Studio, Zhang Changhong stated that authorities attempted to commit him to a mental hospital, but the initial assessment failed after he was deemed "not mentally ill." He was subsequently arrested again for founding the "Mainland China June 4th Redress Promotion Committee" and ultimately detained at the Tianjin Public Security Bureau's Ankang Hospital for three and a half months.
"June 4th is not history that can be forgotten"
Against the backdrop of China's long-term official blockade of information about the June 4th Incident, Zhang Changhong is regarded as one of the few people who continues to express dissent publicly and insists on commemorating the incident.
Zhang Shijun, then a political propagandist for the 162nd Division of the 54th Army of the People's Liberation Army, also told Radio Free Asia that he entered Tiananmen Square with the martial law troops. "You just mentioned the issue of deaths in Tiananmen Square. First, Tiananmen Square is huge. If there were deaths in a certain area, that's normal. It's impossible that there weren't any deaths. Second, when I arrived at Tiananmen Square, it was probably around two or three in the morning. The students were still there. We surrounded them, but we hadn't taken any action yet. At daybreak, we began to let the students go. Many people say that the students left from the southeast corner of the square monument. I remember that very clearly, but one group left from the southwest entrance. I was at the southwest entrance, which is where the Mao Zedong Mausoleum is. Overall, there was no direct conflict, and the students were basically let out."
Zhang Shijun continued, "If people died in a certain place, that's perfectly normal. It's impossible that no one died... But the legend that Tiananmen Square was a river of blood is absolutely untrue."
With less than a month until the 36th anniversary of the June 4th Incident, Zhang Changhong has been released from prison again, but remains under ongoing surveillance. Another dissident, Mr. Zhao, said Zhang Changhong's experience reveals the high price paid for upholding historical memory and reflects the long-standing taboos in Chinese society regarding historical narratives, free speech, and political expression.
"I hope our country can embark on the path of democracy." This is what Zhang Changhong said in an interview in 2013. More than ten years later, he has not changed his mind.
