Internet Keeps Tiananmen Spirit Alive

New America Media, Q&A, Carolyn Goossen, Posted: Jun 02, 2006

Editor's Note: A democracy activist inspired by the Tiananmen protests talks about the role of the Internet in keeping the ideals of Tiananmen alive. Carolyn Goossen is a writer for New America Media.

SAN FRANCISCO--Xiao Qiang was studying in the United States as a doctoral student in physics when, in Beijing, government tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, killing and injuring hundreds of protesters demanding political reform. He was deeply affected by the deaths of many who were in the square holding a peaceful sit-in.

Xiao returned to China immediately after June 4 and became a full-time human rights activist. He was the executive director of Human Rights in China from 1991 to 2002 and is currently vice-chair of the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy.

Today he also serves as the director of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the University of California Graduate School of Journalism. On the eve of the 17th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests he spoke with Carolyn Goossen about the role of the Internet as a tool for political reform.

Q: How does the Internet perpetuate the ideals of the Tiananmen?

A: There is a continuity between Tiananmen and free expression through the Internet. Tiananmen was a moment of freedom for the Chinese people under Communist rule and also in the thousands and thousands of years of Chinese history. People tasted freedom and stood up for it.

The spirit of Tiananmen is about people speaking freely. Blogging in the broadest term -- expressing yourself through the Internet -- is ultimately about the same thing. This is what the rulers are threatened by.

Q: Why are blogs so important for political dissent in China?

A: Blogs are about individual voice. Personal voices. (The United States) is an individualistic society. You hold your opinion whether you are right or wrong. But in China that's revolutionary.

China enered the blogsphere in 2002, now it's a huge cultural phenomenon. Some blogs are very political. Like Internet dissident Huang Qi, who's from the 64 generation. He finished his five-year sentence last year for the www.64tianwang.com case. Yet, he continues to use the Internet to promote the ideas of Tiananmen. Another example is lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who was very active in the Tiananmen movement and continues to blog on important political issues today.

There are also blogs with more hidden political content, like the author of a tomato-egg soup recipe, who writes excellent social commentary at the bottom of the recipe. This blogger is also from the Tiananmen generation, judging from his age. But he feels like he is "just biting at where society itches, not where it hurts." His effort and frustration are very telling.

Q: Are there many Tiananmen activists communicating through the Internet?

A: I wouldn't say the whole Tiananmen generation is jumping onto the Internet to express themselves.

Internet and blogging are the new generation's tools -- people born in the '70s and '80s. The '60s generation are catching on more slowly to the Internet.

But people like me -- and others who came to the U.S. as students in the '80s to study science and technology -- we're excited by this communication platform, and of course, we thought of the political implications of it.

After Tiananmen, one of the key online communities was overseas students. The Internet became a key organizing tool for them. There was a political need and a social human need for it.

Q: The BBC reported last month that Tang Deying, mother of 15-year-old Zhou Guocong, was given 70,000 yuan ($8,745) for "hardship assistance" by officials in the southwest city of Chengdu. Her son Zhou died in police custody in Chengdu days after the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests. Is this a victory for the Tiananmen movement?

A: This compensation is an isolated case. It's not a policy of the central government. The authorities acted because the son died in prison, and the family persisted (in asking questions). It's all to the credit of the family and the lawyer. It doesn't indicate any big changes, it's just the actions of one local authority.

Q: How are the Tiananmen mothers able to organize within China? It seems incredible that they haven't been jailed.

A: The Tiananmen mothers are old. (Spokesperson) Ding Zi Ling is in her seventies. Their situation is really hard. There are government agents infiltrating them, their lives are made difficult. (The government) will do everything to attack you -- it makes it look like it's trying to help you but it's sabotaging your work.

These mothers can't publicly mourn their children. They're under surveillance. Their colleagues don't dare talk to them on these issues. They aren't thrown in prison because the authorities don't want the Chinese people to see -- that would be too much. But they're living in a big jail. The activists working with the Tiananmen mothers on human rights in China -- they were jailed.

The Tiananmen mothers' movement is important. They're the most powerful symbols of Tiananmen.

Q: Do young people in China today care about Tiananmen?

A: Young people today, in general, do not know and care about Tiananmen, since government censorship is rather effective.

They have no memory of the Cultural Revolution, no memory of Tiananmen, no idea of how far the government is willing to go.

But it will be wrong to say they do not care about democracy or the future of China. Maybe for now, the Chinese economy is doing well and that's a very good reason for people to hope the current situation will lead to a better political future. People, of course, most care about personal success and development, and the current China does provide many young people such opportunities.

Q: And what about others not directly touched by Tiananmen, how important is the event to them?

A: Wherever I go in the world, people share with me poems and songs they have written for the Tiananmen students, for the tank man.

I met a couple from Beijing who were here at Berkeley visiting their daughter. The father was a writer who wouldn't tell me his name. But he came up to me and told me, "I wrote many poems for the tank man and I want to read them to you." I would like to put together a collection of poems, songs and visual art created by people around the world for the Tiananmen students. This is my dream.



Page 1 of 1

Printable Version Return to Normal Version Send Page to Friend Subscribe to NAM Newsletters