Dec. 9, 2015
Liu Xiaobo, How are you?
Thank you Chairman Smith and the CECC for holding this important press conference where we are standing together in solidarity with Liu Xiao and his fellow political prisoners of China. We are sending a clear and strong message to China and the rest of the world that we have not forgotten.
Nobel prize anniversaries are usually happy occasions. But the fifth anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize is a solemn and sad one. He is still serving an 11-year prison term imposed by the dictators of Beijing. What was the horrible crime that the CCP claimed deserved such harsh punishment? Liu coauthored Charter 08, a call for peaceful transition to democratic freedoms in China. Recognizing his courage and the importance of that document as well as his long-time commitment to nonviolent struggle for human rights and democracy, the Nobel Committee awarded him its coveted Peace Prize, placing him in the ranks of such esteemed leaders as Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Lech Walesa. But the Chinese Government would not allow him, nor even his wife, to accept the award. He remains the world’s only imprisoned Peace Prize winner.
China’s rulers cannot hide Liu’s bravery from the world. The images of his Empty Chair when the award was made in absentia went viral. He became, and remains, one of the leading symbols of the unquenchable human thirst for freedom.
We, freedom-loving people around the globe, today honor and demand his immediate and unconditional release.
My colleagues and I were struggling to find the best way to honor Liu Xiaobo on this occasion. We remembered that Liu Xiao, when first learning through his wife that he had been awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, told her to dedicate the it to “the Tiananmen martyrs.” As the major leader of the Tiananmen protests and Chinese democracy movement, Liu Xiaobo has not for a moment forgotten the Tiananmen tragedy. We must not forget, either. Indeed, the code to interpreting China’s contemporary political history is embedded in the Tiananmen protests and the ensuing massacre; a key directing China to civilization charted by Charter08 charts. To honor Liu Xiaobo, his contributions and sacrifices, we, the dissidents of China around the world come together to launch two worldwide campaigns. One is the Campaign to Inscribe the Tiananmen Massacre on the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, and the other is the Campaign to Seek Truth About the Two Tiananmen Tank Men.
It is important for China’s future that we learn more about what led each of them to their brave actions. The “Tank Man” who faced down the tank already inspires those dissidents who learn about his bravery to stand up for their rights despite the danger. But the “Tank Man II,” who drove the tank also can be a model of decency, inspiring PLA officers and government officials to follow their conscience by refusing to be a cog in Beijing’s machinery of repression. Instead, they can listen to their better nature,”raise their guns higher;” or refuse to torture helpless prisoners; and earn the lasting respect of their countrymen.
I won’t go over the details about the two initiatives, which are described in the documents distributed. Please take a copy with you when you leave. We will gratefully welcome your advice and support for our work.
Indeed, ideas cannot be massacred and neither freedom be jailed. We come together today to recommit our determination that it is duty of those alive and free to shoulder the responsibility left by the deceased and entrusted by the imprisoned to continue to fight the good fight for a free and democratic China.
Thank you!
Announcement of the Launching of Two Worldwide Campaigns
Inscribe the Tiananmen Massacre on the Unesco’s Memory of the World Register & Seek Truth About the Two Tiananmen Tank Men
Dec.10,2015, International Human Rights Day, 5th Anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s Winning the Nobel Peace Prize
Contact:
YANG Jianli
Today is the fifth anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s winning of the Nobel peace prize. In honor of the occasion, we are launching two worldwide campaigns. One is the Campaign to Inscribe the Tiananmen the Massacre on the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, and the other is the Campaign to Seek Truth About the Two Tiananmen Tank Men.
1. Campaign to Inscribe the Tiananmen Massacre on the Memory of the World Register
Open discussion about, and understanding of the Tiananmen massacre is a prerequisite for China’s political civilization. It depends on two conditions. First, the Chinese people should have free access to the truth of the Tiananmen massacre. Second, the Chinese people should have freedom in discussing the massacre. However, with the political pressure in today’s China, these two freedoms have long been tightly clamped. China’s overall political reform can hardly depend on the communist regime taking the initiative. Neither can the urgently needed resolution of the case of the Tiananmen Massacre. Fortunately, ordinary citizens have been taking action. Over the past 26 years, people of all walks of life have been trying to expose through various channels what they know about the massacre. They include participants of the protests, journalists, eyewitnesses of the Tiananmen massacre, the then-communist party officials, military officers and soldiers.
We believe it is extremely important to comb through the collected pictures, videos and text information in order to have more of the full truth exposed and, equally important,understood, in order to realize China’s transition to democracy. To this end, It would be very meaningful and useful for Tiananmen massacre documents to be registered on the list of UNESCO Memory of the World, a depository of information about seminal historical events. The incident has had a major impact on world history. Its lessons should be remembered by the world forever.
Please widely circulate information about this project and provide our project coordinators with authentic materials about the Tiananmen massacre.
While organizing materials that have been collected, we will lobby UNESCO for its official designation and prompt registration.
2. Campaign to Seek Truth About the Two Tiananmen Tank Men
The iconic image on Beijing’s Chang’an Street bravely confronting PLA tanks is one of the most important photographs of the twentieth century. It represents ordinary citizens confronting the State violence, and it is not forgotten by history. Over more than two decades, the whole world has been asking: Where is the tank man? As of today, the background of the tank man “Wang Weilin,” and his subsequent fate are still unknown to the world. At the same time, we should not forget that, despite the CCP’s massacre order, the soldier in the tank chose not to shoot or run over his compatriot. The most logical explanation is that his conscience made him disobey the order. This soldier is equally a hero. As Time magazine pointed out: “[T]he heroes of the tank picture are two: the unknown figure who risked his life by standing in front of the juggernaut and the driver who rose to the moral challenge by refusing to mow down his compatriot. ”
Nobody knows the fate of the two heroes, but it is our responsibility to know and to find them. For together, they symbolize that timeless truth that moral courage will triumph over cowardly cruelty.
We hereby launch the initiative of collecting signatures across the world to petition Xi Jinping for the identities, background,and the whereabouts of the two tank men. (Please see the attached open letter to Xi Jinping.) Please sign your signature and encourage others to sign. There is no deadline for this project, and we will continue to collect signatures until the truth is obtained.
Ways to sign
(1). Go to http://tinyurl.com/
(2). Enter First Name, Last Name, Email, Country, City or Zip code.
(3). If a street address is asked, and privacy is a concern, please enter N/A.
(4). Click sign
Note: When more than one people want to use one same device to sign, the previous signer must Log Out before the following one to enter.
公民力量（Initiatives for China/Citizen Power for China)
全球支持中國暨亞洲民主化論壇（Forum for a Democratic China and Asia）
中國共和黨 （China Republican Party)
內蒙古人民黨 (Inner Mongolia People’s Party)
中國民主團結聯盟 ( Chinese Alliance for Democracy)
民主中國陣線 (Federation for a Democratic China)
加拿大价值守护者联盟（Alliance of the Guard of Canadian Values）
民主亚洲基金会（Asia Democratic Foundation）
民主中國聯合陣線 (Alliance for a Democratic China)
中國社會民主黨（China Social Democratic Party)
中國青年民主同盟（ Chinese Democratic Youth League）
中國民主黨海外委員會（Overseas Committee of Chinese Democratic Party）
普林斯頓中國學社 (Princeton China Initiatives)
全德学者学生会(The Society of Chinese Students in Germany)
中國綠黨/中國綠社(China Green Party/Chinese Greens)
香港人民力量（Hong Kong people’s Power)
北京之春（Beijing Spring)
歐洲蒙維漢協商會（European Council of Mongolia-Uyghur-Tibet-China）
歐洲藏漢文化交流會（European Tibetan Han Cultural Association）
中國民主黨海外聯合總部 （China Democracy Party Overseas United Headquarter）
台灣勞工陣線（Taiwan Labour Front）
齊氏文化基金會 (The Qi’s Cultural Foundation）
台灣關怀中國人權聯盟 (Taiwan Association for China Human Rights)