Press Release
Our Response to Trump and Kasich’s Remarks about the Tiananmen Massacre
March 11, 2016
We are appalled by Donald Trump’s remarks about the Chinese government’s 1989 massacre during the 12th Republican presidential candidate debate last Thursday, in which he called the heroic pro-democracy protest in Beijing a “riot”, and praised the Chinese government’s response as “strong.” Trump’s comments show not only a lack of moral orientation, but also show a complete disregard for the hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives lost when the Chinese government butchered unarmed students and citizens in Tiananmen Square on June 3-4, 1989.
Many of us participated in that peaceful demonstration, and we know that we were merely exercising our basic rights to protest and our rights for free speech. We petitioned the government to curtail the rampant corruption and start political reform to transition to democracy. That’s all we did. We were patriots, not rioters by any standard. However, the Chinese government labeled this peaceful protest a “riot”, and branded us as common criminals.
But the people in the free world knew better, and in the wake of the 1989 massacre, many world leaders condemned the horrific atrocity. On June 5th of 1989, George H. W.Bush, then president of this great country, publicly condemned the Chinese government’s brutality, rightly pointing out that the peaceful protectors in Beijing were just advocating basic human rights that were enshrined in both the American and Chinese constitutions, and stressing that throughout the world the US always stands with those who seek greater freedom and democracy. President Bush and the U.S. Congress also imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Chinese Communist regime.
All the U.S. presidents since George H. Bush have denounced the violent actions in Tiananmen Square. That’s why the U.S. Department of State each year marks the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown with a statement calling on the Chinese Government to “end harassment of those who participated in the protests and to fully account for those killed, detained, or missing.”
We greatly appreciate the Republican presidential candidate Governor John Kasich’s unequivocal condemnation of the 1989 massacre and his suggestion of establishing a statue to honor the Tank man, an icon and soul of that peaceful protest.
We are also encouraged by and grateful to the other two Republican presidential candidates Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Rubio has long been a major voice on Capitol Hill for human rights in China and Senator Ted Cruz introduced the bill in the Senate to rename the plaza in front of the Chinese embassy after Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese democracy leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and has been a political prisoner since 2008.
We believe Mr. Trump is not just irresponsible in choosing his words, but also shows that he may still admire the Chinese Communist regime’s “strength” and “power.” It seems clear to us that Mr. Trump’s past statement, and his failure to clarify his remarks at the debate, are a betrayal of American values and ideas. We do know they are an affront to the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, their families, and to the millions of others who have suffered and died peacefully standing up for democracy and human rights.
We demand that Mr. Trump apologize to the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and to all those who participated in the peaceful protest, and openly retract his remarks.
我們驚訝地聽聞唐納德·川普先生在第十二次共和黨候選人辯論中對中共政府1989 年大屠殺的評論，不勝震怒。在辯論中，他將天安門英勇的民主示威運動稱為「暴亂」，並讚揚中共政府的應對非常「強勁」。 川普的意見不僅迷失了道德取向，同時也無視了1989年6月3日到4日間成百上千手無寸鐵卻被中共政府殘酷屠殺的學生和市民的無辜生命。
我們當中的很多人都曾親歷那場和平示威，我們清楚地知道，我們只是在行使言論自由和抗爭的基本權利。我們向政府請願以遏制猖獗的腐敗，我們尋求政治改革以向民主過渡，僅此而已。我們是愛國者，而不是任何意義上的暴徒。 然而，中共政府卻將這次和平抗爭定義為「暴亂」，將我們歸類為「罪犯」。
好在自由世界的人們對真相更有瞭解，在1989年的大屠殺後，許多世界領導人都義正辭嚴地譴責了那場恐怖的暴行。1989年6月5日，喬治· 布希 (George H. W.Bush) ，美國這個偉大的國家當時的總統，公開地斥責了中共政府的暴行，公正地指出了北京的和平抗議者僅僅是在踐行美國和中國憲法都奉為神聖的基本人權，並強調美國總是會和那些為自由和民主奮鬥的人們站在一起。與此同時，布希總統和美國國會還通過經濟和外交手段對中共政權施予制裁。
自喬治 · 布希 (George H. Bush) 以來，所有的美國總統都譴責中共政府在天安門廣場的暴行。 這也是為什麼美國國務院每年都會在1989天安門大屠殺的紀念日發表聲明，呼籲中共政府「停止迫害那些參與抗爭的人們，並對那些被殺害、拘留或者失蹤的人負起全責」。
我們十分感激約翰 · 凱西奇州長在同一辯論中對1989 年大屠殺的明確譴責和建立一座象徵和平抗議者靈魂的坦克人雕塑的提議。 我們也感謝其他兩位共和黨總統候選人，馬可· 盧比奧 (Marco Antonio Rubio) 和泰德 · 克魯茲 (Senator Ted Cruz ) —— 盧比奧參議員長期以來是在國會山發出對中國人權問題關注的主要聲音，克魯茲參議員則向參議院提出議案，要求以劉曉波的名字重新命名中華人民共和國大使館前的廣場，以紀念這位在 2010 年獲得諾貝爾和平獎卻在 2008 年就鋃鐺入獄的中國民主運動領袖。他們所言所行，令我們倍受鼓舞。
我們認為川普先生所說的話不僅不負責任，也表明了他仍然像他在1990年告訴花花公子雜誌那樣和中國的獨裁者站在一起，他仍舊稱道中國共產黨政權的「力量」和「權勢」，有如他欣賞希特勒法西斯的「力量」和「權勢」。 顯而易見，川普先生背叛了美國的價值觀和理念，我們認為他不能勝任美利堅合眾國總統一職。
我們要求川普先生對天安門大屠殺中的受害者和他們的親屬道歉，對千千萬萬參與和平抗議的人道歉，並且公開收回他的言論。
公民力量 (Initiatives for China/Citizen Power for China)
人道中國 (Humanitarian China)
民主教育基金會 (Chinese Democracy Education Foundation)
全球支持中國暨亞洲民主化論壇 (Forum for a Democratic China and Asia)
獨立中文筆會 (Independent Chinese Pen Center)
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 Democracy Foundation)
民主中國聯合陣線 (Alliance for a Democratic China)
中國大陸“六四”平反促進委員會 (The Mainland China Committee for Reassessment of the Tiananmen Incident)
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)
中國民主黨全國聯合總部 (China Democracy Party)
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)
中國民主黨青年委員會 (Youth Council of China Democracy Party)
Contacts:
楊建利
YANG Jianli
(857)472-9039
yangjianli001@gmail.com
周鋒鎖
ZHOU Fengsuo
(929)818-9189
fzhou89@gmail.com
方政
FANG Zheng
(650)255-3498
fangzheng89@gmail.com
韓連潮
HAN Lianchao
(703)528-2771
lianchao@gmail.com
古懿
Yi Gu
(706)255-8445
slmngy@uga.edu
Statement Revised on: March 14, 2016 4:20pm