I have now lived in Taiwan for longer than I lived in China. Over the past 30 years I lived for the most part in three countries: first in France, for a year, then in the United States, where I went to continue my education, and then in Taiwan, where I moved in 1996. I went through Hong Kong to the United States. So, I decided to escape, and with the help of many friends I managed to do it. I realised at that time that if I and the rest of the protest leaders were arrested, we would probably be thrown in prison for life. I understood I would face very serious retribution. What happened to you after the crackdown and how have you continued your activism?Īfter the crackdown I was listed number two on the Chinese most-wanted list, which contributed to my decision to flee China. This move indicated that anti-reformist hardliners had become more dominant, which was rather depressing.
But he was removed from his top-ranking leadership position in early 1987. In the early 1980s there were student demonstrations calling for democracy, and Hu Yaobang, the Secretary-General of the Communist Party back then, was very sympathetic to the students. That made us feel very hopeful about China’s future.īut at the same time the government appeared very reluctant to undertake political reform, and we students thought the Chinese government’s speed in doing so was way too slow. The opening provided us with an opportunity to see the outside world and get acquainted with Western ideologies. It was a very appealing slogan, and everybody wanted the country to open up because its doors had been closed for a while. He presented the people of China with a slogan of openness and reform. The Cultural Revolution had ended in the late 1970s, when Deng Xiaoping came to power. In fact, I think the 1980s were one of the best times for China in modern times.
Throughout the 1980s the Chinese government, led by the Chinese Communist Party, seemed to offer a bright future for China. What factors led to the emergence of the movement at that time? When opportunity presents, there will often be a someone to take a first step. I was also the founder of the student organisation and an initiator of the hunger strike. I was among its founders and I was also on the organising committee. I was a freshman at Beijing Normal University and I got involved in the movement in its very early stages. Everybody was waiting for a window of opportunity to open. The atmosphere at those times was such that everybody wanted to do something. We made demands for the Chinese government to fulfil its promises to the people. Throughout the 1980s student demonstrations took place every year. How did you get involved in the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement? (Photo by Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty Images) From left, Chai Ling, Wuér Kaixi, and Wang Dan Three prominent leaders of the pro-democracy movement speak before a crowd in Tiananmen Square. He has remained fiercely critical of the Chinese regime and is considered China’s second most-wanted dissident. Wuér Kaixi fled China after the crackdown and now lives in exile in Taiwan. It remains a contentious topic to this day, and all mention of the protests is banned in China, both online and offline.ĬIVICUS speaks to Wuér Kaixi, one of the leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and an iconic face of the movement. The Chinese government never acknowledged the events surrounding the Tiananmen massacre. Military units were deployed and unarmed protesters and onlookers were killed en masse. The Chinese authorities responded with overwhelming repression. An estimated one million people joined the protests to support the students and demand reform. Hundreds of student protesters went on hunger strike to put pressure on Communist Party leaders. In May 1989, people gathered in Tiananmen Square, in Central Beijing, to call for political and economic reform. 4 June 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in China when hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed peaceful pro-democracy protesters were killed in Beijing and tens of thousands of demonstrators in cities across China were arrested.