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College students organize vigils to
mark massacre
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
Hundreds of red plastic chairs
are arranged to form one of Chinese characters of Chinese artist and activist Ai
Weiwei’s name to support him on the Liberty Square in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times
People chant slogans at a
rememberance ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square
Massacre organized by student organizations at Liberty Square in Taipei
yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Hundreds of college students assembled in
Taipei last night to mark the 22nd anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square
Massacre, joining the candlelit vigils held in Hong Kong and Macau to honor the
victims of the bloody crackdown and call for a spotlight on Chinese rights
abuses.
Speaking at the event at Liberty Square, Wang Dan (王丹), a student leader of the
1989 pro-democracy movement, said the problems facing China today, including
corruption, high unemployment, unequal distribution of wealth and moral
failings, were a result of the crackdown on the movement.
“The crackdown snuffed out an opportunity” for China to peacefully transform
into a democracy, he said.
What the students appealed for would have been proven right had the crackdown
not happened, as they had pointed out that China needed not only economic reform
but also political reform, Wang said.
“Today, we are here to commemorate victims, to condemn killers and to boost
survivors. The way to democracy is bumpy and it’s a very long way. It is because
the sky is dark that we need to head toward the light. It is because the road is
long that we must continue to move ahead,” he said.
The event was mainly initiated by two National Taiwan University (NTU) students
from Hong Kong, along with Taiwanese students from National Tsing Hua University
(NTHU), National Chengchi University (NCCU) and Soochow University, who formed a
task force of Taiwanese students to promote democracy in China.
“Candlelit vigils have been staged in Victoria Park in Hong Kong every year for
the past 22 years, but it is rarely seen in Taiwan. We hope that friends in
Taiwan do not forget the history,” said Fan Tsun-long (樊俊朗), an NTU student from
Hong Kong.
China today poses a bigger threat than it did 22 years ago and its growing
economic clout could negatively influence democratic development in Taiwan as it
has already done in Hong Kong, he said.
Seaman Wong (黃俊傑), also an NTU student from Hong Kong, said the reason Taiwan
must pay attention to the issue was simple — to pursue democracy, freedom and
human rights, all universal values.
“Young Taiwanese do not always bear in mind high ideals and lofty aims, but 22
years ago, there were young people who sacrificed their lives fighting for those
values in China,” Wong said.
Wong, who has been studying history at NTU since 2009, said the relentless
efforts made by the late democracy activist Szeto Wah (司徒華) to rehabilitate the
1989 pro-democracy movement was the major reason why Hong Kongers showed a
higher level of concern for the incident.
Lin Chia-hsing (林家興), an NCCU student, said that he wished the vigil would be
the start of the grouping of students in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, not only
on June 4, but also afterwards, to encourage students in China not to give up on
pursuing democracy, freedom and human rights.
Wang, currently a visiting academic at NTHU, said he was happy to see Taiwanese
students attending the vigil.
“With the deepening of democracy in Taiwan, the younger generation can
understand that economic exchanges with China is not all they want. They also
care about political reform in China,” he said.
Earlier yesterday at Liberty Square, Bei Ling (貝嶺), an exiled Chinese poet,
staged an installation art, in which 1,001 empty chairs were placed to form the
characters of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s (艾未未) name to urge Beijing to
release him.
“The chairs are waiting for Ai Weiwei. The installation was to let the Chinese
authorities know that Ai Weiwei has not been forgotten even though he has been
arrested. We are waiting for his return,” Bei said.
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