Human Rights Watch - Wang Dan - Tiananmen Square, 15 Years On

Tiananmen, 15 Years On

Where Are Some of the “Most Wanted” Participants Today?

Photo courtesy of Open Magazine

Wang Dan
“We make no attempt to conceal the aim of the current student movement, which is to exert pressure on the government to promote the progress of democracy. People’s yearning for democracy, science, human rights, freedom, reason, and equality, which lack a fundamental basis in China, have once again been aroused.”
—May 1989

“The future for democracy in China is dependent not just on political institutions but on the growth of a vibrant civil society.”
—May 25, 2004

Wang Dan’s leadership role in Tiananmen Square earned him the top spot on China’s list of “21 Most Wanted Beijing Student Leaders.” It also earned the soft-spoken history major with the bullhorn and large round eyeglasses a prison sentence of four years for “counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement.” Wang’s activism pre-dated the official start of the pro-democracy movement. He was a key organizer of the campus open-air “democracy salons” during which sensitive political subjects were up for discussion. From the time Wang was released in February 1993 until his re-arrest almost two years later, he was harassed endlessly. He could not return to Beijing University; officials refused to allow him to complete a correspondence course offered by a U.S. university; police threatened him with death. Re-arrested in 1995, Wang was sentenced to an eleven-year term for “plotting to subvert the government.” In 1998, he accepted exile in the U.S.

Today, Wang is immersed in writing his dissertation, “A Comparative Study of Political Terror in Taiwan in the 1950s,” and in furthering democracy in China.

More Profiles:

Wang Dan “ The future for democracy in China is dependent not just on political institutions but on the growth of a vibrant civil society.” —May 25, 2004	Feng Congde “Tiananmen was the beginning of the end of the communist camp. It was a wake-up call to Chinese inside and outside China.” —May 2004	Zhang Boli “1989 stands out as a beautiful moment. We stood up. It wasn’t easy. Overturning the government’s official verdict isn’t important; what’s important is what we did. History will judge us properly.” —June 2, 2004
Liu Gang “We didn’t fail—failure is the mother of success. There’ll be more chances—and we have more experience.” —May 2004	Zheng Yi Zheng worked with other intellectuals to craft statements of support for the students including the famous “Declaration of May 16.”	Wang Chaohua “I jumped into the center of the movement. I thought I could make a decision for myself....But this...decision had repercussions for others, including ones I love dearly.” —May 26, 2004
Li Lu “Once in [Tiananmen] Square you did anything and everything that needed doing.”	Zheng Xuguang “Within the movement we consistently adhered to the principles of peace, reason and nonviolence.” —1993 “Peace Charter”	Zhang Ming Accused of inciting subversion and attempting to overthrow the socialist system, Zhang was sentenced in January 1991 to a three-year term.
Xiong Yan “We believe, no matter whether the government does or does not, that history will recognize this movement as a patriotic and democratic movement….” —May 1989	Wang Juntao “Tiananmen changed Chinese history. It was a benchmark in Chinese political development, furthering the liberal trend of the 1980s and destroying the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.” —May 2004	Ma Shaofang Ma Shaofang, the former Beijing Film Academy student who was No. 10 on the most wanted student list, has remained politically active in China.
Wang Youcai “The development of a democratic system is crucially important. Democracy is the only way to avoid a second Tiananmen.” —May 2004	Yang Tao Authorities charged Yang Tao had been an instigator of a “counterrevolutionary rebellion,” had “advocated bourgeois liberalism,” and “wantonly attacked Marxism.”	Han Dongfang “1989 was the very first time the Chinese people themselves directly faced the regime. Before that time, there was only hope. —May 2004
Zhou Fengsuo “It was the one time I experienced the beautiful character of the Chinese people longing for a democratic China where we could freely speak our minds.” —May 2004	Zhang Zhiqing Zhang Zhiqing, No. 16 on “Wanted List 1,” disappeared from view shortly after June 4, 1989. None of the other students on the most wanted list has heard from him since.	Yan Jiaqi By the time the 1989 protests came to a head, Yan Jiaqi had years of experience in reform politics, working both inside and outside the system.
Lu Jinghua “Tiananmen 100 percent changed my life. Even since ’89, I’ve tried to make people understand what life without human rights is really all about.” —May 24, 2004	Fang Lizhi “June 4, 1989 was one of the most important events of the last century.” —May 2004

Reports

Nipped in the Bud: The Suppression of the China Democracy Party

Slamming the Door on Dissent: Wang Dan’s Trial and the New “State Security” Era

Leaking State Secrets: The Case of Gao Yu

China: Enforced Exile of Dissidents" Government "Re-entry Blacklist" Revealed

Further Reading

Chinese Scholars Detained
Human Rights Watch Campaign Document

Tiananmen Mother’s Campaign
Off-Site Link

Dr. Jiang Yanyong’s Letter and Petition
Off-Site Link