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 Zhao Ziyang
A
prominent human rights activist in Beijing has proposed that China
set up a South Africa-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC), to seal the scars left by the military crackdown in June 1989.
It
is the best idea of how to deal with the most sensitive anniversary
this year of an event that left up to 3,000 people dead, sent
thousands to prison, disgrace and exile and changed the course of
China's history, says Dai Qing, a 68, longtime Chinese activist
who has paid for his activism with a stint in prison after the
Tiananmen Massacre, which left hundreds dead, and who has campaigned
against the Three Gorges Dam.
"Twenty
years have passed and we always hear two conflicting voices, Dai
said. "It is black or white. We do not hear other voices. While
the most basic information has not been revealed, the two sides
remain in conflict."
The
commission would present detailed evidence of what happened, explain
to the Chinese public what happened and why and help to heal the
wounds still raw after 20 years and work toward the 'harmonious
society' of which President Hu Jintao speaks often.
It
is a fine idea for a country full of conflict and bitterness but one
that will never be implemented. It was possible in South Africa
because both sides agreed on what had happened and to hear from the
other their version of the story. Such a consensus in China is
years, perhaps decades, away. The government will not consider
reversing its verdict on June 4 while those who approved and
benefited from the crackdown, including Li Peng, Jiang Zemin and Hu
Jintao, are alive.
So
the anniversary will be marked this year, as in previous ones, by
commemorative events around the world and deafening silence at home.
The largest will be in Hong Kong, the only place in China where one
is allowed. The organizers hope for up to 100,000 at a candelight
vigil in Victoria Park but a more likely figure is 20,000, as the
event recedes into the distance and a sense of patriotism grows among
Hong Kong people.
Absent
from it will be the student leaders in Beijing in 1989. Wang Dan, one
of the most prominent, who is studying at Oxford University, has
applied for a visa to come to Hong Kong. His application is likely to
be refused. Like more than 500 people exiled because of their
participation in the protests, Wang cannot return to China.
"To
live in exile is a torment, especially for my family," he said.
"While my parents can come and see me now in the United States,
such a journey will become more and more intolerable for them in
their old age. My mother is old and her heart is weak."
Wang's
Chinese passport expired in 2003. He applied for a new one at a
Chinese consulate in the U.S. It refused to give him one and he has
declined to take U.S. citizenship, saying he is a patriot who wants
to make a contribution to his motherland.
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