During the last mother's Day weekend on May 10th, a number of intellectuals in Beijing organized a seminar discussing 20 years of the democracy movement in China. This is a very significant event in breaking the long silence among intellectuals on the June 4th student movement, as well as in countering the official position on the incident as a ‘riot.’

The speeches at the conference were published online in the past few days via China in Perspective. An anonymous article on ‘China in Perspective’ gives a detailed account of the discussions in the seminar..

There were about 19 participants in the seminar, including: Xu Youyu (徐友渔), Mo Zhixu (莫之许)、Cui Weiping (崔卫平), Hao Jian (郝建), Xu Xiao (徐晓), Zhou Duo (周舵), Liang Xiaoyan (梁晓燕), Qin Hui (秦晖), Guo Yuhua (郭于华), Li Hai (李海), Liu Zili (刘自立), Qian Liqun (钱理群), Teng Biao (滕彪), Tian Xiaoqing (田晓青), Wang Junxiu (王俊秀), Xu Yinong (许医农), 、Yan Yusheng (殷玉生), Zhang Boshu (张博树) and Zhang Yaojie (张耀杰). The seminar began with 3 minutes silence showing the participants’ respect for the Tiananmen mothers and the victims of the June 4th incident.

Qian Liqun started the discussion by explaining the background of the meeting:

一是出于教师的良知，20年前，许多学生为中国民主事业献出了生命，他作为教师，未能保护他们，一直心怀内疚，因为保护受难学生是教师的天职，也是北大的传统。90年前的 “五四”，当学生被捕，挺身营救的就是蔡元培校长。学生牺牲而不能保护，已经欠了一笔债；学生蒙冤至今不得昭雪，如果再不说话，就是愧为人师。其次，是出于学者的良知。政治家可以不为六四平反，而学者却必须将六四写入历史，进行学理的讨论与研究。

Qian presented a paper, ’An incomplete historical mission’, in the seminar reviewing the democracy movement since the 1940s when the Communist Party challenged KMT's authoritarian rule. However, soon after the CCP took control over the State they betrayed the constitutional promise of granting people freedom of speech, expression and assembly etc. The repression of the anti-revolutionary and anti-rightist factions in mid 1950s fully established the CCP's control over all media and publications. A new wave of the democracy movement took place in mid 1970s with the emergence of underground people's publications. This movement was again repressed in 1981 by Deng Xiaoping. Upon reviewing the pamphlets and publications in 1989, Qian pointed out that the Tiananmen student movement is a legacy of democracy movement in China that informs and inspires future quests for political transformation:

中国的改革，必须走一条自上而下与自下而上相结合的道路，中国的政治体制改革必须以人民行使宪法赋予的以五大自由为核心的民主权利，实行广泛政治参与为基础。将各阶层人民，特别是工人，农民，知识分子（包括青年学生），市民排斥在外的，由国家与党掌控一切的，单一的自上而下的，以巩固一党专政为目的的改革，必然走向歧途，必然导致政治、经济、社会、道德的全面危机。这就是1989年的民主运动给我们的最大启示，也是1989年的民主运动被镇压以后的中国历史给我们的最大教训。

Zhou Duo presented his personal account of the happenings from mid April to June 4, 1989. Zhou was a reporter who helped organize media workers rally in support of the student movement and tried to persuade the students to leave Tiananmen before the PLA marched into the square.

Cui Waiping pointed out that the collective silence on the June 4 Incident has demoralized our society and it is now time to end that silence:

在“六·四”二十周年之际，我愿意公布这封信，向周围所有朋友提出这样的问题：二十年来的沉默和隐瞒，给我们社会带来的负面影响是什么？给我们民族的精神和道德带来怎样的损害？而我们自己在工作、生活中所受的损失又是什么？我们还打算继续沉默吗？

这个秘密实际上象一种毒素一样毒化着我们身处其中的周围的空气，影响我们全部的生活和精神。当我们选择阻力最小的那些方面释放自己的能量时，实际上我们都被迫参与了隐瞒真相，被迫和某种东西“保持一致”，参与那种权力游戏。如果说十年前那桩流血的罪行不是我们造成的，但十年来我们对此不置一词（尽管有太多可以解释的理由）已经使得我们对这件事负有了某种责任。

A number of presenters such as Xu Yaoyu and Yan Yusheng pointed out that the June 4 incident challenges the legitimacy and ethical grounds of the State’s claim on power. The Party-State has become an interest bloc which must be constantly challenged by the grassroots in the form of mass incidents.

Xu Yaoyuexplained how the June 4 incident has shattered people's hopes for the CCP and the authorities.

人们预料到了镇压，但完全没有预料到屠杀；人们对政府有批评和抗议，但决没有把政府当成死敌。也许可以作这样的比喻：人们把当政者看作顽固、专横，习惯于包办一切的大家长，但万万没有想到这个家长要杀自己的儿孙。一家人的幻觉瞬间灰飞烟灭，既然政府把人民当敌人，人民也只能把政府当敌人。

Zhang Boshu criticized the antagonistic rationale and persecution paranoia of the oppressor and ruling oligarchy who see all criticism as ‘conspiracy’ and a threat. On the other side of the coin, Hao Jian pointed out that people also tend to overestimate and exaggerate the irrational aspect of the oppressors.

Zhang Boshu pointed out agreed, saying that:

“敌对思维”是极权主义政治文化的一种表现。发生于20年前的中国共产党政府当局对1989公民维宪爱国运动的镇压，从镇压者一方来说，即典型地体现了这种“敌对思维”逻辑。它把对当政者的善意批评，解读为居心叵测的“阴谋”；把对现存体制的质疑、分析，解释为对现存政权的恶意否定。这是邓小平等中共领导人铸成历史大错的开始。

Xu noted that after June 4, people turned to the constitution for the citizen rights movement. In order to gradually transform the political system, Xu stressed the need for upholding universal values and peaceful means.

Wang Junxui and Tieng Biao highlighted that since 2003 the citizen rights movement has opened a new direction in the democracy movement and Liang Xiaoyin also saw the emergence of volunteer culture in recent years as a positive development of social awareness. Mo Zhixu pointed out that the Internet has been effective in fighting the collective apathy and he believed that more people will join the movement for freedom and democracy.

Edited by Bob Guy