On June 2nd, four former student leaders will speak at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing titled “Twenty Years After the Crackdown: Tiananmen Square and Human Rights in China.” The hearing will be held at 3 p.m. in room 2127 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC and the international community is welcome to attend. The four speakers at the hearing will be Fang Zheng, Wang Youcai, Zhou Fengsuo and Bob Fu who will share their experiences as student leaders, insights regarding the students’ movement and their visions for the future of China.
One of the scheduled speakers, Mr. Fang Zheng, who recently arrived in the U.S., will be speaking publicly at other events during the week of June 4. During the last 20 years in China, Mr. Fang Zheng has continually refused to cooperate with the government in its effort to cover up the truth of his lost legs and of the massacre.
Photo: Fang Zheng's legs were crushed by a military tank on June 4, 1989.
One of the scheduled speakers, Mr. Fang Zheng, who recently arrived in the U.S., will be speaking publicly at other events during the week of June 4. During the last 20 years in China, Mr. Fang Zheng has continually refused to cooperate with the government in its effort to cover up the truth of his lost legs and of the massacre. Fang Zheng was leaving Tiananmen Square in the early morning of June 4th, 1989, with other student protesters when a military tank approached them from behind. Sensing the danger, he rescued a female student out of the tank’s path; and in so doing, both his legs were crushed.
Since the Tiananmen Square Massacre, he has been harassed and closely monitored by the police. He has excelled at sports, eventually winning two gold medals and breaking two national records in the 1992 All-China Disabled Athletic Games. However, in 1994 the government retaliated by forbidding him to participate in the Far East and South Pacific region Games, and, again, this past year in the 2008 Special Olympics in Beijing.
The three former student leaders, Mr. Wang Youcai, Mr. Zhou Fensuo and Mr. Bob Fu will also speak at the hearing regarding their roles as student leaders in the protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Mr. Wang Youcai and Mr. Zhou Fensuo were imprisoned, while Mr. Bob Fu was subjected to mandatory interrogation and harassment while still a student at his university. All have since relocated to the U.S. and are actively working to advance human rights in China.
