The Tiananmen Mothers () is a Chinese pro-democracy organization founded in September 1989 by Ding Zilin, alongside Jiang Peikun and Zhang Xianling. It advocates for change in the government's position over the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

Background

Formation

thumb|right|Ding Zilin, founder and leader of the Tiananmen Mothers

Prior to June 1989, Ding Zilin was a philosophy professor at the People's University and a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On June 3, 1989, her 17-year-old son Jiang Jielian was killed on his way to Tiananmen Square. In September, the Tiananmen Mothers was founded with Ding as its leader. Ding described the organisation as "a common group of citizens brought together by a shared fate and suffering".

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| style="text-align: left;"|—Ding Zilin

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Despite the expansion of the group, many Chinese intellectuals had kept away from the movement, as they did with the Democracy Wall movement in the late 1970s. One exception was Wu Zuguang, who advocated a reversal of the governments position at a meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1997, and he did not suffer any repercussions for his comments because of his age. He was jailed for 18 months and upon his release in February 1991, was denied regular employment.

Tiananmen Mothers has received considerable support from international sources since its founding, particularly Human Rights in China (HRIC), as well as other non-governmental organizations including Humanitarian China and Tso Ming Sing Foundation, who made donations to the Mothers group in June 2016. Some donations and funds from overseas have been frozen by Chinese authorities.

Campaign

Demands

The Tiananmen Mothers group put forward a five-point demand to the Chinese government in relation to the protest:

  • The right to mourn peacefully in public;
  • The right to accept humanitarian aid from organizations and individuals inside and outside China;
  • No more persecution of victims, including those injured in the shootings and the families of the dead;
  • The release of all people still in prison for their role in the 1989 protests; and
  • A full, public investigation into the crackdown

The group also wants the Chinese government to name the dead, compensate families and punish those responsible. The government made a payout of 70,000 yuan for the first time in 2006 to one of the victims families. The move was welcomed by Zilin, though she said it was unlikely to indicate a change in the government's position.

Public appeals

The Tiananmen Mothers have made many public appeals, challenging the government. They protested to the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the judiciary and the population. The group has also opened up contacts with UN Human Rights Council and foreign media, issuing a video demanding the government reassess Tiananmen. On the tenth anniversary, despite memories of the event fading due to strong government censorship, Jiang Qisheng, who had since been released, drafted a letter along with fifteen others appealing for quiet commemoration by lighting candles in cities across China. He played a major role in organising the event, posting flyers on lampposts calling on the population to "light a myriad of candles to collectively commemorate the brave spirits of June Fourth" and as a result, several petitions to hold protest were submitted, but were rejected by government authorities. Jiang was arrested on shortly before the anniversary; in court on November 1, 1999, he defended himself, maintaining he was exercising freedom of speech and recalling a previous reversal of the government's term "counterrevolutionary" after the Gang of Four and Cultural Revolution. They asserted that they were exercising their political rights, and not engaging in any illegal activities.

In 2009, the organisation urged the government to "break the taboo" surrounding the incident.

Arrests

Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling, and Huang Jinping were detained by Chinese authorities in March 2004 for engaging in what were described as illegal activities sponsored by overseas forces. They were released later in the week but remained under close surveillance in the run-up to the 15th anniversary of the protests.

Newspaper advert controversy

On June 4, 2007, the Chengdu Evening News ran a one-page line commemorating the Tiananmen Mothers, stating, "Saluting the strong mothers of June 4th victims." Officials at the newspaper refused to answer questions regarding the advert. It was later suggested that the person who ran the advert was unaware of the significance of 6/4, instead being told it was related to a mining disaster that took place. Three editors were later fired from the paper.

See also

  • Black Sash
  • Human rights in the People's Republic of China
  • Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
  • Women in Black
  • Ladies in White
  • Mothers of Beslan
  • Mothers of Khavaran
  • Women's roles during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

References

Bibliography

Books

  • Carrabine, Eamon; Cox, Pamela; Lee, Maggy; South, Nigel & Plummer, Ken (2009). "Victim movements - examples from around the world" in Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. Taylor & Francis. .
  • Goldman, Merle. (2005). From Comrade to Citizen: The Struggle for Political Rights in China. Harvard University Press. .
  • Peerenboom, Randall. (2007). China modernizes: threat to the West or model for the rest? Oxford University Press. .
  • Stichele, Caroline & Penner, Todd. (2005). Her Master's Tools?: Feminist and Postcolonial Engagements of Historical-critical Discourse. Society of Biblical Literature. .
  • Tai, Zixue. (2006). The Internet in China: Cyberspace and Civil Society. CRC Press. .

News reports

  • Chengdu Evening News editors fired over Tiananmen ad, Reuters, June 7, 2007.
  • China makes 1989 Tiananmen payout, BBC News, April 30, 2006.
  • China told to end Tiananmen taboo, BBC News, February 27, 2009.
  • Human Rights Defender, Ding Zilin, under house arrest in China, Human Rights Defenders, July 6, 2004.
  • Fifteenth Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Wordpress.org, June 4, 2004.
  • Mother Courage, TIME, April 5, 2004.
  • Newspaper Ad Salutes Tiananmen Mothers, Washington Post, June 7, 2007.
  • Tiananmen mothers press for answers, Vancouver Sun, June 4, 2008.
  • Tianananmen Mothers—official homepage of the group
  • Tiananmen Mothers Campaign—homepage of the Hong Kong-based support group
  • 'Tiananmen Mothers' Continue Quest for Justice
  • HRIC Statement: Chinese authorities should respond to calls for dialogue by the Tiananmen Mothers
  • Testimonies from the Tiananmen Mothers and other relatives of the killed and wounded