Word: liu
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Liu Yan spoke movingly of her struggle to decide how she should act in America. With no guidance and little experience with truly independent choices, she bent to what she felt was expected of her--to live as a memorial to her martyred associates. Now, though, she is studying English and hopes to use what she is learning in the U.S. to strengthen the pro-democracy movement in China. She is beginning to look ahead...
Wuer Kaixi and Liu Binyan both reflected on the movement that temporarily ended on June 4 in Tiananmen Square--Wuer Kaixi to canonize its martyrs, Liu Binyan to castigate its errors. They are both right, and they are both wrong. No one could possibly fault Wuer Kaixi for waiting never to forget those who died, but he was wrong in thinking that the gathering Sunday was "lighthearted." It was forward-looking as well as backward-looking; imaginative as well as reminiscent. I have wept in memorial of Wuer Kaixi's friends, but for the remembrance to have meaning...
...Liu Binyan's error is in thinking that the Tiananmen Square movement was wasted effort. International opinion was galvanized by the idea and image of non-violent students, gathered to express humanist ideals, bloodily crushed. If this movement is kept alive and if it eventually does succeed, the students of Tiananmen will rank among the historic martyrs of the world. Liu Binyan is right is saying that many things were and are lacking from the movement; he has potentially added a new dimension to the movement...
...well-taken as Liu Binyan's wisdom on the necessities of a successful movement is, his characterization of the students and student leaders as a selfish, grasping generation was offensive to me and, I think, to many who watched scenes like Weilin Wang's confrontation with a column of tanks and the frequent turning-back of military advances by throngs of peaceful citizens. (Wuer Kaixi and Oscar Hsu expressed their shock at his statement in their remarks that night...
...democracy in China is not yet clearly defined as a result. It is growing, though, gaining experience and acceptance as people like Lawrence Sullivan and Oscar Hsu (to name only two of the many deserving mention) take up the banner, gaining depth from the historical perspective of men like Liu Binyan. It continues, however, to get its driving energy from students, like Liu Yan, Wuer Kaixi and Shen Tong, who love their homeland and who hope to bring it freedom...