六四36: 我从黑暗中走來

那是中國還可以使用谷歌和維基百科的日子，我搜索的第一個詞條是：六四事件。從此我的人生與同齡人不一樣了。我花了很多日夜在案前了解每一個陌生的傳奇名字，我看紀錄片，我去理解絕食和戒嚴，六四於我，是一場自發的政治啟蒙。心無是非，但事有是非，我在心裡默默種下民主和自由的種子。我知道那是正義的。

我問老師、同學、家人，關於天安門廣場夏天的鮮血，那些不敢口耳相傳的真相，我後來在香港找到答案——那裡的六四紀念館裡有中槍學生王楠的頭盔和子彈，有李旺陽的恤衫，有簽滿學生名字的校服⋯⋯六四三十週年，我在維多利亞公園點起蠟燭，和那些中學生一起默哀、佇立、合唱自由花，那是香港歷史上人數最多的一次六四集會，自此不再。我在北角聽李柱銘談和司徒華的往事，在灣仔聽朱耀明牧師說黃雀記憶……我和六四越走越近，我和破舊不堪的中國越走越遠。2019年，我捲入香港的夏日風暴，香港人教會了我什麼是堅持和公義，他們教會我每年要記得這天：「釋放民運人士、平反八九民運、追究屠城責任、結束一黨專政、建設民主中國」。吾人一日不死，便一日呼號。

六四是我覺醒於惡政治的根，它是當代中國苦難不止的癥結；六四的英烈，是共產黨的業障，六四的母親，是世界上真正偉大的母親。六四是香港三十年如一日的堅守，相信民主和自由的人，才有勇氣和力量，才會有變革的光。現在這點燭光，仍在世界的不同地方點亮。今夜，華府的燭光，也將告訴世人，我們永不忘記，也永不放棄。

鄒幸彤在這夜的香港黑獄里堅持絕食，她說：「不管社會如何倒退，我們還是要盡量做個正常人的。願我們能有前人的韌力和勇氣，在這條未知終點的路途上，繼續和所有國家暴力的受害者並肩同行，追究到底。」

記住不能被遺忘的歷史，記住那些正在受苦的人。我們要記得李卓人、何俊仁、鄒幸彤，記得黎智英。記得被極權殺死的英烈，記得因銘記六四被共產黨構陷的行動者、良心犯。停止迫害天安門母親，釋放香港政治犯。

謝謝王丹和王超華老師，也謝謝在場或不在場銘記今天的每一位。永遠不要低估信念的力量，我信中國會有光明，我信六四必定正名，暴政必亡。

Dear friends standing tonight before the Goddess of Democracy,

To the organizers at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, thank you for your invitation. It is an honor to speak on behalf of Mr. Wang Dan, Chair of Dialogue China, on this solemn night marking the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.

The theme I want to share with you tonight is: “Out of Darkness I Came.”

There was once a time in China when Google and Wikipedia were not yet banned. One of the very first things I searched for was this: “June 4th Incident.”

That simple search changed my life. While my peers went on with ordinary lives, I found myself staying up countless nights, learning the names of strangers who had become legends. I watched documentaries. I tried to understand hunger strikes, martial law. June 4th was, for me, the beginning of my political awakening.

I didn't yet have a strong sense of right or wrong, but I felt the injustice. And so, in silence, I did the only thing I could: I buried a seed in my heart. A seed called freedom. A seed called democracy.

I asked my teachers, my classmates, my family—about the blood spilled that summer on Tiananmen Square. But the truth was too dangerous to speak. Later, I found the answers in Hong Kong. At the June 4th Museum, I saw the helmet and bullet that struck student Wang Nan, the shirt worn by martyr Li Wangyang, school uniforms covered in the signatures of student protesters…

On the 30th anniversary of the massacre, I lit a candle in Victoria Park alongside thousands of students. We stood in silence. We sang “Glory to Freedom.” It became the largest Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong's history—and, tragically, the last. I listened to Martin Lee speak of Szeto Wah in North Point, and heard Reverend Chu Yiu-ming recount Operation Yellowbird in Wan Chai.

The closer I walked to June 4th, the farther I felt from the crumbling, authoritarian China I had once called home.

In 2019, I was swept into Hong Kong’s summer of resistance. There, the people taught me what it means to stand firm—for truth and justice.

They taught me to remember this day, every year, and to carry these five demands in our hearts: Free all political prisoners, Vindicate the 1989 movement, Hold the murderers accountable, End one-party dictatorship, And build a democratic China.

As long as we live, we will never stop calling out these words.

June 4th was the root of my awakening.

It is the wound from which modern China's suffering flows.

The martyrs of Tiananmen are the burden that history has placed on the Chinese Communist Party—and the mothers of Tiananmen are among the most courageous mothers this world has ever known.

For 30 years, Hong Kong held the line. Those who believe in freedom and democracy still light candles across the world tonight.

This evening, in Washington, D.C., our lights join theirs.

We will never forget. We will never give up.

In a prison in Hong Kong tonight, Chow Hang-tung is on hunger strike.

She said: “No matter how far society regresses, we must still strive to live as normal human beings. May we have the courage and perseverance of those who came before us. May we keep walking this path—no matter how uncertain—side by side with all victims of state violence, and seek the truth to the very end.”

Remember the history that cannot be erased.

Remember those who are still suffering.

Remember Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, Chow Hang-tung.

Remember Jimmy Lai.

Remember those who were killed by tyranny.

Remember the dissidents and prisoners of conscience who continue to suffer for commemorating June 4th.

Stop persecuting the Mothers of Tiananmen.

Free Hong Kong’s political prisoners.

Thank you to Mr. Wang Dan and Professor Wang Chaohua.

And thank you to everyone—present or absent—who remembers tonight.

Never underestimate the power of conviction.

I believe that one day, China will shine with the light of freedom. I believe June 4th will no longer be a forbidden memory, but a name engraved in honor.

I believe tyranny will fall—because truth does not die.