Witnesses to History: The Scene of June 4th and Taiwan’s Memory

The June 4th events of 1989 were not only a historical episode that unfolded in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square — they profoundly shaped how the whole world understands freedom, democracy, and state violence.

A Conversation on Witness, Memory, and Continuity

Some were there in person; others kept watch from afar. Different vantage points together make up the memory of this history.

As the memory of June 4th is increasingly suppressed in China and Hong Kong, Taiwan’s role as a place where it can still be openly commemorated and discussed matters more than ever. This isn’t just a lecture looking back at history — it’s a conversation about witness, memory, and continuity. Join us as we step back into history and reconsider why June 4th still matters to us today.

Speakers and Perspectives

• June 4th witness Wu Renhua:
  Sharing what he witnessed on the streets and in the square in Beijing, from his perspective at the time as a young lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law and a member of the Tiananmen Square picket team.
• 1989 student movement leader Zhou Fengsuo:
  Looking back at the organizing, actions, and historical choices of the student movement.
• Chang Lung-chiao (張龍僑), Executive Director of the Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation:
  Recalling, from Taiwan’s perspective, the memories and feelings of following June 4th together through live broadcasts and gatherings at the time.

About the Speakers

• Wu Renhua: A scholar of historical documents, and a participant in and witness to the 1989 democracy movement. Born in 1956 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, he has long taken part in China’s democracy movement and has spent his life pursuing the truth of June 4th and continuing his research on the 1989 movement. His book The Martial Law Troops of the June 4th Incident was published in 2025.
• Zhou Fengsuo: One of the leaders of the 1989 Beijing student democracy movement, he took part in the Tiananmen student organizations and the hunger strike, and was among the “student leaders” placed on the Chinese government’s wanted list. After going into exile in the United States he has worked extensively on Chinese democracy and human rights advocacy, helping to found Human Rights in China and serving as head of Humanitarian China, with a continuing focus on political prisoners, humanitarian relief, and transnational repression.
• Chang Lung-chiao (張龍僑): Known as “Longson,” he has long been involved in democracy and human rights advocacy and social movements in Taiwan, and is currently Executive Director of the Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation.

Organized by the New School for Democracy Association