Freedom is What We Want

Did you ever hear about the June 4th Movement or the Tiananmen Square Protest in 1989? It was the darkest day for all Chinese people, especially my family. There were many army tanks and infantries that crushed the students and workers in the middle of Tiananmen Square. After I saw the video of this event on the internet and heard about it from my parents, I was shocked. Moreover, I felt the pain of my uncle’s injury. My family and I will never forget the June 4th incident. In 1989, my whole family still lived in China; we were farmers with low income. At that period, the inflation rate was so high that my family was in deep trouble in terms of finances. My uncle was the only person that had received a university degree in my family. He was an urban worker in Beijing, and he was the only one that was financially supporting my family. My uncle loved China very much, and he decided to join the protest in Tiananmen Square because he felt the government would improve the financial situation for their people. The fighting was ruthless, and during this protest, he lost his leg. Luckily, my uncle managed to survive. My uncle’s experience has deeply affected my grandparents’ mindset and family financially.



The Tiananmen Square massacre deeply impacted my family’s mindset. My grandparents and parents used to be very poor. However, they were still happy, and they felt like they could always say what was on their mind, even to criticize the government because they often felt better afterward. Nevertheless, after this horrible event happened, the Chinese government sealed off all the news related to it. In addition, the police arrested the people who were supporting the protesters and the people who were writing the articles about this event. For example, there was a reporter arrested by the Chinese government because he published his comments about the event in the newspaper. He was sentenced to imprisonment for eleven years and deprived of political rights for two years. Also the government changed the classroom materials, books, and syllabi to cover the truth and distort the facts of this event. Therefore, my family lost the courage to speak, and could not express their opinion freely. Furthermore, many teenagers even today do not know all the details about the June 4th incident.

The June 4th incident also impacted us financially. My uncle lost his legs, so he could not stay in Beijing or take care of himself either. Therefore, my family lost our main income supporter and had an extra burden. This situation was extremely bad and got worse. For example, the police arrested him twice as he spread the truth by writing articles about the Tiananmen Square massacre and posted them in the community center. My grandparents had to pay his bail to get him out of jail. However, it was hard for my grandparents to gather that huge amount of money. My grandparents had to sell off their property little by little in order to pay the bail every time my uncle was arrested. As a result of this, my father who was already in the US had to give up his education and try to find a job to support my family. Luckily, my aunt helped our family a lot, and finally, we became US residents.


After migrating to the US, my parents could not stop thinking of reversing the miscarriage of justice for the June 4th incident. My uncle was not a criminal; he did not think about demolishing the Chinese government; he just wanted to fight for our rights to live better. My parents believe that he should have gotten compensation and an apology from the Chinese government. However, he is still living in China as he loves his country. However, he never received compensation or an apology from the Chinese government. Compared to my uncle’s life in China, I feel lucky now. I can say and do everything since I live in the US. Unfortunately, it’s so sad for my parents, and it is also bad that they will never go back to China; they do not believe there will be any improvement in the future. There is nothing worse than losing hope.

The past June 4th was the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. There were millions of people standing outside in Tiananmen Square, and they prayed for those people who were involved. Besides, they wanted to let the Chinese government know that no matter how many years had passed by, and no matter how they had tried to cover the truth, there are still people who know what happened on that day. I am glad to be here in America and to be able to talk about anything I want to. I love the freedom that the US government gives me. Being a Chinese American, I will still never forget what the Chinese government did to my family, especially my uncle. Still today, there are billions of Chinese suffering from poor government policies. In addition, all I can do is to support them in terms of donations. Furthermore I hope that the United Nations may give the Chinese government some pressure in order to force them to improve their human rights record and to solve the problems of the poverty gap. Although my uncle’s experience does not have compensation or an apology, my whole family will always honor him in our hearts.