WASHINGTON–On June. 4, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation hosted its annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.
During the Spring and Summer of 1989, the Chinese government cracked down on student-led protests that demanded freedom and democracy. It resulted in hundreds of deaths and showed the world the face of Beijing’s Communist tyranny.
During the Washington memorial event, members of the 1989 movement, as well as today’s dissidents and sympathizers of China’s struggle for freedom, shared their stories. Among them were Rowena He, a former professor at Hong Kong University. She participated in the 1989 resistance in Beijing and witnessed the crackdown in Hong Kong in 2021. Another demonstrator was Frances Hui, a journalist and member of the Committee for Freedom at the Hong Kong Foundation.