The 36th Anniversary Of The Tiananmen Massacre By Chinese Communities In Los Angeles

By Su Shangwei                                                                                                                                       June 5th, 2025

 

 

On June 3, 2025, at 7:00 PM Pacific Time, Chinese communities gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.

Su Shangwei, representative of the California Chapter of Women’s Rights in China, delivered the following remarks:

Thirty-six years ago in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the authoritarian regime ordered the military to carry out a bloody and brutal massacre against unarmed university students who cared deeply for their country and their people.

For every bereaved family, the pain of this tragedy is a wound that never healed. The images of bodies collapsing under gunfire, of tanks crushing the mangled flesh of students — these scenes became our collective nightmare.

 

The families of the victims have been crying out for justice for 36 years. The grieving parents who lost their children are now elderly; many have died in sorrow, never seeing any vindication for their loss. Some parents of the victims have already passed away, taking their pain with them to the grave. They never got to witness a so-called “reversal of June Fourth.” The path toward justice for the Tiananmen Massacre has only grown more distant and elusive.

 

We have a responsibility to let the people know the truth. A regime that maintains power through mass murder is evil beyond measure.

 

For 36 years, the Chinese Communist Party has been afraid of the truth. It has used the most ruthless methods to silence those who mourn the victims of June Fourth, charging them with “inciting subversion of state power.” The term “8964” is banned on the Chinese internet, and even lighting a single candle could lead to imprisonment under the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

 

Overseas, every year on June 4th, we gather to honor the victims and their families who have since passed. This is because the historical trauma etched in the hearts of the Chinese people will never be erased. It is also the echo of grief branded deep into the hearts of the victims’ loved ones.

 

History will never forget our innocent brothers and sisters who were so cruelly slaughtered.

We hope that through our struggle and efforts, our country can one day truly achieve democracy and constitutional governance. On that day, we will be able to build a memorial in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, to mourn and honor them.