Chinese Leader to Recall Tiananmen Square Events

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Twenty years ago Wang Dan  made the Chinese government’s “most wanted” list for helping organize protests for democracy on Tiananmen Square. On Monday, June 1, the former student leader will be at Northwestern University to discuss the brutal government attacks on civilian protestors in Tiananmen and missed opportunities for Chinese democracy.

The keynote is part of “Remembering Tiananmen,” a symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the infamous June 1989 crackdown that is still rarely acknowledged in official Chinese discourse. Free and open to the public, Wang’s remarks will take place at 1 p.m. in Hardin Hall, Rebecca Crown Center, 633 Clark Street, Evanston. A question and answer session will follow.

After his release on medical parole to the United States in 1997, Dan earned a doctorate in East Asian history from Harvard University. Now a post-doctoral fellow at Oxford University, he continues to work for political change in China as chair of the Chinese Constitutional Reform Association and editor of Beijing Spring magazine.

The former Chinese student leader will take part in two symposium panels, one on “Evolving Memories of the Tiananmen Protests” and another, on “Tiananmen and Policies of Regime Survival.” A series of films about the Tiananmen protests and massacre -- including “Tank Man,” public television’s award winning documentary about the solitary protestor who faced down advancing government tanks -- will be shown.

“Remembering Tiananmen” is sponsored by the Roberta Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies. For a full schedule of events and free film screenings, visit http://www.bcics.northwestern.edu/events/conferences/2009Tiananmen.html or call (847) 491-4750.