“We will never forget June 4”, a candlelight vigil at Auckland on the 31st anniversary
By Portia Mao
Nearly a hundred Chinese New Zealanders gathered in Auckland for an annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, June 4, 1989, the date that Chinese troops cracked down on the student-led democracy movement. The June 4th Memorial Boulder located in the grounds of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is the place where local Chinese people come to honour the victims every anniversary since it was founded since 1989.
Speakers at the gathering included those who joined in the democratic movement 31 years ago when they were university students in China. A young woman from Hong Kong made a speech to remind the audience that people in Hong Kong were fighting for their freedom and the right to hold candles to mourn the dead of Tiananmen Square massacre. This year, for the first time, the Hong Kong government banned the city’s annual Tiananmen vigil.
A Minister from the St Andrews Church was among the speakers who surprised the audience with his fluent Chinese. The Chinese audience kept saying thank you to him with a big round of applause when he finished speaking. His generosity and his sincere support for Chinese people’s pursuit of freedom touched the audience’s hearts.
It is always gratifying to see little kids attending the vigil and holding candles along with their parents. One middle aged man said in his speech that he came to commemorate the anniversary because he didn’t want what happened to young people at Tiananman Square and Hong Kong to happen to his children. He felt lucky that he could bring up his children in a democratic country like New Zealand.
Dr. Hongzhi Gao, a Chinese scholar working at Victoria University who couldn’t attend the vigil told me that “just living in a free and democratic country is a fortune on its own right. “
Dr. Gao, a high school student in 1989, said: “New Zealanders may take freedom and democracy for granted while people in Hong Kong have to fight for holding on to it. Young people’s sacrifice for freedom, no matter in Hong Kong or Tiananmen Square 31 years ago, are not just Chinese events, they are the pain for everyone in this world who cherishes the freedom and democracy. “
Russian President Vladimir Putin once said years of suffering at the hands of the state must never be forgotten. He made the speech when unveiling “Wall of Sorrow” dedicated to victims of Soviet-era government repression in 2017, 100th anniversary of the October Revolution.
A Chinese businessman based in Auckland wished a “Wall of Sorrow”, monument to victims of political repression of Chinese government, could be built in China one day.
Chairman Mao Zedong used to say the sound of cannons of the October Revolution brought China Marxism and Leninism.
The businessman thinks Putin was right to say “this horrific past must not be stricken from the national memory — let alone justified in any way – by any so-called best interests of the people.”
The June 4th Memorial Boulder
The June 4th Memorial Boulder is located in the grounds of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on the corner of Symonds Street and Alten Road, Auckland.
The words on the plaque read “This stone stands as witness for those who can no longer speak ” was from Lian Yang, a very well-known Chinese poet , who was at the Asian Languages & Literatures Department of Auckland University for academic exchange in 1989. The English version is from Duncan Campbell, who was a lecturer at Auckland University’ Chinese Language program in 1989. The copper plaque was designed by Kenneth Wang, a former art student from Auckland University who became ACT Party MP in 2004.
