China: Young Man Punished for Commemorating Tiananmen Massacre

And now we have a story of one Chinese who was targeted for remembering one of modern China’s most controversial events.

Chen Yang was planning to wear white for a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. But local police in Chongqing arrested him and sentenced him to one year of re-education.

On June 3, eight police officers from Xie Jiawan police station used checking the temporary residence permit as an excuse to forcibly take 23 year-old Chen Yang away and beat him.

They took all his valuable items, including computers, mobile phones, a mobile hard disk and a safe.

[Ms. Wang, Chen Yang’s Friend]:
“The Chongqing Public Security Bureau used ‘impeding the implementation of action’ to sentence him to one year of labor re-education.”

Sichuan democracy advocate Chen Wei says Chen Yang’s wish to wear white to commemorate the massacre on Tiananmen Square twenty years ago was not against any law.

[Chen Wei, Sichuan Democracy Advocate]:
“Pro-democracy activities from all over China were being monitored and suppressed ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the 6/4 incident. It is a disguised form of political persecution. Re-education has persecuted many people over the past decade. Since it is not subject to any oversight, in fact, it has become a terrible tool for the government to persecute ordinary people.”

Chongqing democracy advocate Mu Jiayu says that Chen Yang did not violate the law. She says sentencing him to such a heavy penalty is unreasonable.

[Mu Jiayu, Chongqing Democracy Advocate]:
“He was sentenced to be re-educated for one year. He can only see his parents, and cannot see other people.”

It’s not known how many people were killed during the massacre, but the number goes as high as 10-thousand strong.

(NTDTV)