對歷史真相的自由獲取是政治文明不可或缺的先決條件


「如何解決六四問題」

對歷史真相的自由獲取是政治文明不可或缺的先決條件

在「紀念『六四』27週年國際電視連線會議」上的英文發言

雪  笠 (Adela Lan)

2016年6月3日,華盛頓

(中文意譯)

二十七年前,我還在上高中,但我已經儼然一個,根據我校校長事後的描述,「興奮異常」、「上躥下跳」的「中學生領袖」。某一天的家庭聚會上,我熱情洋溢地談起在學校和街頭激動人心的經歷以及中國貌似正在走向的美好願景…… 所有人當中,唯有我爺爺皺著眉頭,沉重地對我說:「你呀,你根本不知道中國共產黨可以幹出多麼可怕的事情來…」 —— 這是我記憶中,自一九四九年就收拾雄心、陷入沉默的爺爺,唯一一次評論國事。

不出數週,坦克就在槍聲和哭喊聲中轟隆碾過了天安門廣場。我震驚了,正如在座各位一樣。我們震驚不已,因為我們完全沒有料到,「中國人民解放軍」會用真槍實彈來對付我們——「人民」!可是為什麼「不會」呢?所謂的「中國人民解放軍」向人民開槍、屠殺中國人民的事蹟,此前不是已經發生過成百上千次,歷歷在目、斑斑在冊嗎?只不過,我們當中的一部分人已然遺忘,另一部分人還茫然無知。

可是我爺爺知之甚詳。他預見到大屠殺,因為他早已目睹過更暴虐更恐怖的屠殺。實際上,天安門屠殺並不是中共最殘暴的罪行,甚至,文化大革命也還不是中共最血腥的罪行。中國共產黨犯下了太多令人發指的罪惡,太多太多遠甚於此的罪行,只不過,我們或是拋諸忘川,或是尚無從知曉。

如果我們已然知曉這些罪行,事情會否有不一樣的的走向?在一九八九年,如果我們已經對中共的黑暗歷史具備更清晰更深刻的瞭解,我們會否設計出更有效的戰略和戰術?我們會否作出更明智的決策?

我們無法改變過去,無法修正過去,也無法否定過去,但我們可以從中學到教訓。

由於1989年的這段經歷,我開始癡迷於研究歷史;從6月4日天安門槍聲響起那一刻起,我開始認識到:對歷史真相的自由獲取,對一切歷史真相的自由獲取,是政治文明不可或缺的先決條件。

直面六四屠殺的真相顯然是中國走向政治文明無可迴避的先決條件之一。然而,二十七年過去了,時間已經將我們磨礪得面目全非,一九八九年的黑色傷口卻還是原樣,橫亙在原地。她是一個禁區:不能被提及,不能被記起。今天的年輕一代對天安門屠殺幾乎一無所知,正如當年我們八九一代對中共更早的累累罪行幾乎一無所知一樣,這都是因為中共無時無刻不窮盡所有力量來掩蓋和塗寫歷史真相。

可是,我們需要真相;我們需要癒傷;我們需要解決的良方。但誰來開啟這一切呢?經過1989年的悲劇,我們已經再清楚不過,中共永遠不會主動跨出邁向真相與和解的一步。必須,由我們來引領這一進程;必須,由我們來採取行動!

正因於此,「公民力量」策劃了「六四申遺」。我們必須將六四銘記,使其不可磨滅。這不是一件輕易的任務,或將經年累月,但我們必須堅持,因為我們的努力不會白費:「六四屠殺檔案」的建立,無論是否能得到聯合國教科文組織的加持,都是我們必須承當的責任,都是富有價值的努力。同時,透過我們持續的呼籲和遊說,我們將不斷地將真相揭示給世人和中國人民,不斷地提醒世界、警醒世界,要對中共政府保持警惕。最後,我們這一努力將為其它瀕臨湮滅威脅的黑色記憶樹立典範——無論是文革的記憶,大饑荒的記憶,還是1949年中共奪權後數不勝數的慘酷屠殺和數不勝數的英勇起義的記憶…… 所有這些都必須作為世界記憶遺產被牢牢銘記,永不磨滅。

我們的祖父母輩從戰爭、饑荒和迫害中存活下來,並且保存了他們那個時代的真相。現在,該是我們的職責來捍衛真相和傳播真相。六四問題的解決,以及其他所有類似問題的解決,必須從真相的自由獲取開始,從歷史真相的自由獲取開始,必須從歷史真相的傳播開始,從你開始,從我開始,從當下開始,從現在開始!

 

(原英文發言)

Free Access to Historical Truth is a Prerequisite for Political Civilization

Adela Lan (雪笠)’s Remark on the 27th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre

June 3, 2016, Washington D.C.

 

It was 27 years ago. I was in high school. But I was already active in the 1989 movement. One day, at a family gathering, I gave a “speech” about my exciting experiences and how hopeful China seemed to have become…  Among the entire audience, my grandpa was the only one who did not applaud. He responded with an extremely heavy tone: “You have no idea how brutal the Chinese Communist Party can be”. This was the only time in my recollection that my grandpa, who had fallen silent in 1949, had ever commented on politics. Within weeks, the Massacre rolled across Tiananmen Square. I was shocked, as many of you were. We were shocked, because we never expected that the People’s Liberation Army would fire real bullets at us, “the People”. But why not? The PLA had actually done it hundreds of times before. It was just that some of us had forgotten. And some of us didn’t know. But my grandpa knew. He foresaw massacre, because he had already witnessed much worse. The Tiananmen Massacre was in fact not the cruellest of the CCP’s crimes. Even the Cultural Revolution was not its bloodiest crime. The Chinese Communist Party has committed so many misdeeds, so many far more evil deeds than this. It was only that we had forgotten or we didn’t know.

If we had known, would things have turned out different? In 1989, if we had had a clearer understanding of the dark history of the CCP, would we have designed a better strategy and better tactics? Would we have made better decisions?

We are not able to turn the past on its head, not able to turn the past around, not able to deny the past. But we can learn from it.

It was due to 1989 that I became interested in history, attracted to history. It was after this that I realized: Free Access to historical truth, to ANY historical truth at all, is a prerequisite for political civilization.

The truth of Tiananmen massacre is an indispensable prerequisite, a keystone for China’s political civilization. Yet 27 years has passed, and while time may have changed us all, the dark Year of 1989 remains as it was. It is a Forbidden Zone: NOT to be mentioned, NOT to be remembered. The youngest generation alive today know almost nothing about the Tiananmen Massacre, just as my own generation knew little of the CCP’s earlier massacres. This is because the CCP did everything they could to conceal all historical truths from us.

But we need the truth; we need closure; we need resolution. And yet who is to take the initiative? It is already crystal clear to us after the 1989 tragedy that the CCP will never take this step towards truth and resolution by itself. It is we who must take the initiative; it is we who must take the necessary action.

For this reason, “Initiatives for China” has planned this campaign “to inscribe the Tiananmen Massacre on the Memory of the World Register”. We must inscribe it indelibly. It might not be an easy task, and it might take us years. But we must persist, because our efforts will not be wasted. The establishment of the “Tiananmen Massacre Archive” is a valuable endeavour, and one which we should take upon ourselves, regardless whether it is with or without the UNESCO register. Meanwhile, through our continuous advocacy and lobbying, we shall persistently expose the truth to the Chinese people and keep the world on notice, keep the world on vigil against the CCP government. Finally, our effort will set an example for other dark memories that are threatened by burial — the memory of the Cultural Revolution, the memory of China’s Great Famine, the memory of the slaughters and uprisings when the Communists seized power in 1949. All these should indelibly enter the World Memory Register.
Our grandparents survived war, famine and persecution, and they preserved the truth of their era. It is now our job to defend truth and to deliver truth. Resolution of the Tiananmen Massacre, as well as resolutions of all other unresolved controversial issues, must start from free access to the truth, free access to historical truth. It must start from the spreading of historical truth. It must start from you. It must start from me. It must start right here. It must start right now!


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