MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: May 7, 2019
CONTACT: Daniel Tenzin Jigme
(202) 827-5762
dcoffice@initiativesforchina.org
TO HEAL THE WOUND OF HISTORY:
NEW BOOKS ON 1989 TIANANMEN PROTESTS LAUNCHED
Press conference on May 15, 2019
Washington DC-At the eve of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, Citizen Press (公民社), a subsidiary publishing company of Citizen Power Initiatives for China (公民力量), launches two new books to commemorate this historic event.
The History of the 1989 Democracy Movement by Chen Xiaoya, a prominent Chinese historian who devoted over two decades to complete her ten volumes masterpiece, is the most comprehensive work on this subject. It combines newly disclosed information, documentation and witness interviews, focusing on the cause of the movement and what actually happened, and aiming to explain the major events and disputed events to explore the interaction between the government and the protesters, and the internal power struggle of the Chinese regime as well as that of the opposition. The book demystifies key events that changed the course of history and offers a new insight into the 1989 Democracy Movement and the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
A Scholar from Aier Town is an autobiographical novel by Cao Xuyun. In 1989 he was a brave young protester in the Tiananmen Square. The novel describes vividly the Tiananmen Square Massacre at the June 4th night and a protester’s life journey to freedom. Although the hero of the novel was just a small figure in the protests, his courage and heroic acts reflect the mighty power of the people dislayed in the square. As a historical fiction, the book accurately provides details about what happened in the 1989 pro-democracy movement. It holds important literary merit.
WHO: CITIZEN POWER INITIATIVES FOR CHINA
WHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 02:00 pm – 04:00 pm (EST)
WHERE: The Conference Room of Citizen Power Initiatives for China
(415 2nd St. NE, Suite 100, DC 20002)
WHY: To launch two new books in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in China. One is Ms. Chen Xiaoya’s research masterpiece the History of the 1989 Democracy Movement in Ten Volumes, and the other Mr. Cao Xuyun’s autobiographical novel “A Scholar from Aier Town.”
AGENDA:
PANEL 1: She uses her book to heal the wound of history: Discussion on the History of the 1989 Democracy Movement.○ Yan Jiaqi, former political advisor of Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and director of the Institute of Political Research of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (speaker);○ Zhou Xiaozheng, former sociology professor of People’s University, and popular public speaker (speaker);○ Dr. Jianli Yang, survivor of the Tiananmen Massacre and former political prisoner, founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China (moderator);○ Ms. Chen Xiaoya (author), who is unable to attend the event due to a travel ban, will try to participate online or offer her greetings to the audience in a pre-recorded video.
PANEL 2: “I write, I am still there”: A Dialogue with the Author of A Scholar from Aier Town○ Cao Xuyun, former protester of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, entrepreneur, and writer(author);○ Dr. Kuide Chen, former professor of philoshpy at Fudan University in Shanghai, and executive director at Princeton China Initiative (speaker);○ Bi Yimin, former protester of the 1989 Tiananmen protests (speaker).
Remote viewing: this event will be streaming online, and the streaming link will be provided later