[Myanmar] Suu Kyi Is €˜Shining Example’: Tiananmen Activist

Thousands turn out for a candlelit vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. (PHOTO: Nathan Tseng)

Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is a shining example for Chinese political activists who are fighting for freedom and civil rights in China, said a US-based dissident speaking on Monday at a candlelit vigil in Hong Kong to mark the 23rd anniversary of the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square.

Well-known dissident Wang Dan delivered the message by videolink to the 180,000 people who had gathered in Victoria Park, saying that Suu Kyi has persisted in her quest for decades with the result that Burma was now on the “path to freedom.â€

Wang said that the Burmese Nobel Prize winner is an inspiration to all Chinese people who want to see a democratic and free China. He said she had taught all China’s political activists the importance of perseverance.

Wang Dan was only 20 years old when he became a student leader in the pro-democracy uprising in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. He became one of the government’s most wanted 21 student leaders, was arrested in 1995, spent four years in prison, and then fled to the United States.

“In the US, Wang is nowadays only involved in academic talks and making symbolic speeches at these anniversary commemorations,†said Carrie Li, one of the participants at the Hong Kong vigil. “He does not become involved in any political activities because he has his own business to take care of.â€

Suu Kyi expressed appreciation for China’s activists in a speech when she was awarded an honorary law degree at Hong Kong University in May, saying she will visit Hong Kong when she is able to go outside her country.

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