I am very sorry that I am sick and cannot attend today’s meeting. But I cannot remain silent when the Chinese Communist Party has committed such a horrible crime in Tiananmen Square leading to widespread protests.

I was an early member of the Chinese Communist Party. I joined in 1925 and was expelled in 1929. I was expelled because I disagreed with the policies issued by Stalin from Moscow and carried out by his Chinese followers. I opposed those policies. Among those expelled was Chen Duxiu - a main founder of the Chinese Communist Party and the man who proposed the slogan “Science and Democracy” in 1919.

After being expelled from the Party, I continued my activities as a socialist until today - although I am too old to do much active work now.

Looking back, I am reluctant to say that the Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of Mao Zedong and his faction, has never done a single good thing for China. That would be untrue. What I want to say is that the Party has done a lot of good things and a lot more bad things in the last 50 years or so. And the recent massacre in Beijing is one of the greatest crimes they have ever committed.

We must oppose this government, protest against it, struggle against it, and call on everyone to rise up and replace it. Such a barbaric rule must be defeated and replaced.

The question is: how to overthrow it and what kind of political system to replace it? Some people accuse the students of trying to restore capitalism to China. I don’t believe that. I think what they want is a socialism with democracy. That’s what I’m fighting for. If capitalism is restored in China, the people of China, especially the working people, will be in a worse position than they are today, and China will most likely be turned into a new colony.

Wang Fanxi
Leeds, England, June 9, 1989

Note by Wang Fanxi.

The Tiananmen Square massacre has aroused condemnations and protests all over the world, and Britain is no exception. In particular, the academic community, both Chinese and foreign, held street demonstrations and mass meetings. On June 9, five days after the tragedy, Chinese and foreign students and other people from all walks of life in Leeds held a protest meeting at the university, which was filmed and recorded by Britain’s Radio 4 and broadcast to the whole of Britain two days later. I was unable to attend the conference due to illness, so I prepared this short speech on the spot and asked a student from Hong Kong to read it out at the conference on my behalf. Two pictures of me were added to the broadcast.

Of course, it was impossible for me to give a full and precise explanation of the Chinese Communist Party, the Tiananmen tragedy, and the future of China in such a speech. A friend told me afterwards that I had failed to point out when and what the CCP had done good things and when and what it had done bad things. He thought I should also have pointed out that the CCP could never do anything good in the future, and that it must be replaced. These suggestions are certainly justified; but he forgot that a short speech at a mass meeting must not be all things to all people.

On February 18, 1992, I translated the speech from English into Chinese at the request of Brother Zichun (i.e., Lou Guohua).

***********************************

　　非常遺憾，因為我病了，不能參加今天的大會。但是當此中共在天安門廣場犯下如此駭人的罪惡，因而引起普遍抗議之時，我不能沉默不言。

　　我是中國共產黨的一個早期黨員。1925年入黨，1929年被開除黨籍，所以會被開除，因為我不同意那些由斯大林從莫斯科發出，為他的中國追隨者所執行的政策，我反對這些政策。在這些被開除的人們中，有陳獨秀——他是中國共產黨的主要創建人，又是1919年提出「科學與民主」這個口號的人。

　　被開除黨籍後，我繼續以一個社會主義者的資格進行活動，一直活動到今天——雖然，因為年紀太大之故，現在已經無法幹什麼積極的工作了。
　　回顧已往，我不願意說：中國共產黨在毛澤東及其一派人的領導下從來不曾給中國幹過一樁好事。這樣說是不符事實的。我想說的是：在過去的五十多年中，這個黨幹過不少好事，卻又幹了更多的壞事。而最近在北京發生的大屠殺，則是他們從來所幹的一樁最重大的罪惡。

　　我們一定要反對這個政府，對它抗議，進行反對它的鬥爭，要號召大家起來撤換它。這樣野蠻的統治是必須加以打倒和更換的。

　　問題在於：怎樣打倒它與由怎樣的政制來代替它？有些人指控學生們圖謀在中國恢復資本主義。我不相信。我以為他們所要的是一種具有民主的社會主義。這也正是我要爭取的目標。如果中國恢復資本主義，那末中國的人民，特別是勞動人民，他們的境況將會比今天的更壞，而中國多半會被變成新殖民地。

王凡西
1989年6月9日於英國里茲

王凡西按：

天安門屠殺引起了遍及全世界的聲討和抗議，英國也不例外。特別是學界，不論中外，紛紛舉行街頭示威，並召開群眾大會。6月9日，即在慘案發生的5天后，里茲市中外學生和其他各界人士，在大學內召開一次聲討大會，由英國第四電視臺現場拍攝、錄音，二天后向全英廣播。我因病未能出席大會，臨時擬了這篇簡短發言稿，請一位香港來的同學代在大會上讀出。電視播出時加插了我的二張照片。

在這樣情形中擬就與播出的發言，當然不可能把我對中共、對天安門慘案以及對中國的未來等等作充分與確切的說明。事後便有朋友對我說，我未能指出中共在什麼時候與什麼事情上幹了好事；在什麼時候與什麼事情上幹了壞事。他認為我還應該指出今後的中共是絕對不能做任何好事了，所以必須取而代之。這些指正當然有理；但他忘記了在一個群眾大會上作一篇鼓動性的簡短發言，決不能四平八穩，面面俱到的。
1992年2月18日應子春兄（按：即樓國華）要求，將發言稿從英文譯成中文補記。

Wang Fanxi

Click here to subscribe to ESSF newsletters in English and/or French.