Let us repent for the Tiananmen massacre, Chinese Protestants say
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – A group of 80 Chinese Protestant leaders from both mainland China and overseas have issued a statement regarding the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen massacre. In it the signatories call on the Chinese government to repent for what was done and bring the truth to light. But they also call on the world, especially Christians, to repent for their silence, lies and acquiescence to such acts. For this reason they call on people to treat the period from 12 may to 4 June as a time of remembrance and “prayer for China”.
The Protestant leaders—intellectuals, students and clergymen in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States, Canada, Australia, France and Japan—said that their faith “makes it impossible for us to forget the tragedy occurred on June 4, 1989. [. . .] Until now, the truth of this tragedy is still covered up by design of the government” and many “victims continue to suffer from repression.”
Whilst this silence has enabled the country’s economic power to emerge, the atrocities have been forgotten, they said. This, in turn, has led to “apathy, indifference and numbness to morality,” as well as “rampant corruption of government officials” and “social disparity.”
They are especially concerned about young Chinese who, because of “lies constructed by an authoritarian structure” are ignorant of moral values and know very little about 4 June.
In what amounts to a Christian analysis of the Tiananmen massacre, the signatories acknowledge that many of them, as a result of the suffering caused by the massacre, become Christian. Many an exiled dissident turned to Christianity after the events of 4 June in search of justice and respect for human rights.
Because they came to see that page of history through Christian lenses they also realised that “No matter how good some ideologies may seem, if they are built merely on the basis of human nature with total disregard to God, they are glittering like gold but are, in fact, rotten to the core.” By the same token, they have also understood that they too “are not fundamentally different from the decision-makers, commanders, or transactors of the massacre.”
For that reason the 80 call on Christian Churches to repent for their silence over the massacre. As well they demand the authorities repent for what they did, find out who was responsible, commemorate the event, compensate the victims’ families, and allow exiles to come home.
As part of this the Protestant leaders call on the world’s Churches to organise days of “prayer for China’ from 12 May (anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake) to 4 June (anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre) “for the salvation of lost souls in our home country, for social justice and for the future of our race.”
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