Wu’er Kaixi has put on weight in the last 37 years and his greying hair no longer flops over his eyes in the style he affected as a student at Beijing Normal University in 1989, but some things have not changed.
He is, for instance, still on the list of student dissidents that the Chinese government identified as the ringleaders of the Tiananmen Square protests in those heady days when democracy seemed a possibility for China.
Now, 58 and living in Taipei, Kaixi is just as outspoken about the Chinese government, which has made it plain that he will never be granted amnesty and that he can never return home.
Speaking in Tokyo on Wednesday, a day before the anniversary of the brutal suppression of the demonstrations, Kaixi said, “What I have been trying to tell the world is the simple fact that China is a threat not only to peaceful dissenters in China, but also a direct threat to the entire civilization of mankind.”
For too long, countries have looked the other way when Beijing has oppressed internal dissent, including ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs, and hoped to encourage China to become a responsible member of global society through engagement.
Other governments put trade and economic opportunities over human rights, he said, but nations appear to have realized their mistake.
“The US has had a pro-China policy that is appeasement,” he said. “The US led and the rest of the world followed.”
In search of democracy
“China was allowed to join the World Trade Organization and the global trade system because it was hoped that this would lead to a civil society that would eventually give birth to democracy,” he said.
That has not happened yet, he said, but at least President Donald Trump is approaching the situation from a different perspective, of a businessman who is willing to apply leverage.
“Japan, the US and every other country seem to have misunderstood China,” he told DW. “They think China is led by ideology, by nationalism or communism, but that’s wrong. The Chinese Communist Party is a criminal group that is driven by profit.”
And while the Chinese leaders “talk about rejuvenation” and how taking control of Taiwan will benefit the nation — and a public fed on propaganda is roused to the party’s aims — the reality is quite different, Kaixi said.
“They do not care about rejuvenating China; all they care about is adding another zero to their bank balances,” he said. “They are nothing but common thieves.”
And he cautions other governments — including that of Germany — to be wary of investments that look like sound business propositions but are ultimately aimed at enriching and empowering the Chinese leadership.
Earning both fame and enmity
Kaixi points out that China is now the Port of Hamburg’s largest trading partner, with state-owned Cosco Shipping Ports now owning a nearly 25% stake in the Tollerort container terminal. Chinese logistics and rail freight firms also maintain distribution hubs in the port city, connecting shipping with Beijing’s “Belt and Road” networks on land.
Germany “is waking up fast” to the challenges posed by Chinese firms’ activities within its borders, he added.
A member of the Uyghur minority from the far west of China, Wu’er Kaixi was in his first year studying education administration at one of the top universities in the country when the Tiananmen unrest commenced in 1989.
Students had initially wanted to mark the death on April 15 of Hu Yaobang, the former party general secretary who had been in favor of political liberalization and economic reforms. The protests grew, posters deriding the Communist Party’s leaders appeared throughout the city and crowds began to gather in Tiananmen Square.
Disorganized and unfocused, they sought a leader, which was when Wu’er Kaixi stepped forward. As the protests grew through April and May, the students sensed the government was unsure of how to respond and that their demands might be met. Several, including Kaixi, went on hunger strike.
Stunningly, Premier Li Peng agreed to speak in person with the students, but during opening niceties that were being shown live on national television, Kaixi interrupted Li Peng and said the two sides needed to address the key issues plaguing China. The interjection earned Kaixi instant fame with those who advocated reform — but the enmity of the regime.
The crackdown
The crackdown, when it came on the night of June 3–4, 1989, was sudden, with thousands of troops storming Tiananmen Square with tanks and armored personnel carriers, firing live rounds. China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into thousands.
After appearing on the government’s “most wanted” list, Kaixi was persuaded to flee to Hong Kong and then on to Paris. He completed his studies in Paris and at Harvard University before moving to Taipei in 1996 and becoming a Taiwanese citizen three years later.
Today, he is chairman of the Taiwan Association for Democracy in China and serves on human rights committees.
Today, China is a “bully” that the rest of the world needs to stand up to, he said, adding that failure to resist the regime’s policies of political pressure on other governments and territorial grabs from weaker neighbors will simply embolden Beijing to take more.
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A dreaded call
His criticisms of the regime have cost him dearly, Kaixi admitted, adding that last year he received the call that he had long feared.
“Being in exile is mental and spiritual torture and I have been living this way for 37 years. And no matter how well I have tried to prepare, I was still not ready when I got the call last year that my father had passed away.”
Kaixi’s parents had been refused permission to travel abroad to see him, and the best they had been able to manage for nearly four decades was phone calls and video link meetings.
“Every day I want to be able to return to that land and embrace my parents,” he said. “Now, I can never hug my father again but I hope that one day I will be able to hug my mother.”
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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