Wu’er Kaixi, Former Student Leader of the 1989 Movement
13:00-14:00 Wednesday, June 3, 2026
(The speech and Q & A will be in English.)
Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement, will speak to us on the eve of the 37th anniversary of the massacre in which China’s rulers snuffed out a generation’s call for freedom.
Just days ago, China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, used Tiananmen Square to stage welcoming ceremonies of goose-stepping soldiers and flag-waving children for U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose back-to-back visits were presented as proof of China’s rise as the newest superpower. Wu’er Kaixi, long on China’s most-wanted list for his role in the democracy movement, will offer the FCCJ’s journalists and members an alternative perspective on the place Tiananmen holds in his nation’s history.
Since fleeing China, Wu’er Kaixi has continued to speak out for the democratic aspirations that were met with bullets and tank treads on that June 4th that shook the world. He has repeatedly sought to return to China, most recently in 2010 from Japan, where he was arrested after trying to enter the Chinese embassy in Tokyo.
He has called on China to talk honestly with its people about the events of June 4th and the democratic values the movement represented. The need, he argues, is more urgent now than ever, as authorities in Hong Kong put on trial two organizers of annual Tiananmen candlelight vigils in the city that have been suppressed.
Wu’er Kaixi is based in Taiwan, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Taiwan Association for Democracy in China and sits on the Emeritus Board of Reporters Without Borders. He was also appointed Executive Deputy General Secretary of the Taiwan Parliamentary Human Rights Commission.
Please join us to hear a key figure in China’s recent history speak on his nation’s past, present and future.
