Female, 25, staff member at the Labor Service Company of Beijing Exhibition Center. From: Beijing.
On the evening of June 3, 1989, Xi and her brother walked a friend home in the Fuxingmen area. On their way back, at Yuetan South Street not far from Erqi Theater, they ran into military trucks carrying martial law troops. As they were about to cross the street after the trucks passed, a soldier on top of one of the vehicles suddenly opened fire into the crowd on the street. Several people collapsed instantly. Xi was shot in the shoulder and fell into her brother’s arms. She was later taken to the People’s Hospital, where she died in the early morning of June 4 after massive blood loss. Xi’s son was only one year and eight months old.
Xi’s husband, Wang Lin (王琳), father, Xi Yongshun (奚永顺), and brother, Xi Guijun (奚桂君), are all members of the Tiananmen Mothers. Xi’s mother, Tan Shuqin (谭淑琴), was also a member of the group before she passed away.
I gradually found out afterwards that too many had died that day. From that moment on, our whole family and our friends have been caught in incredulousness and helplessness. We don’t know how to understand, or how to handle, this kind of massacre. There was nowhere we could go to find any answer. At that time, many days after the incident, our government held tough and made no acknowledgement whatsoever. It even accused the victims with crimes of rioting. We could not express any resentment. The powerless citizens could only swallow their grievances and cremate the bodies.
My daughter died, and my heart was in so much pain. Tears washed my face every day, and life was torture. I was crushed by a sense of unspeakable injustice, and I didn’t know who to tell. Just when I didn’t know what to do, He Fengting from my neighboring village, who was also a family member of a victim, found my phone number. And only then did I know that families of victims have come together as the Tiananmen Mothers. I finally felt there was hope to get justice for my daughter.
Yet, Party leaders from administration to administration not only denied that those they killed were patriotic students and innocent citizens, but even put us, the families of the victims, under tight control. I was under surveillance for 10 days in 2009. And every year during the Two Congresses, Qingming [Grave Sweeping Day], and June Fourth anniversaries, we are targets of special attention and surveillance: the rights to freedom and equality to which we, as ordinary citizens, are entitled are stripped for no reason.
This year is the 27th anniversary of June Fourth. As the mother of a victim, an old lady almost 80 years old, I still firmly believe that justice is among us, and that the June Fourth massacre will ultimately receive the fairness and justice it deserves! My demands: speak the truth about the shooting! Pursue legal liability for the decision-makers! Apologize to us, and compensate us!
