Ding Zilin
Ding Zilin | |
---|---|
丁子霖 | |
Born | |
Nationality | Chinese |
Alma mater | Renmin University of China |
Occupation(s) | Human rights activist, academic |
Organization | Tiananmen Mothers |
Known for | Advocacy for relatives of the Tiananmen square crackdown victims |
Movement | June the 4th Movement |
Spouse | |
Children | Jiang Jielian |
Awards |
|
Ding Zilin (Chinese: 丁子霖; pinyin: Dīng Zǐlín; born December 20, 1936, or January 1, 1939[1]) is a retired professor of philosophy and the leader of the political activist group Tiananmen Mothers. Ding is the mother of Jiang Jielian, one of the first student protestors killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and ensuing crackdown.[2]
Biography
Ding, born in Shanghai on December 20, 1936, was professor of philosophy at Renmin University of China in Beijing.[3] Her husband, Jiang Peikun (蔣培坤), was head of the Aesthetics Institute at the university.
Ding's seventeen-year-old son,
Following her son's death, Ding said she attempted suicide six times.[6]
In August 1989, she met another bereaved mother, and found a commonality within the self-help group, which continued growing.[6] She formed a network of some 150 other families who had lost sons and daughters during the 1989 Tiananmen massacre,[6] and this group became known as "Tiananmen Mothers". Ever since that day, she has been asking the government to apologize for the deaths. She and some others have faced imprisonment, house-arrest, phone-tapping and constant surveillance.
In 1991, after an interview she gave to ABC News, the government prevented her and her husband from carrying out their work or research, and were barred from publishing domestically. Party membership was revoked. In addition, she was detained for more than 40 days. She was forced into early retirement.[6] Since her release, she was under close supervision by the authorities. Harassment continued when on September 9, 1994, she was arrested in front of the university and held by police for two hours, for having had published an article in the foreign media "hurtful to the people".[7] Again in 1995, she and her husband were arrested in Wuxi on August 18 and incarcerated until September 30, allegedly on "economic matters", and were denied visitors.[7] In 1996 Ding's husband was forced to retire early.[6] Since February 28, 2000, she has been under 24-hour surveillance by the authorities.[7]
In 2004, she and other Tiananmen Mothers were put under house arrest shortly before the 15th anniversary of the massacre to prevent them from holding any public memorial or protest.[8] She was allegedly told by a senior official that a review of the June 4, 1989, crackdown was "out of the question".[8] In 2006, Time magazine selected her as one of the "60 Asian heroes".[3]
She has been collecting the names of those who were shot dead by the People's Liberation Army in Beijing around June 4, 1989. At the end of June 2006, Ding was able to confirm 186 deaths through her own efforts[4] despite repeated harassment by the authorities.[citation needed] However, upon close inspection of the cause of deaths, not all individuals on Ding's list died directly at the hands of the army.[4] For example, at least one of the individuals on the list had committed suicide after the uprising had been squashed.[4]
She and her husband have been under house arrest as of May 24, 2004.
Activism
Since her son's death in the
Organization
Tiananmen Mothers is an activist group of people who lost family members on June fourth. Spearheaded by Ding Zilin they have collected over one hundred names of individuals who openly state that they lost a loved one on that day. Over the past twenty years in public letters published by multiple sources including Human Rights in China, The China Post, The New York Times, Time and Amnesty International, the Tiananmen Mothers continue to publish a list of demands:
- The right to mourn peacefully and in public
- The right to accept humanitarian aid from organizations and individuals inside and outside China
- No more persecution of June Fourth victims, including those injured in the massacre and the families of the dead
- The release of all people still suffering in prison for their role in the 1989 protests
- A full, public accounting for the June Fourth Massacre, ending the impunity for the perpetrators of this crime[15]
Civil disobedience
Despite her multiple arrests and constant surveillance,
Statements
In June 2009, in a
Ding Zilin has dedicated the remainder of her life after her son's death to being a human rights
Internet video
See also
- Human Rights in China
- Political dissident
- List of Chinese dissidents
- Amnesty International
- Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
- Human Rights Watch
- Egg on Mao: The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship
References
- ^ The year of birth provided by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China is 1939. Ding Zilin said in a telephone interview on October 9, 2006 that she was born in Shanghai on December 20, 1936.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Link, Perry (2006). "60 years of Asian heroes – Ding Zilin", Time.
- ^ a b c d e List of the confirmed deaths Archived April 10, 2004, at the Wayback Machine, Ding Zilin, 89-64.org, accessed May 17, 2007 (in Chinese)
- ^ Staff reporter, "Ma Lik didn't experience the massacre", Page A3, South China Morning Post, May 16, 2007, retrieved May 23, 2013
- ^ a b c d e f Rebecca MacKinnon, "Ding Zilin: an advocate for the dead", CNN, June 1999
- ^ a b c d Democracy movement activists database Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Retrieved May 17, 2007
- ^ World Press, 2004
- ^ 独立笔会自由写作奖在国际笔会香港会议上颁发. peacehall.com (in Simplified Chinese). February 8, 2007.
- ^ Mooney, Paul (August 25, 2008). "China's Rulers Stay Tough Despite the Olympics Hoopla". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
- ^ Agence France-Presse in Beijing (October 18, 2010). "Activists condemn anti-Liu crackdown", South China Morning Post
- ^ Tong Yi. "China’s Latest Theft". The New York Times, February 16, 2000.
- ^ a b "Ding’s Story" Archived November 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Amnesty International Canada.
- ^ Robert Saiget. ‘Tiananmen mothers’ demand open dialogue Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. The China Post, June 3, 2010.
- ^ Human Rights in China. "Hric | 中国人权". Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ Jakes, Susan (April 5, 2004). "Mother Courage". Time.
- ^ a b Ma Jian. "China’s Grief, Unearthed". The New York Times, June 4, 2008. Translated by Flora Drew
- ^ a b c d Melinda Liu. "Not an Isolated Incident: Twenty years after her teenage son’s death in Tiananmen Square, Ding Zilin waits for an apology she says will never come" Archived January 30, 2013, at archive.today. Newsweek, June 2, 2009.
- ^ "President Clinton's Visit To China In Context", Human Rights Watch, Retrieved May 23, 2013
- ^ "Fill The Square: Support the Tiananmen Mothers". Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
External links
- Ding Zilin's Nobel Peace Prize Nomination, International Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars