A seminar on the events of June 4, 1989, calls on the CCP to redress victims, repatriate exiles, and advance reforms for a peaceful, free future.

Seminar on June 4th Truth and Transitional Justice
May 24, 2025 | Queens College, New York

Organizers: New York Sage Center, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang Memorial Foundation, Beijing Spring, and Bouden House, with Special Advisor Andrew Nathan.

Thirty-six years after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has yet to acknowledge the June Fourth Incident, provide state compensation to victims, or permit exiled students, scholars, and intellectuals to safely return home. This unresolved historical injustice stifles China’s moral and political progress, leaving the CCP perpetually burdened by a “sword of Damocles”—an unaddressed legacy of violence and suppression. To break this deadlock, confronting the truth of June 4th is essential: only by reckoning with this tragedy can China shed its traumatic past and achieve national renewal.

To that end, a New York seminar on June 4th and “Transitional Justice” will examine the way forward on May 24, at Queens College. Centered on critical works by the legendary Chinese investigative environmental reporter Dai Qing—“Deng Xiaoping in 1989” (reissued by Bouden House)—and the renowned China expert and Stanford University scholar Wu Guoguang and his newly published “China After the Communist Party: Eight Essays on Transformation” (also by Bouden House), the event will gather scholars, experts, and global advocates to examine the issues that stifle China’s path away from its authoritarian past and the unaddressed trauma of June 4th. Some of the questions key to this call to action include:

• How can historical accountability catalyze China’s democratic transformation?
• What lessons does Zhao Ziyang’s defiance of military repression offer for today’s reformist voices?
• How might transitional justice models inspire reconciliation and systemic change?

This critical engagement with history is not just an academic exercise but a moral imperative—one that demands clarity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to truth.

The publicity release for this event appears below in both Chinese and English.