"Li Peng's June 4 Diary" was published by Bao Park, the son of Bao Tong, the political secretary of former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. Based on a manuscript of a diary allegedly kept by Li Peng during the June 4 Tiananmen Square incident, the book was originally scheduled to be published in Hong Kong by New Century Press on June 22, 2010. At the time of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, Li Peng was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CCP Central Committee) and the Premier of the State Council. The diary covers the period from April 15, 1989 to June 24, 1989, when Li Peng was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Premier of the State Council. Bao Park said that, apart from converting the diary from the original simplified Chinese characters to traditional Chinese characters, "nothing will be added, nothing will be subtracted, and nothing will be changed" in the book. The book was later published in the United States.
The Xi’an-based videographer Zhang Shihe, or Tiger Temple, has been a fixture on the independent Chinese history scene for more than twenty years. In 2010, he began a thirty-part series of short interviews with leading Chinese thinkers called “Working Toward Civil Society,” in which he explores how China can build a true civil society. Some of those interviewed have now been silenced, passed away, or moved abroad, making the series itself a work of history.
In this episode, Zhang interviews one of China’s most thoughtful public thinkers, Cui Weiping. Cui is a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, and translator of Havel into Chinese. She was a signer of Charter 08, and friend of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. Although the interview is only 8 minutes long, Cui touches on some of the key problems that continue to plague China: how to break free of overwhelming government control of civic life?
Note to English speakers: this interview only has Chinese subtitles. The CUA is working to add English subtitles to all of our video offerings so check back in a few months.
