海角大神

At his house in a tree-lined subdivision south of Sacramento, dissident journalist Zhang Weiguo sips green tea as his gray-haired mother dishes up a steaming bowl of homemade Shanghai wonton dumplings 鈥� a fragrant reminder of a long-gone place and time.

In Shanghai, the narrow lane where Mr. Zhang grew up has been bulldozed to make way for a skyscraper. The World Economic Herald, the semi-independent Shanghai newspaper where Mr. Zhang was a lead reporter, was shut down by the government in 1989 鈥� its outspoken brand of journalism absent from China today.

鈥淢y dream has been crushed,鈥�听Mr. Zhang says slowly, his words oddly out of place at this kitchen table, overlooking a sunbathed backyard garden of leafy cucumber vines and beans. But, he adds, 鈥渉ope has not died.鈥�

Thirty years ago, Mr. Zhang was among the young intellectuals and activists leading the boldest movement for democracy ever seen in communist China. Protests calling for free speech, press freedom, and democratic reforms engulfed Tiananmen Square 鈥� the symbolic center of power in the capital, Beijing 鈥� then spread to dozens of major cities nationwide.

But after several weeks, Communist Party hard-liners prevailed over reformers, and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the People鈥檚 Liberation Army (PLA) into Beijing to crush the demonstrations and clear the square. On June 3 and 4, 1989, troops with tanks pushed into the capital, opening fire with machine guns on civilians. Estimates of the number killed range from hundreds to several thousand. The crackdown effectively silenced advocates of political reform within China鈥檚 leadership.

Jailed by the regime as a 鈥渂lack hand鈥� and forced into exile, Mr. Zhang and other banned dissidents have sacrificed greatly for their ideals. Yet they remain keen observers of China today. Despite the country鈥檚 repressive trajectory 鈥� intensified since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012 鈥� Mr. Zhang and other prominent Tiananmen-era activists believe Chinese aspirations for basic rights are growing under the surface, and will eventually emerge again.

Mr. Zhang feels fortunate to have been part of the push for media independence in the 1980s 鈥� a golden era for maverick publications, in contrast to today.

鈥淭he level of control over the media in China under Xi is the tightest it has been since right after the 1989 crackdown,鈥� says Mr. Zhang, who has continued to write and edit for overseas Chinese-language newspapers and magazines. 鈥淴i doesn鈥檛 want Western-style liberalization,鈥� and is following the example of Mao Zedong, who believed 鈥渢he Communist Party鈥檚 two legs are the pen and the rifle 鈥� public opinion and violence,鈥� Mr. Zhang says.

For China鈥檚 current leaders, the lesson from Tiananmen is simple, Mr. Zhang says: 鈥淪uppress the Tiananmen movement and kill however many people, and the country will be stable for decades. This is China鈥檚 model: suppression.鈥�

China is now moving aggressively to export its ideology and propaganda, through global and local television networks, newspapers, and other media that are widely available in U.S. markets from Los Angeles to New York, he says.

Social media, however, offers one realm in China today where limited expression is possible, Mr. Zhang says 鈥� despite the efforts of China鈥檚 army of censors and official commentators. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a joke: If you watch the daily official news broadcast, you would think nothing鈥檚 happening in China. But if you go on the internet, you will think China is about to collapse. So there is some space, a growing diversity of voices, and it is on the web.鈥�

Mr. Zhang has jumped into that space, writing a blog that helps capture China鈥檚 independent online voices before censors can delete them, and sharing them with outside audiences. Despite severe setbacks for freedom and democracy over the past 30 years, he believes that 鈥渋n the end, China will have to return to that track.鈥�

Maj. Yan Xiong

For U.S. Army chaplain Maj. Yan Xiong, his Memorial Day remembrances extend from the chapel at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to the desert battlefields of Iraq and beyond, to Beijing.

Major Xiong offers prayers not only for fallen U.S. soldiers who served with him on the outskirts of Baghdad in 2004, but for the Chinese civilians he saw gunned down by the PLA in Beijing in June 1989.

Then an idealistic Beijing University law student, Xiong helped lead demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, watching in awe as the crowds swelled.

鈥淓ven after 30 years, the number one impression in my mind is the millions of people. ... The whole society supported that democratic movement,鈥� he recalls. He helped organize an independent student council and took part in student dialogues with government officials.

Hearing reports of PLA troops opening fire, he and a friend rushed toward the square. 鈥淚 witnessed a massacre, and I still cannot forget that. I even carried a lot of bodies to the hospital,鈥� he says.

After the crackdown, Major Xiong and other student leaders wanted by the government scattered to other provinces as part of a plan to rekindle the movement outside Beijing. Arrested in northern China at gunpoint, he was jailed for 19 months. Released in 1991, he felt betrayed and empty.

Then, a friend from an underground 海角大神 church gave Major Xiong a book that would change his life: 鈥淪treams in the Desert,鈥� a 1925 devotional by a 海角大神 missionary who had worked in China. Major Xiong read the thin volume every day on walks near the old Summer Palace north of Beijing.

鈥淚t made my heart warm,鈥� he recalls, though back then he could not articulate why.

Escaping China on a fishing vessel to Hong Kong, he gained political asylum in the United States in 1992. There, he joined a church and was baptized, one of several Tiananmen activists drawn to 海角大神ity. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and later graduated from seminary and was commissioned as an Army chaplain.

Today, Major Xiong sees a direct connection between the disillusionment with communism in China and the rapid growth of 海角大神ity there.

鈥淚n China, more and more people are disappointed with the reality,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey need something that can comfort them so they can have hope for the future.鈥�

To the atheistic party, this trend seems threatening.

鈥淚n China when a person says, 鈥業 am a 海角大神,鈥� it means 鈥業 will follow Jesus, not the party,鈥欌�� he says.

China has barred Major Xiong from returning, even to visit his ill mother, who died in 2015.

Major Xiong worries the party鈥檚 rigid rule will see problems build without solutions 鈥� threatening the regime with eventual collapse. In such a crisis, he hopes the PLA would not repeat the mistakes of Tiananmen.

鈥淭he PLA is not the military of the party, they are the military of the Chinese people,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey belong to the people and should stand on the right side.鈥�

Han Dongfang

From a high-rise office on Hong Kong鈥檚 Kowloon Peninsula, labor activist Han Dongfang launches into another interview with a disgruntled Chinese worker about why he went on strike.

鈥淪o, in all your years as a road worker, the [state-run] trade union never came to help you?鈥� Mr. Han asks in his rapid-fire Beijing accent.

鈥淣o, I鈥檝e never heard of it,鈥� the worker replies.

During his weekly, Mandarin-language broadcast on Radio Free Asia, Mr. Han airs the grievances of Chinese workers struggling with pay, safety, health, and other workplace challenges across China. The conversations are part of Mr. Han鈥檚 lifelong fight for labor rights and democracy.

As a railway worker, Mr. Han helped create China鈥檚 first independent labor union, the Beijing Workers鈥� Autonomous Federation, during the Tiananmen protests. Rallying workers behind the students, Mr. Han and the BWAF became top government targets after the June 4 crackdown.

Holding fast to his convictions, Mr. Han turned himself in and was jailed for almost two years before gaining release in 1991 for medical care in the U.S. He returned to China briefly in 1993 only to be immediately expelled to Hong Kong, where he founded the China Labor Bulletin (CLB), a nongovernmental organization defending workers鈥� rights.

Today, Mr. Han is encouraged by Chinese workers鈥� growing willingness to stand up for themselves 鈥� demonstrated by widespread labor strikes across the country. An online map maintained by CLB tracks details of hundreds of strikes, sit-ins, and other labor actions unfolding in China, including some 600 so far this year. The government censors news on strikes, but word of the incidents often spreads on social media.

Despite the government鈥檚 recent arrests of labor activists and tightening of controls on NGOs, Mr. Han says individual workers鈥� consciousness is what matters in the long run.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 put their hopes in the government or other people, but in themselves 鈥� this is far beyond what we could imagine 30 years ago,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you have awareness of your rights 鈥� and how to fight 鈥� this is where the hope is.鈥�

As China鈥檚 unbridled, profit-driven growth has given rise to growing inequality, corruption, pollution, and health and safety issues at workplaces, Mr. Han says, the government is incapable of safeguarding worker rights on its own.

鈥淭he Chinese communist government realizes it can鈥檛 stay in power unless they satisfy the working families in China,鈥� he says. China is one of the world鈥檚 most unequal countries as the income gap between urban and rural grows, according to the International Monetary Fund. 鈥淥ne of the biggest legitimacy issues they are facing is wealth redistribution.鈥�

As a result of these tensions, Chinese workers will steadily gain power, Mr. Han predicts, starting with access to collective bargaining for better conditions. 鈥淭hat will lay a very solid ground for a social democratic solution in China,鈥� he says.

Close to the pulse of workers through his regular radio talks, Mr. Han is optimistic about China鈥檚 future. 鈥淚 believe, based on reality and also hope, that the best way out is for China to turn to social democracy, and become the world鈥檚 biggest democratic regime.鈥�