Interviews with Protagonists of the Democracy Movement
Starting from October 2013, Helmut Opletal has interviewed about 30 former civil rights activists and contemporary observers, mainly in China, France and the United States. He also searched and analyzed recent publications - most in Chinese - on the topic. The overall aim of this project is to collect and present memories and reminiscences of participants of the Chinese Democracy Movement, including avant-garde artists and writers associated with the activisties ("oral history"). It also seeks publication of other relevant material (written documents, photos, audio and video files, ...) for academic and general use.
Not all of the principal participants and players of the time could by reached and interviewed by the author (Helmut Opletal), here you find other important memories and interviews from various publications and websites.
The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim into Chinese. Only a few redundancies and legally questionable passages were shortened by the author of this website. Despite careful work, minor errors in listening or transcription remain possible.
The English and German translations of the interviews were edited and shortened for precision and stylistic reasons. Some repetitions were also omitted, and brief explanations have been added [in square brackets] to selected proper nouns or terms. Minor translation errors cannot be entirely ruled out.
(Partial) translations of the interviews into English will will gradually be made available on this website.