阎明复之女谈六四事件

I was still in Geneva in 1985 when I heard that my father had been appointed by the party’s Central Committee to the position of leader of the United Front Work Department, then to the position of secretary to the Central Committee.

By coincidence, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that year. Soon after starting his new post, Gorbachev stated that he wanted to improve relations with China.

Deng Xiaoping had several reservations regarding this wished-for rapprochement, all of them military. First, there was the presence of Soviet troops in Mongolia, as well as on the Sino-Soviet border. The Soviets were intervening in Afghanistan and supporting the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia, an unacceptable situation in the eyes of Beijing.

Deng Xiaoping was able to lay down a whole set of conditions because China was in a position of strength. The economic reforms implemented by Deng in 1978 were bearing fruit, whereas the Soviet economy, in decline since the late 1970s, was forcing the USSR to give up its arms race with the United States.

After the retreat of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, Deng gave the green light for Gorbachev to make an official visit to China between May 15 and 18, 1989. The symbolism was strong enough that Yan Mingfu—who was, in some way, the living memory of the history of Sino-Soviet relations —took part in the ceremonies in his role as secretary of the Party’s Central Committee.

As it happened, Hu Yaobang had died from a heart attack the previous month in Beijing.

As the Party’s secretary-general, Hu Yaobang had been a reformist, but he had been dismissed in 1987 following student protests whose democratic aspirations he seemed to share. Hu Yaobang was particularly admired because, in the wake of Mao’s death, he accomplished the reintegration of hundreds of intellectuals and leaders fired during the Cultural Revolution, as well as the posthumous rehabilitation of the regime’s victims, including my grandfather. Then, in 1979, he had done the same for rightists.

The day after his death, spontaneous protests all over the country forced the government to organize a state funeral on April 22, 1989. In Beijing, however, the fervor did not die down. In Tiananmen Square, it became impossible to carry out the ceremonies planned for the Soviet leader’s official visit. Tiananmen Square was filled with students who had begun a hunger strike, so it was decided to prepare a reception at the airport instead. Gorbachev was welcomed on May 16 by Zhao Ziyang, the party’s secretary-general, and by Deng, in the Great Hall of the People. I followed the event on Swiss television.

What the television footage did not show was that the central government had asked my father to negotiate with the students in Tiananmen Square, to convince them to move away after four days of their hunger strike.

One wonders why the government did not send the education minister to Tiananmen Square that afternoon. Particularly since my father had been ill for some time, regularly hospitalized with high fevers. In fact, he left for Tiananmen Square in an ambulance from the hospital where he had been admitted with a temperature of 102.

Barely had my father arrived in the middle of the angry crowd when the leader of the student movement asked everybody to calm down. What happened next was told to me by a friend of mine, Caroline, who was a student at Peking University at the time. At that moment, she was sitting close to my father’s feet.

Before passing the megaphone to my father, the movement’s leader told the protesters that Comrade Yan Mingfu had come as a friend, that he was a genuine communist. “I can promise you, he is one of us.” My father took the megaphone and began speaking: “First of all, your determination and the spirit of your demands has touched the entire country. Be assured that your demands for reform, freedom, and an end to corruption have been heard, and I have no doubt that the Central Committee, as well as the People’s Assembly, will take them into account. But those demands are not worth paying for with your lives. As a humanist, let me tell you that you cannot sacrifice yourselves. As the representative of the Central Committee, I can promise you that—once you have suspended your hunger strike and started classes again—there will be no reprisals against you.” And to persuade the weakest among them to go to the hospital, and the others to go back to their classrooms as soon as possible, he offered himself as a hostage, as proof of the government’s good faith, assuring the students that their demands would be considered and that negotiations would begin. Despite this, the students decided not to vacate the square. My father left.

Later, he would say that it was lucky that Deng was hard of hearing because he would not have been happy to hear the students yelling while he was welcoming Gorbachev in the Great Hall of the People.

While the square was still occupied by protesters and hunger strikers, Gorbachev’s official visit continued, notably at the famous Great Wall of China. When a journalist asked him for his impression of this edifice, Gorbachev replied that the wall was magnificent, before adding, “But there are too many walls between people.” The journalist took the bait, “Does that mean you would like to bring down the Berlin Wall?” The response was serious: “Why not?” As for the protesters who were still occupying Tiananmen Square, Gorbachev chose his words carefully: “The USSR, too, has certain ‘hotheads’ who wish to change socialism overnight.”

It was from that moment that my father disappeared from television screens, and that the reporting focused less on Gorbachev’s visit than on what was happening in Tiananmen Square.

In Geneva, I spent all my free time glued to the television—until June 4, 1989, when I saw the pictures of the tank advancing toward a young man. That image seared itself into my memory.

I followed the events that came next through the young Chinese people who left the country. One year later, in Paris, I saw my friend Hirondelle, who told me that, on that fateful day, she had been walking toward Chang’an Avenue, after leaving the State Council residence where she lived. The avenue was filled with tanks and military trucks. The loudspeakers broadcast the words, “Attention. All rebels will be shot. Stay in your homes.” Despite the warlike tone, Hirondelle could not believe this was true. Was it possible that Chinese soldiers would shoot at the crowd? Suddenly, a young man started running toward her. From a nearby tank, a soldier fired. The boy was hit. He collapsed, bleeding. The loudspeaker announced, “Do not remain outside. If you do, you will suffer the consequences.” Hirondelle was not sure she had really understood. This is a nightmare, she told herself, and her whole body started trembling. She did not move as the tanks went past. Then, gathering her strength, she ran home and made the decision to leave Beijing.

The day after these events, my father was dismissed. He was not the only one: Zhao Ziyang, too, was dismissed, along with two other Central Committee secretaries.

That November, six months after Gorbachev’s visit to Beijing, the Berlin Wall came down.

The next month, in Malta, Mikhail Gorbachev and George H. W. Bush officially proclaimed the end of the Cold War.

By December 1991, the USSR had ceased to exist.

As for my father, his exile would not last long. In 1991, he was appointed vice-minister of civil affairs.

1985年我还在日内瓦时，就听说我父亲被党中央任命为统战部长，随后又被任命为中央书记处书记。

巧合的是，那一年戈尔巴乔夫成为苏共总书记。他上任后不久，便表示希望改善与中国的关系。

邓小平对这场预期中的和解有诸多顾虑，这些顾虑都与军事有关。首先是苏联军队在蒙古以及中苏边境的驻扎。其次，苏联干预阿富汗，并支持越南在柬埔寨的军事力量，这在北京看来是无法接受的局面。

由于中国当时处于优势地位，邓小平得以提出一系列条件。1978年邓推行的经济改革已开始见效，而苏联经济自70年代末以来持续衰退，迫使其放弃与美国的军备竞赛。

苏军从阿富汗撤军后，邓小平同意戈尔巴乔夫于1989年5月15日至18日正式访问中国。这次访问具有重要的象征意义，因此作为某种意义上的中苏关系“活的记忆”，我的父亲阎明复以党中央书记的身份参加了相关仪式。

然而，就在访问前一个月，胡耀邦因心脏病突发在北京去世。

作为中共中央总书记的胡耀邦是一位改革派，但他在1987年因学生抗议而被罢免——他似乎对学生的民主诉求表示了某种支持。胡耀邦深受敬仰，因为在毛泽东去世后，他成功地促成了数百名在文化大革命期间被撤职的知识分子和领导人的复职，并为包括我祖父在内的许多政治受害者恢复了名誉。1979年，他也为右派平反。

胡耀邦去世的第二天，全国各地自发爆发抗议，迫使政府于1989年4月22日为他举行国葬。然而，北京的抗议浪潮并未平息。天安门广场上挤满了绝食抗议的学生，导致原计划为苏联领导人举行的欢迎仪式无法在广场上进行。于是，政府决定改在机场举行欢迎仪式。5月16日，赵紫阳总书记和邓小平在人民大会堂迎接了戈尔巴乔夫。我通过瑞士电视台关注了整个事件。

电视镜头没有拍到的是，中央政府派我父亲前往天安门广场，试图劝说学生结束绝食，并让他们撤离。

人们不禁要问，为什么政府没有派教育部长去？特别是因为我父亲当时病重，经常因高烧住院。事实上，他是从医院乘救护车前往天安门广场的，当时他的体温高达39摄氏度。

我父亲刚到愤怒的人群中间，学生领袖就让大家冷静下来。接下来发生的事情是我的朋友卡罗琳告诉我的。她当时是北京大学的学生，就坐在我父亲脚边。

学生领袖在把话筒递给我父亲之前，对抗议者说：“阎明复同志是以朋友的身份来的，他是真正的共产党员。我向你们保证，他是我们中的一员。”我父亲接过话筒开始讲话：“首先，你们的决心和诉求精神感动了全国。你们要求改革、自由和反腐的声音已经被听到，我确信党中央和全国人大都会考虑这些诉求。但这些诉求不值得你们用生命去换取。作为一个人道主义者，我想告诉你们，绝不能以自我牺牲为代价。作为党中央的代表，我可以向你们保证，只要你们结束绝食、恢复上课，就不会有任何报复行为。”为了劝说最虚弱的学生去医院，以及其他学生尽快回到课堂，我父亲甚至提出自愿充当人质，以证明政府的诚意，保证会认真考虑他们的诉求，并开始谈判。

尽管如此，学生们依然拒绝撤离。我父亲只好离开。

后来他曾说，幸好邓小平耳背，否则他一定会对学生在人民大会堂外喧闹不休感到不满。

尽管天安门广场仍被抗议者和绝食学生占据，戈尔巴乔夫的访问如期进行，他还参观了举世闻名的长城。当记者问他对这座建筑的印象时，戈尔巴乔夫回答说：“长城很壮观，但人们之间的‘墙’太多了。”记者随即追问：“那是否意味着您希望拆除柏林墙？”戈尔巴乔夫的回答严肃而简单：“为什么不呢？”至于仍占据天安门广场的抗议者，戈尔巴乔夫小心措辞道：“苏联也有一些‘急躁分子’，希望一夜之间改变社会主义。”

从那时起，我父亲便消失在电视画面中，报道的焦点逐渐从戈尔巴乔夫的访问转向天安门广场的抗议活动。

在日内瓦，我将所有空闲时间都花在观看电视报道上，直到1989年6月4日，我看到了一辆坦克向一位年轻人驶去的画面。那个画面深深印在了我的记忆中。

我后来通过离开中国的年轻人了解了后续发展。一年后在巴黎，我见到了我的朋友“燕子”。她告诉我，那天她从国务院宿舍出来后，正走向长安街，街上布满了坦克和军用卡车。扬声器中反复播报：“注意！所有叛乱分子将被射杀，请留在家中。”尽管语气充满战争意味，但“燕子”不敢相信会发生这种事。中国士兵会真的向民众开枪吗？突然，一名年轻人向她跑来。附近的一辆坦克上，一名士兵开了枪。那男孩中弹倒地，鲜血直流。扬声器继续警告：“不要逗留，否则后果自负。”燕子无法确定自己是否真的理解了这一切。她告诉自己这是一场噩梦，全身开始颤抖。她站在原地未动，任由坦克从身边驶过。最后，她鼓起勇气跑回家，并决定离开北京。

事件发生的第二天，我父亲被免职。不仅他一人，赵紫阳和另外两名中央书记也遭到了免职。

同年11月，也就是戈尔巴乔夫访问北京后的六个月，柏林墙倒塌。

一个月后，在马耳他，戈尔巴乔夫和老布什正式宣布冷战结束。

到1991年12月，苏联不复存在。

至于我父亲，他的流放并未持续太久。1991年，他被任命为民政部副部长。