The East Turkistan National Anthem Echoes at the Tiananmen Commemoration Event

The student movement at Tiananmen Square began on April 17, 1989, shortly after the sudden death of Hu Yaobang, a reform-minded leader within the Chinese Communist Party, on April 15. Initially sparked by students in Beijing mourning Hu Yaobang, the movement quickly expanded into widespread protests demanding democracy, anti-corruption measures, and political reform, spreading to many cities across China. Alarmed by the scale of the movement, the Chinese government declared martial law, and on the morning of June 4, they launched a brutal military crackdown, using tanks, automatic weapons, and other heavy artillery to suppress peaceful students and civilians in what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Every year on June 4, people around the world who support democracy and freedom hold commemorative events to honour the students and citizens who lost their lives during the 1989 movement and the resulting massacre.

In mid-May, I received an invitation from the “Tiananmen Massacre Commemoration Group”:

“Dear Mr. Abdurehim Gheni,

Your participation in this event will serve as a powerful symbol of our joint struggle for freedom and democracy. You are cordially invited to share your views on the necessity and importance of independence in your fight for Uyghur freedom. We would be deeply honoured by your presence at our event on June 1, 2025.”

This marked the first time I have ever been invited to a Tiananmen commemoration event — a milestone in my journey from my solo protest beginnings in 2018 at Dam Square in Amsterdam against the Chinese Communist regime’s genocide in East Turkistan.

The event was held on June 1, 2025, at Dam Square, Amsterdam, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, marking the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen student movement. It was jointly organized by Voice of Europe, China Spring, and the Voice Against the CCP Netherlands, and supported by the Democratic Party of China – Netherlands Committee.

More than 100 participants attended, including human rights activists from various sectors: Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Cantonese, Jin Chinese, and Christian witnesses. Their presentations exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights violations against its citizens, as well as the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated in occupied regions such as East Turkistan, Tibet, Canton (Guangdong), and Southern Mongolia — presenting solid evidence to support their claims.

When it was my turn to speak, I began by playing the National Anthem of East Turkistan, followed by delivering the speech I had specially prepared for this occasion, in Dutch.

Thank you for inviting me to speak today, and to Mr. Feilong personally for the invite. It’s an honour to participate with others who are keeping the Light of Freedom and Justice burning.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, and fellow fighters for freedom; 

I begin my presentation with the National Anthem of East Turkistan.

I stand before you to fiercely condemn the Chinese Communist regime’s merciless suppression of the Tiananmen Square movement. The massacre was not just an attack on those brave souls but an assault on the very ideals of freedom and justice. To those who lost their lives, to the families torn apart, and to the countless others whose dreams were crushed, I offer my deepest condolences and my undying admiration. Your pain is our pain, and your courage is our inspiration.

But let it be known, it is only by your efforts, and by our persistence, that the heroic deeds of the Tiananmen martyrs will be remembered in the pages of history. The regime in Beijing is deathly afraid of the memory of Tiananmen Square and is committed to erasing this event from memory or rewriting history to its liking. Keeping alive the memory of June 4th is considered a big crime by the CCP, and the young Chinese will never know of it.

The sacrifices at Tiananmen will not be in vain—it lit a flame that continues to burn in the hearts of all who yearn for a free and democratic China. The portraits of these heroes will adorn the halls of a Tiananmen Heroes Memorial, bigger and better than the Tiananmen Museum destroyed by the Chinese authorities in Hong Kong. It will be a fitting testament to their courage and a reminder of the cost of freedom.

And, we must not forget that the Chinese Communist Party’s brutality extends far beyond Tiananmen Square. It has inflicted bloodshed and oppression not only on the Chinese people but also on the occupied nations of East Turkistan, Tibet, Southern Mongolia, Cantonia, and Hong Kong. These lands and their people suffer under the same tyrannical yoke, facing cultural erasure, forced assimilation, and violent suppression. I strongly condemn these atrocities and stand in solidarity with all who resist this regime’s tyrannical oppression.

As a Uyghur activist, I carry a personal burden. I lost contact with nineteen members of my own family; victims of the Chinese Communist regime’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan. Shockingly, I was contacted by my brother in July 2024, who, under threat of the Chinese police, pleaded that I refrain from testifying at the World Citizens Tribunal in The Hague, the coming week, where the crimes of the Chinese dictator Xi Jinping were being prosecuted. I refused, and the call ended. In a display of unbelievable cruelty, the Chinese police took my father out of the detention camp, where he had been seriously ill, and had my brother record a video, urging me to stop my activism against the Chinese government; emotional manipulation. I, again, had to refuse. That was the first and last, I heard from them.

When I stood fast, my father and brother were taken back to the detention camps. Two months later, I received the devastating news that my father had died in the camp. I presented that painful video as evidence of China’s atrocities at the World Citizens Tribunal.

This genocide is a present and living testament to the regime’s cruelty—a systematic attempt to erase an entire people. This is not just a crime against the Uyghurs; it is a crime against humanity itself. I urge the world to recognize this genocide and act to stop it.

Today, at Dam Square, we are not just Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, or Chinese democrats—we are a united front of nations and peoples harmed by the Chinese Communist regime. Our strength lies in our unity. By standing together, by collaborating across borders and cultures, we can bring down this oppressive regime and secure our freedom. The path to liberation is not easy, but history has shown that tyranny cannot withstand the collective will of determined people. I firmly believe that the Chinese Communist regime will one day fall, and a democratic China will rise from its ashes.
I dream of a day when all nations under the Chinese Communist regime’s aggression and occupation realize their right of self-determination, achieve independence, and live in freedom. And, by what I see before me, that includes the long suffering people of China itself; a group that is very often overlooked in international discourse concerning Human Rights, but where the events at Tiananmen, June 4th, 1989, provide ample evidence of the evil that the Communist Party of China is capable of inflicting on its people.

The flame of freedom will not sustain itself: Let us fight for that day with unwavering resolve.
Long live freedom! Long live independence! Long live justice!
Thank you.

09-06-2025

Abdurehim Gheni Uyghur, Gulfiye Y