Burmese Dissident Aung San Suu Kyi Calls for Openness in China
- 13 years ago
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Hong Kong is the only place in China where people are relatively free to speak their minds. Many Hong Kong residents have publicly called on the Chinese regime to become more democratic. And this week, students at Hong Kong University got a special message from another country where it can be dangerous to speak your mind: Burma.
In an online videoconference Monday, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed an audience at Hong Kong University. Suu Kyi's rare public appearance comes in the midst of the Chinese regime's wave of crackdowns on dissidents and protesters.
She urged the Chinese regime to change and open up politically.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Pro-Democracy Leader]:
"China is a great country; the Chinese people are a great people with a marvelous and long history behind them. You can afford to take more steps, you can afford to be daring, you can afford to allow room for all kinds of opinions. "
The regimes of both China and Suu Kyi's native Burma are relentless when it comes to dealing with dissidents. And both countries have people who struggle for political freedom. She encouraged these people to hold onto their beliefs.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Pro-Democracy Leader]:
"My message to all those who are imprisoned, in some way or the other, for their belief, I would like to say to them: 'You must keep faith with yourself.' That's the most important thing. If you cannot keep faith with yourself, you will not be able to live a full and peaceful life and a life of inner peace. So you have to keep faith with yourself."
Suu Kyi's comments come just a few days before the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. In a similar but less-well known incident, the Burmese military had brutally crushed a student-led protest the year before.
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Hong Kong is the only place in China where people are relatively free to speak their minds. Many Hong Kong residents have publicly called on the Chinese regime to become more democratic. And this week, students at Hong Kong University got a special message from another country where it can be dangerous to speak your mind: Burma.
In an online videoconference Monday, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed an audience at Hong Kong University. Suu Kyi's rare public appearance comes in the midst of the Chinese regime's wave of crackdowns on dissidents and protesters.
She urged the Chinese regime to change and open up politically.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Pro-Democracy Leader]:
"China is a great country; the Chinese people are a great people with a marvelous and long history behind them. You can afford to take more steps, you can afford to be daring, you can afford to allow room for all kinds of opinions. "
The regimes of both China and Suu Kyi's native Burma are relentless when it comes to dealing with dissidents. And both countries have people who struggle for political freedom. She encouraged these people to hold onto their beliefs.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese Pro-Democracy Leader]:
"My message to all those who are imprisoned, in some way or the other, for their belief, I would like to say to them: 'You must keep faith with yourself.' That's the most important thing. If you cannot keep faith with yourself, you will not be able to live a full and peaceful life and a life of inner peace. So you have to keep faith with yourself."
Suu Kyi's comments come just a few days before the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. In a similar but less-well known incident, the Burmese military had brutally crushed a student-led protest the year before.