Facing the Ocean, Resisting Without Regret
In Memory of Liu Xiaobo on the Beach at Santa Monica, Twice Over
作者：朱晓娜 2025年7月13日
编辑：赵杰 责任编辑：罗志飞 鲁慧文 翻译：鲁慧文
2024年，我第一次走上圣莫尼卡的沙滩，在刘晓波先生逝世七周年的纪念日，向大海献上白花。今年，我又如约而至，只是这一次，我带上了年幼的女儿。
作为中国民主党的一员，作为一个母亲，也作为一个曾在体制暴政中亲历伤痛的普通人，我知道，我的每一次站出来，都不是偶然。
五年前，在中国，我因疫情防控政策无法就医，失去了腹中孩子。我在网络上讲述这段经历后，被警方上门威胁，强制删帖，那一刻我明白了，连痛苦都不能自由表达的国度，是没有明天的。我选择离开，选择在美国开始新的生活，也开始了新的斗争。
来到这里后，我加入了中国民主党，参与抗议，担任财务工作；也在洛杉矶雕塑公园担任义工，用行动表达信仰，用双手建设希望。但无论做什么，每年7月13日，我都必须来到这片沙滩，向那位照亮我思想和人生方向的智者致敬。
刘晓波先生的牺牲，是中国近代思想史上的一道断裂。他的温和、他的坚持、他那句“我没有敌人”，曾让我在最愤怒的时候，仍愿相信未来。今天，我把这份信念传递给我的女儿。她还不懂“自由”为何物，但她的童年已经踩在自由的土地上，她的成长不再需要低头说谎。
感谢那些依旧不屈的人们——不论身处国内还是海外，感谢每一位坚持真相和记忆的同行者。
只要我们还记得，刘晓波就活着；只要我们还抗争，自由就不会死。
Facing the Ocean, Resisting Without Regret
In Memory of Liu Xiaobo on the Beach at Santa Monica, Twice Over
By Zhu Xiaona | July 13, 2025
Edited by: Zhao Jie | Chief Editors: Luo Zhifei, Huiwen Lu | Translated by: Huiwen Lu
In 2024, I stepped onto the sands of Santa Monica for the first time. On the anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s death, I offered a white flower to the sea.
This year, I returned—this time, with my young daughter by my side.
As a member of the China Democracy Party, as a mother, and as an ordinary person who has personally suffered under authoritarian rule, I know that every time I stand up, it is never by chance.
Five years ago in China, due to pandemic control measures, I was denied medical care and lost the child I was carrying. When I shared this painful experience online, the police came to my home, threatened me, and forced me to delete the post. It was then that I understood: in a country where even grief cannot be expressed freely, there is no tomorrow.
I chose to leave. I chose to begin anew in the United States—and to begin a new resistance.
Since arriving here, I joined the China Democracy Party. I’ve taken part in protests, managed our finances, and volunteered at the Los Angeles Liberty Sculpture Park—expressing my beliefs through action, building hope with my own hands. But no matter what else I do, every July 13, I must return to this beach—to pay tribute to the thinker who lit the path of my beliefs and my life.
Liu Xiaobo’s sacrifice marked a rupture in the intellectual history of modern China. His gentleness, his perseverance, his words—“I have no enemies”—once allowed me, even in moments of deepest anger, to still believe in the future.
Today, I pass that faith on to my daughter. She doesn’t yet understand what “freedom” means, but her childhood now unfolds on free soil. She will grow up without needing to bow her head or speak lies.
I am grateful to all those who remain unyielding—whether inside China or abroad. Grateful to every companion who continues to uphold truth and memory.
As long as we remember, Liu Xiaobo lives on.
As long as we resist, freedom will not die.
