作者：烟青

六四距今37年了。37年过去，当初莘莘学子们热切期盼的政改依然没有实现，不仅没有实现 ，还出现了某些层面的倒退。比如言论的自由、新闻的真实，还有最近几天的外国投资管理34条体现的营商环境等。随着这些威权统治带来的社会倒退，民生益艰，社会叙事愈加荒诞。

上个月，湖南、湖北、贵州和广东发生了严重的洪灾，仅湖南常德市石门县就超过10万人受灾，特大洪水还引发了泥石泥，多人伤亡。与此同时，远方的河南，也因为这场洪灾“轰动”了。原因是河南省伊川、宜阳、嵩县三支蓝天救援队因为跨区域救援这场洪灾。5月22日，被责令立即全员撤回，全队被给予书面警告一次。

2023年河北涿州洪灾更加严重，同样也是明令禁止民间救援，救援队在途中被要求立即遣返。这时候，没有灾情就是命令了，不说人命关天了！在共产党眼里，普通老百姓的命真不算命！

大名鼎鼎的红十字会，中国红十字会，其救援资格都要被政府行政权力垄断，这才是要命的！不要以为他们是热心救援。其实，他们的热心只是通过垄断救援来垄断捐赠。没有民间的救援，自然就没有民间的募捐了。不然，郭美美哪来的那么多干爹可以坑。

至于什么中国青基会、中华儿慈会，更是一伙牛鬼蛇神。同样是大河南，中华少年儿童慈善救助基金会9958项目区域负责人雷克，就因为掌握着本应该付给患儿的60多万募捐款，拖着不付来挟持着患儿的妈妈陪睡，每次给三五两千元，可前后总共也才给了不足二万元，后该儿童还是因医疗不足离世，这他妈真是畜牲不如！更可恶之处是你给那些捐赠者怎么想：我捐款不是在扶危济困，挽救生命，而是在帮你去祸祸别人的妈妈！

中国是一个独裁国家，它的政治结构同样有一个显著特点，就是它的权力来源是自上而下，那么，在这种制度下的权力参与者稍微一熟悉这种环境，真的是用脚指头想都能明白，我只要依附好上级，其它的民生啊什么的，一切都不重要。所以你看得到上海读不到书的孩子家长会跪在教育局门口；城管会追着很多像夏俊峰的小贩满街跑；北京会驱逐他们认为的低端人口。

有人会说，我说的这些都是中共的下层官员们干的，中央上层领导还是好的，对于这个说法，我只想告诉你:下面烂完了，上面还是好的，那是梅毒晚期；再者，不要忘了：中国网球名将彭帅，风华正茂的年龄，被张高丽长期侵占的事。你们想想：专业网球运动员，那腕力和小臂的力量是多强啊，会抗拒不了一个70多岁的糟老头子？她只是抗拒不了强权而已，更不要天真的以为上面是好的，那只是他们想让你以为的。上有所好，才下必盛焉，上面才是那个“根”。

37年前的六四，先驱们为民主和宪政而争，为民族未来而争，为理想和知识份子的良知而争，虽然付出了鲜血和生命，而且尚未成功，但她却真正开启了反抗中共铁幕的民主运动。有人说，民主又不能当饭吃，但是，从中共改革后到最近这几年的状况，难道还不能明白：没有民主，你最终连饭都没得吃！在一个正常的民主国家，如果孩子上不了学，下跪的应该是教育局吧；一个正常的民主国家，没有谁敢随便把一些人定义为低端，然后驱逐吧，所以不要为你们的街上见不到流浪汉而自豪，更不要嘲笑美国的流浪汉。

     2026.6.4

编辑：李晶 校对：毛一炜 翻译：沈美花

The Fireworks of June Fourth — Democracy

Author: Yan Qing

Thirty-seven years have passed since June Fourth. Over these 37 years, the political reforms that the students of that era eagerly hoped for have still not been realized. Not only have they failed to materialize, but in some respects there has even been regression. Examples include freedom of speech, the authenticity of news reporting, and, more recently, the business environment reflected in the 34 Measures on the Administration of Foreign Investment. As society regresses under authoritarian rule, people’s livelihoods become increasingly difficult, and the narratives presented by society grow ever more absurd.

Last month, severe flooding struck Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Guangdong provinces. In Shimen County of Changde City, Hunan Province alone, more than 100,000 people were affected. Torrential floods also triggered mudslides, causing multiple casualties. Meanwhile, far away in Henan Province, the disaster also attracted widespread attention. The reason was that three Blue Sky Rescue teams from Yichuan, Yiyang, and Song County in Henan crossed regional boundaries to assist in flood relief. On May 22, they were ordered to withdraw immediately, and the entire teams received written warnings.

The flooding in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, in 2023 was even more severe. Yet private rescue efforts were likewise explicitly prohibited, and rescue teams were ordered to return before reaching the disaster area. At such moments, the absence of a reported disaster seems more important than human lives. In the eyes of the Communist Party, the lives of ordinary people simply do not count.

Even the well-known Red Cross Society of China must operate under the government’s monopoly over rescue qualifications. That is the truly alarming part. Do not assume they are simply enthusiastic about disaster relief. In reality, their enthusiasm lies in monopolizing rescue operations so that they can monopolize donations. Without private rescue efforts, there will naturally be no private fundraising. Otherwise, where would Guo Meimei have found so many wealthy patrons to exploit?

As for organizations such as the China Youth Development Foundation and the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, they are even more troubling. Again in Henan, Lei Ke, a regional manager of the 9958 Project under the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, allegedly controlled more than 600,000 yuan in donations that should have gone to a sick child. By withholding the funds, he coerced the child’s mother into sexual relations. Each time, he released only a few thousand yuan, and in total provided less than 20,000 yuan. Ultimately, the child died due to inadequate medical treatment. This was truly inhumane. What is even more outrageous is how donors must feel: they donated to help those in need and save lives, not to enable someone to exploit a desperate mother.

China is an authoritarian state, and its political structure has a distinctive characteristic: power flows from the top down. Under such a system, anyone familiar with the environment can easily understand that as long as they remain loyal to their superiors, everything else—including people’s livelihoods—is secondary. That is why parents in Shanghai whose children cannot attend school may end up kneeling outside education bureau offices. It is why street vendors such as Xia Junfeng were relentlessly chased by urban management officers. It is why people deemed “low-end population” can be driven out of Beijing.

Some may argue that these are merely the actions of lower-level officials and that the central leadership remains good. To such claims, I would respond: if everything below is rotten while everything above remains good, then the disease is already in its terminal stage. Furthermore, consider the case of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who alleged that she was subjected to a long-term relationship with former senior leader Zhang Gaoli. Think about it: a professional tennis player possesses tremendous physical strength and endurance. Was she truly incapable of resisting a man in his seventies? What she could not resist was power itself. Do not naively assume that those at the top are virtuous. That is merely what they want you to believe. When those above favor something, those below will pursue it with even greater zeal. The root of the problem lies at the top.

Thirty-seven years ago, during the June Fourth Movement, countless pioneers struggled for democracy and constitutional government, for the future of the nation, and for the ideals and conscience of intellectuals. Although they paid with blood and lives, and although success has yet to be achieved, they truly initiated a democratic movement against the Communist Party’s iron curtain.

Some people say that democracy cannot be eaten. Yet considering China’s development from the reform era to the present, should it not be clear by now that without democracy, one may ultimately not even have food to eat? In a normal democratic country, if children cannot attend school, it is the education authorities who should feel ashamed. In a normal democratic country, no one would dare arbitrarily label certain people as “low-end” and expel them. Therefore, do not take pride in the absence of homeless people on your streets, nor mock the homeless population in the United States.

June 4, 2026

Editor: Li JingProofreader: Mao YiweiTranslator: Shen Meihua