FOUR years ago this week, following the Tiananmen Square massacre, 8,000 pro-democracy groups set themselves up to tackle the problem, today there are 35.
The enthusiasm and ferocious spirit of Chinese democracy activists have all but dissipated. Most of those who vowed to fight for the rights of the Chinese people have turned their attention to other things.
Friday marks the fourth anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Beijing - but those violent, frightening images have now faded.
Money to support student dissident groups ran out long ago. Inter-group bickering has weakened the unity of the movement and even the staunchest supporters of democracy in China have to admit that maybe it has all been for nothing.
France and the US became hotbeds of student activity after the June 4 incident, and groups were fuelled by money from supporters.
But the system began to show signs of weakness a year ago when the Federation for a Democratic China, one of France's most powerful pro-democracy organisations, was forced to cut the size of its staff and office in half because of financial problems. A few months ago, the group shut its doors and its main activist, Mr Lu Yang, moved to Belgium.