Exiled Tiananmen Square dissident Wang Dan mourns the death of his mother and key defender

Name: More Tiananmen crackdown monuments removed from Hong Kong university campuses
Uploaded: 2021-12-28T13:30:21.000Z
Duration: 3 min 24 s
Description: More Tiananmen crackdown monuments removed from Hong Kong university campuses

Wang posts poignant obituary on social media, describing his mother as his ‘spiritual pillar’ and detailing the hardships she endured to save and protect him

The US-based political commentator says Wang Lingyun was locked up for over 50 days after the 1989 crackdown in Beijing, causing atrophy in her legs

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Wang Dan, a 1989 student leader and founder of Dialogue China. He said his mother Wang Lingyun, who died on Tuesday, bravely protested to Chinese authorities about his treatment after the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Photo: AFP

Mimi Lau

Published: 9:30pm, 28 Dec 2021Updated: 10:28pm, 28 Dec 2021

Wang Lingyun, mother of exiled Tiananmen Square student leader Wang Dan, has died in Beijing aged 86.

In an obituary posted on “Wang Dan’s Page” on Facebook on Tuesday, the veteran dissident recalled how his mother was locked up for over 50 days after the 1989 protest, causing muscular atrophy in her legs.

Wang Lingyun, mother of Wang Dan. Photo: Facebook

According to Wang, Wang Lingyun died in hospital on Tuesday after being in a coma caused by a critical cerebral haemorrhage.

“My mind blacked out only twice throughout my entire life that left me unable to think. The first time it happened was on June 4, 1989 and the other time was on Dec 27, 2021. There is no word for me to express how hard her death has hit me … Upon her death, my spiritual pillar has collapsed and the world will forever be missing a piece to me,” Wang wrote.

Wang Lingyun was a history major at Peking University and served in the National Museum of the Chinese Revolution, now called the National Museum of China, studying modern Chinese and party history for more than 40 years until her retirement.

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More Tiananmen crackdown monuments removed from Hong Kong university campuses

During her son’s years of imprisonment, Wang Lingyun was a staunch supporter and fought for his release.