Justice for all: Chinese father's grief over Tiananmen crackdown fired campaign for victims
Jiang Peikun, who has died aged 81, was co-founder with his wife of the Tiananmen Mothers, which has fought for truth, accountability and compensation for the victims for 26 years
Retired Chinese academic Jiang Peikun, who has died aged 81, used his grief and anger following the death of his only son during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown to launch a group that saw him relentlessly campaign for justice for victims' families for the rest of his life.
He was co-founder of the Tiananmen Mothers – a name chosen, rather than the alternative suggestion of “Tiananmen Fathers”, because Jiang believed it would be more emotive with people on the mainland and abroad.
He was the spiritual leader of the Tiananmen Mothers
Jiang always shunned the limelight, but behind the scenes was the driving force of the group that has campaigned for truth, accountability and compensation for the victims for the past 26 years.
The former linguistics professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, who died on Sunday at his home in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, is survived by his wife, Ding Zilin.
“With heavy hearts, all members of Tiananmen Mothers will always remember Jiang Peikun, who was also a pioneer of aesthetic research in China,” said an obituary published by the group on the WeChat social media website on Thursday.
“We will turn grief into strength, and move forward unswervingly to achieve our three major demands that were established by him – truth, accountability and compensation [for victims of the crackdown].”
