bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Exiled dissident Tang Baiqiao insists on pursuing his fight for democracy against all odds because of a promise he made 15 years ago.

A former student leader in Changsha , Hunan province , the 37-year-old executive director of the Chinese Citizens Forum  went through difficult times while sustaining his political passion.

After fleeing to the  US, Mr Tang studied at Princeton University for a year before moving to New York.

He took on odd jobs such as working in laundromats and Chinese restaurants before becoming a cab driver in Manhattan - at one point being beaten up.

His meagre earnings were used to help fund pro-democracy campaigns.

'I worked whenever I needed money to fund the pro-democracy activities. It was a tough way to live, but I will never give up,' Mr Tang said in New York.

He is one of those diehard dissidents still fighting to keep the pro-democracy movement alive from abroad.

Marred by rumours of politicking and internal divisions, the overseas pro-democracy movement has seen a decline  in recent years. With the departure of  prominent leaders, support has also dwindled.

Mr Tang attributed these problems  to the merging of groups. 'The June 4 student movement only lasted two months and swept across the country quickly, unlike the civil rights movement of South Africa which took years to form and nurtured steadfast leaders like [Nelson] Mandela.

'Carrying on democracy work abroad is a very tiring task. But I live by the pledge I made to use alternate methods to continue the pro-democracy efforts,' he said of a pledge he made on June 8, 1989, when he took to the streets with 140,000 other protesters in Hunan to support the students in Beijing.

'To this day, I am still doing my best to keep it alive.'

Like Mr Tang, Sheng Xue , 42, is struggling to continue her fight for democracy while working as a journalist in Toronto.

Shen was an editor of Management World in Beijing in 1989. After witnessing PLA soldiers fire at students on Tiananmen Square, she decided to devote her life to the democratic cause.

To make ends meet during her political exile in Canada,  Shen has worked in Chinese restaurants, salons and in theatre groups as an actor.

'I resign whenever I need to organise conference and activities, and I have no regrets for the sacrifices, such as not being able to embark on a career, get married and have children.'

Despite the 450,000 Chinese immigrants in Toronto, she said the response to the June 4 anniversary had been lukewarm.

People were  more concerned about making money,  she said.

But she is committed to telling a new generation the history.

'Every time when I organise a photo exhibition or other events in Toronto, it hurts me to see young students from China overlook the significance of June 4.'

Meanwhile, Xiong Yan , 38,  one of the 21 dissidents still sought by the central government, is a military chaplain in the US army and was posted to Iraq in April.

The law school graduate from Beijing University was the chief member of the Students' Dialogue Group during the 1989 student movement. After the crackdown he was jailed for two years and fled to the US in 1992.

Speaking from Iraq, Mr Xiong said he became a chaplain after 'a calling from God' and pledged to continue his democracy efforts so 'people in China can live with freedom like America one day'.



Exiles pledge to never give up their fight