The high-profile escape from the mainland of Feng Congde and his then wife, Chai Ling , to Paris in April 1990 put the couple in the international limelight.
But 14 years on, the former student leader says the publicity has been a burden and he has tried hard to lead a secluded life in Paris.
The couple divorced and Ms Chai now runs an internet company in Boston, while Mr Feng works in the French capital as a computer engineer.
Speaking in New York, where he is taking part in June 4 memorial events, the former student activist says his involvement in the overseas pro-democracy movement has seen some twists and turns.
Mr Feng was involved in the movement in his early years abroad, but then sought a quiet life and returned to university.
'I realise that I won't be able to go home for a long time, so I want to use this waiting period to brush up my knowledge and live up to people's expectations of me [as a student leader],' he says.