Prague, 25 August 2014. The Platform of European Memory and conscience strongly condemns the apparent political decision by Deutsche Welle to fire its exile Chinese collaborator, the blogger Youtong Su for criticising the broadcaster´s soft stance toward the Tiananmen masacre of 1989. The Platform calls for a return of journalist standards which Deutsche Welle upheld during the Cold War.

Ms Youtong Su said to the New York Times: “He (the manager) told us that he had been to see the Chinese ambassador and that we shouldn’t be so critical. That seemed a very problematic issue for us.”

During the Tiananmen massacre of 4 June 1989, the Chinese totalitarian Communist regime killed hundreds of protesters, mainly students, who had been demonstrating peacefully for government accountability, freedom of the press and freedom of speech. The Tiananmen protests inspired the democracy movements in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989-1991. Since then, however, attempts are underway in China to water down and erase from memory this important milestone in the struggle of Chinese people for democracy.

During the Cold War, millions of Eastern Europeans listened to Deutsche Welle to get objective news from the democratic world but also and more importantly, to learn the truth about the totalitarian Communist regimes under which they suffered. A number of renowned members of the exile and dissidents worked for the broadcaster.

“It is very worrying to see the quality of independent journalism at Deutsche Welle drop in favour of the totalitarian Communist dictatorship in China. We appeal to Deutsche Welle to return to its high standards and its mission which used to be to defend democratic principles and human rights,“ says Platform President Göran Lindblad.