Chai Ling (柴玲) was a prominent participant in the 1989 Tiananmen student movement, including leadership roles during the hunger strike and in the square’s student command structure. After leaving China in 1990, she became a software entrepreneur, author, and advocate focused in part on coercive family-planning practices. This archive collects verified interviews, congressional testimony, published statements, and books.
Interviews, testimony, and statements
- 1990 — Congressional testimony after her escape from China.
- October 2011 — Christianity Today interview on her religious conversion and advocacy through All Girls Allowed: Christianity Today.
- September 22, 2011 — Testimony before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee concerning China’s family-planning policy.
- May 3, 2012 — Written statement to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China concerning Chen Guangcheng: CECC statement.
- June 2012 — Public letter marking the anniversary of June 4 and describing her decision to forgive political leaders and soldiers involved in the 1989 crackdown: The Gospel Herald.
- June 3, 2013 — Testimony before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee: GovInfo hearing record.
- May 20, 2014 — Testimony at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing “Tiananmen 25 Years Later”: Congress.gov.
- June 4, 2014 — Charlie Rose discussion marking the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen: Charlie Rose archive.
- February 3, 2016 — CECC testimony on gendercide and China’s family-planning policies: Congress.gov.
- September 22, 2022 — House subcommittee testimony concerning China’s population-control policies: prepared testimony.
Books and published work
A Heart for Freedom (Tyndale House, 2011) recounts her role in 1989, escape from China, later life in the United States, and advocacy work.
Archival notes
A May 28, 1989 interview with journalist Philip Cunningham has been widely cited in accounts of the Tiananmen movement. The recording is authentic, but the translation and interpretation of some remarks have been disputed; this archive therefore treats those interpretations as contested rather than settled fact.
Sources
- CECC — Tiananmen 25 Years Later (2014)
- CECC — Gendercide: China’s Missing Girls (2016)
- Christianity Today interview (2011)
- House hearing record (2013)
- House testimony (2022)
Companion profile: Chai Ling (柴玲).