Survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre says world should boycott Beijing Olympics

A survivor of the massacre that squelched student protest in China in 1988 says the world should boycott the 2022 Olympics that will be held in Beijing, reports Slate.

Fang Zheng was left without legs after his legs were crushed by a tank as he helped another protestor escape the tanks sent to clear the square. He was also dragged 30 feet in the incident. Zheng had been a star track athlete with hopes of sprinting in the Olympics before the incident.

“There has been a ‘selective forgetting’ of this event,” Fan said to Slate. “Right now the memories of the Chinese people have been influenced by the authorities, which do not allow any open discussion.”

The event happened on June 4, 1989 and the event is now marked by vigils in Hong Kong and other places with large Chinese diaspora populations.