Victims of Communism Memorial - Critical Reaction

Critical Reaction

The Memorial features a 10-foot (3 m) bronze replica from photographs, of the Goddess of Democracy, erected by students during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The monument's design and the statue are works of sculptor Thomas Marsh. He led a project in 1994, to re-create the Goddess of Democracy in Chinatown, San Francisco. The inscription reads:

(front)To the more than one hundred million victims of communism and to those who love liberty

(rear) To the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples

The Chicago Tribune reported the statue drew criticism from the Chinese embassy because the memorial evokes the Tiananmen Square protests. The embassy called its construction an "attempt to defame China." The chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Lee Edwards, said he was not aware of any official complaint.

In response to criticism of China at the dedication ceremony, a Chinese foreign ministry speaker accused the US of pushing a "Cold War" thought and meddling in China's internal affairs, and issued a formal protest.

Professor Andrei P. Tsygankov of San Francisco State University identifies the building of the statue as an expression of the anti-Russia lobby in Washington. He identifies it as a revival of Cold War symbolism.

According to Professor Shi Yinhong of the Center of American Studies at the People's University of China, the monument was inappropriate: "In the history of socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union, there were many dramatic events. In the capitalist countries, many bad things have also happened, but we do not erect monuments to the victims of capitalism."

A week after the unveiling of the monument and the speeches during the event, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded "We have not used nuclear weapons against a civilian population. We have not sprayed thousands of kilometers with chemicals, or dropped on a small country seven times more bombs than in all the Great Patriotic War."

In China, the Foreign Ministry lodged stern representations at the United States in response to the inauguration of the statue. The country's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that there are "there are political forces in the United States that still think in 'cold war' terms and seek to provoke conflicts between different ideologies and social systems." He added that that there should be an end by the U.S. of "interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, do more to promote dialogue and cooperation.

Russian politician and legislator Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said that U.S. President Bush's appearance before the unveiling of the monument was a "clumsy propaganda attempt to divert the world public opinion's attention from the true, bloody crimes of U.S. imperialism in general and the current administration in the White House in particular." Zyuganov also added that the monument was inappropriate: "How can an American president open given the blood of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Serbs in Kosovo, Guantanamo Bay, as well as CIA prisons in Eastern Europe are part of the black list of crimes of the globalists...."

In Ukraine, there was a response to open a museum for U.S. imperialism in Simferopol. Communist Party Leader Leonid Grach stated, "Is our response to George Bush, who opened the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, and to Viktor Yushchenko, who initiated the construction of the Museum of Soviet occupation in Kiev." The museum focused on the repression of Native Americans, slavery, and racism. The museum also highlights interventions in foreign countries.