20TH

Dearest Wei Wen,

How have you been, my friend? It has been a while since we corresponded. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I must tell you how happy and surprised this past Sunday, having read in a local newspaper that members within the Chinese Communist Party have signed a letter voicing their desire for political change, for a democratic political system. I am reminded of how far we have come, Wei Wen. We, as a people, who have been oppressed for thousands of years. Millions before us have died for their dream of a life of basic human dignity. Our collective courage and spirit tells me that this dream must inevitably be met. When will freedom be achieved? Perhaps in ten years, perhaps in fifty. But we are closer to freedom every day. I admire you for never giving up, for planting seeds of freedom every day, everywhere you go, in our motherland.

This shall be the last letter I am writing to you. I shall never forget the history that we shared during the protests, and though the candle of freedom will forever burn inside me; my past duties are nearly done and I must now move on and leave the terrors of my past for the benefit of my family and my newborn child.

I hope someday you will visit my family and me in London. And when we meet, I hope we can all sing songs of true peace and freedom.

Sincerely,

Freddie Lee