Ding Zilin was a professor of philospohy at Beijing University, but, following the death of her seventeen-year-old son in Tienanen Square in 1989 and the foundation of the Tienanmen Mothers, she lost her job in 1991.
The Tienanmen Mothers all lost children on 3 and 4 June 1989, and they now campaign to be allowed to mourn their children publicly, for there to be an end to persecution of the families, and for peaceful protesters who have been imprisoned to be released. They also want an inquiry into the 1989 events in Tienanmen Square.
Ding Zilin has been subjected to periodic arrest, harrassment, discrimination and surveillance for many years. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and, although in the run-up to the Olympics the restrictions placed on her seem to have been relaxed somewhat, she and other women in China are still at risk.
Next year will mark the 20th Anniversaryof the events of June 1989 and there are hopes that the light shed on the plight of the Tienanmen Mothers and others by the Olympics, together with the subsequent pressures brought to bear internationally, will result in justice for Ding Zilin, her family and her colleagues.