【新唐人2012年4月10日讯】中国著名民运人士、天体物理学家方励之，最近在美国突然去世。方励之作为中国民主运动的启蒙者，直接推动与影响了“86学运”和“89学运”，对中国影响深远。但他的信息在中国大陆却被长期屏蔽，很多民众不知道方励之已经去世，有些人甚至没有听说过方励之这个名字。
上周五（6号），方励之在亚利桑那州的家中突然逝世，享年76岁。他曾经担任“中国科技大学”副校长，是1986年学生运动的领军人物，后来被开除党籍并受到全国性批判。1989年“六四大屠杀”之后，方励之被迫流亡美国，在“亚利桑那大学”担任天体物理学教授。
对于方励之的突然离世，很多海外人士纷纷表达哀悼之情，并准备发起纪念活动。但方励之去世的消息在中国大陆却被严密封锁，媒体不予报导，网络上的相关信息也被当局删除。记者调查发现，有的大陆民众甚至从来没有听说过方励之的名字。
记者：“你知道方励之是谁吗？”
大陆90后女生李倩：“有点耳熟，不知道啊。”
记者：“他前几天在美国去世了，你知道吗？”
大陆90后女生李倩：“不知道啊。”
网络记者周曙光则对《新唐人》表示，他是最近才知道方励之这个名字的。
周曙光：“我这几天才知道，以前不知道。最近几天很多人提到他，提到他去世，提到他在1990年离开中国。我怀疑，我们在网络上比较活跃的、获取信息比较自由的都不太了解这个人的话，其他人就更加不知道了。”
《美国之音》报导说，大陆当局的屏蔽政策导致中国民众集体失忆，当今的年轻一代对方励之所知甚少。
著名政论家胡平谈到，从1989年之后，方励之的名字就被中共当局彻底屏蔽，而这正是极权统治最大的罪恶。
胡平：“就是说，它和过去那些专制统治还不一样。就是它不但要压制你本人，而且还把你的整个思想甚至你的存在，都通过官方操控媒体（进行屏蔽）这种方式，使你的存在变成不存在。”
胡平分析指出，更加恶劣的是，这种长期的信息封锁使很多人渐渐放弃了对真相的追寻。有些人号称“对政治不感兴趣”，其实只是一种诡辩。
胡平：“你为什么要甘心接受这种控制，为什么别人给你吃什么你就吃什么，你不能自己找？问题在这里。另外，你既然没有试图翻墙，没有试图了解这些事情的真相，那么你怎么知道这些真相就不重要？和你的生活就没有关系呢？”
1989年，中共当局为镇压学生民主运动，而进行了震惊世界的“六四大屠杀”，军队使用枪支、甚至坦克对学生进行杀戮。“中国红十字会”曾经报告说，镇压造成2600人死亡。
90后女生李倩经过他人介绍，渐渐了解了六四屠杀真相。
90后女生李倩：“我想这也太恐怖了吧，关于这些事情。居然真的是拿那些坦克什么的，太吓人了！”
方励之曾出版多本关于天体物理和宇宙学的著作，是国际知名的天体物理学家。2010年方励之当选为“美国物理学会”会士。
采访/刘惠 编辑/李谦 后制/萧宇
Why Collective Amnesia of Fang Lizhi?
Well-known social activist and astrophysicist Fang Lizhi
recently passed away in the U.S.
An initiator of Chinese democracy movement,
Fang directly promoted the 1986 and 1989 student movements.
News of his death, however, is blocked to the people
of Mainland China.
Many people do not know of Fangs death;
some having never even heard of him.
Last Friday (April 6), Fang suddenly died at his home
in Arizona, he was 76 years of age.
He once served as Vice-Chancellor at the Chinese University
of Science and Technology.
Due to his leadership in the 1986 student movement,
he was expelled from CCP and suffered national criticism.
After the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, Fang was forced to flee
to the U.S. where he served as astrophysics professor at University of Arizona.
Many overseas people expressed condolences over Fang’s death
and prepared to launch his commemoration.
The news of his death, however, is blocked in Mainland China.
There is no media report, and internet information about him
has been widely deleted.
Surveys show some Mainland people haven’t even heard of him.
Reporter: ‘Do you know who Fang Lizhi is?’
Li Qian, a 1990s born Chinese young girl replied: ‘Sounds familiar, but I do not know of him’.
Reporter: ‘He died a few days ago on American soil. Did you know that?’
Li Qian replies, ‘No, I did not know that!’
Internet reporter Zhou Shuguang said to NTD,
only recently did he learn about Fang Lizhi.
Zhou Shuguang: “It is only in these past few days
people have talked about his death, and of his fleeing from China to the U.S in the 1990s.
Other than that we have no knowledge of him.
Mainland Chinese know even less, due to the lack of free Internet access in China.”
‘Voice of America’ reported, Mainland authorities Internet
filtration, has led to collective amnesia amongst Chinese people.
Today’s younger generation knows very little about Fang Lizhi.
Well-known political critic Hu Ping said, Fang’s name
has been filtered by CCP since 1989, which is further evidence of CCP’s totalitarian rule.
Hu Ping says: “The CCP is different from the previous
authoritarian rule, such that it not only suppresses people, but also manipulates their memory.
With mass media as ideological instruments, they can erase
historical figures and events from the minds of people.”
Hu Ping pointed out that, a worse consequence of
such long-term blockade is many people have gradually given up on their search for the truth.
Some people claim they’re, “not even interested in politics",
which is nothing but a feeble excuse.
Hu Ping claims: “Why should people accept this kind of control?
Why do people simply accept what CCP feeds them?
The problem being, people do not actively look for the truth.
Before, they use to try &break information filtration
in order to learn more about truth.
From this standpoint, how can they know the truth is not worth
searching for nor that its unimportant? ”
In 1989, CCP carried out the Tiananmen massacre
to suppress the Student Democracy Movement.
The army used firearms and tanks to stop & kill the students.
At the time, the Red Cross Society of China reported 2600 deaths.
Li Qian, the young girl from Mainland China, learned
about the Tiananmen massacre through someone else.
Li Qian: “I think this is just horrible!
They (CCP) even used tanks! So scary! Horrible!
Now I understand why so many Chinese people with money or
power try to immigrate to foreign countries.”
Fang Lizhi published many books on astrophysics and cosmology.
He is an internationally renowned astrophysicist.
In 2010 he was elected as Fellow of the American Physical Society.
