Columnist Xu Zhiyuan wrote an article entitled "Wan Runnan in Paris," which was published on the website of the Chinese Financial Times on July 31. Wan was the founder of Stone Computer Corp and the man of the hour in China in the 1980s.

He was confirmed by Chinese authorities as one of the people who pushed for the June 4 incident in 1989. He fled to the West after the incident and became a leading figure among these dissidents exiled overseas. In this interview with Xu, Wan talked about his feelings and experiences in the past 25 years.

One of the most impressive remarks Wan made in this interview is that "the biggest mistake we made was that we underestimated the difficulty, and underestimated the tenacity of the Communist Party of China (CPC)."

Wan became the general-secretary of the so-called Federation for a Democratic China after fleeing. He predicted that the CPC would fall apart within six years, and some other runaways said three years. When all their predictions failed to come true, their endeavor became "a process of re-discovery inundated with pain, disillusion and frustration," according to Xu's article.

Wan has grown old, and his life in Paris has been out of the limelight. It seems that Wan still insists on his values, but he also said the place he missed the most was Zhongguancun in Beijing, where his career started.

What happened in 1989 is rarely mentioned by Chinese media. This is the intent of the Chinese authorities in order to avoid unnecessary negative impacts. But on private occasions, it is still on people's lips. As an important memory for the entire Chinese society, reflections and introspection are consistently occurring in a silent manner.

It is true that some believed the Chinese government of the time was destined to collapse. But it managed to hold its ground and has reinvigorated itself through the reform and opening-up. The fact the Chinese government turned the tables seems to be a stroke of luck, but it is in fact in compliance with the rules of history. People like Wan miscalculated the situation.

It took 28 years for the CPC to gain statehood. The cost for it was far greater than that of other communist parties in East Europe and even Russia. The CPC coming into power was not an abrupt decision in Chinese history.

There is no doubt that the CPC made serious mistakes in its early years as the ruling power. But since the 1980s, China has gotten back on track. Temporary problems and some discontent from the public are not contradictory against their support for the CPC as the ruling party. A lot of people like talking about the "trend of history," but some of them always make wrong judgments on it. They think the upheavals in the Soviet Union, East Europe and Egypt reflect the trend of history, and marginalize what China has done to change the global structure. Their minds are still caged within the framework given by the West in the long passed age of enlightenment.

The wheel of history turns under the joint forces by all walks of life, even for critical voices, they should also play a constructive role to make real progress. In this sense, what Wan and his companions did means they can only be remembered as losers in history.