Wjm
吴建民
有了判决书，还需要学历证书吗？
八九学潮到了绝食阶段的时候，社会各界都在呼吁，一是要求李鹏政府立即和学生对话，结束绝食，二是要求学生们放弃这种自残行为，选择更加合理的表达方式来诉求民主。但是大家都只有一个目的，就是要推进中国的民主政治进程。
随即李鹏本人和学生代表对话也好，袁木以国务院发言人的身份表态也好，都是一副假惺惺的嘴脸，什么政府理解学生的爱国热情啦，什么政府绝不秋后算账啦，政府不会对参与六四的学生搞政治迫害啦。
我不知道，什么算是政治迫害？扣发毕业证书算不算是一种政治迫害？
我的学校，是江苏商业管理干部学院（现在改名为：江苏经贸学院），坐落在南京市光华门外石门坎，是个省属专科院校。八九时期，我当时是学校87级商经系两年制干部专修科的学生，在89年夏天毕业。因为适逢八九学运，我有幸参加了这次运动，并成为了南京高校学运的领导人之一。（有关我参与南京高自联和发起北上民主长征的纪实，我在以后的文章里专述）那个时候，六四刚刚过去几天，学校还处于毕业考试和论文答辩阶段。突然有一天早上，广播和电视里面开始滚动播放南京市公安局的通缉令，当听到我自己的名字的时候，我有点回不过神来，在那琢磨着呢，不是说秋后不算账的吗？到学校保卫处的人出现在我面前，说马上送我去公安局的时候，我有点反应过来了，哦，秋后不算账，不代表夏天不算账。根本就不需要等什么秋后啦。保卫处的人，当然是不能放弃立功的好机会的，他们耍着小聪明和我说，我们先送你去雨花分局，这样可以算你自首，如果去市局，肯定不能算自首。我当时什么话也没有说，就上了他们的车。他们怕我跑，把我夹在座位中间。我从来就没有打算跑过，很多人事后问过我，为什么不跑？呵呵，跑，能往哪里跑？普天之下莫非王土，率土之兵莫非王臣，在中国，你跑得了吗？既然上了街，挑了头，当了闹事的领导，至少要有点担当吧。回头看看那些侥幸跑到美国二十多年的柴玲等民运领袖们，他们算是跑成功了，但是又给我们中国人，跑出了什么民主梦想呢？
学校保卫处的车子送我去了雨花分局，雨花分局再派人和他们一起把我转送丰富路市公安局，问询后，就是画押登记。然后是等待，一直呆到晚上，市局帮我办理了取保候审的手续，让学校又把我接回去了。我有点莫名其妙，但又有几分庆幸，真的算我自首啦？其实国安已经接手，他们放长线钓大鱼，那是后话，这里不表。
七月要放暑假了，考试答辩全部结束，同学们纷纷领取了毕业证书，唯独没有我的。我到了教务处，当时的老师的名字我记得叫龚诺，他告诉我省里面要求将我的学历证书送至省教委，然后学校接到通知，我的毕业证书扣下待发。我要求学校给我出具书面证明，龚老师请示了学校王院长后，给了我一纸证明（见下面附件）我不知道这个扣发毕业文凭，算不算省教委秋后算账？算不算政治迫害？反正在南京，高自联的所有学生领导人，就我一个人享受了省教委给我的特殊待遇，文凭扣下待发。而且这个待发，到目前为止已经待发了23年。
在中国，文凭有多大的用处？这就要看，你拿着文凭去做什么了。如果是就业，深造，职称评定，职级提升，都需要以文凭来证明你受教育的程度的。我们看到时下有很多名人或者官员爆出了学历造假的丑闻，不正是说明了文凭起着对一个人的上升通道的衡量作用吗？所以社会上才有某个名人或者官员，自身没有能力取得合法学历的时候，不惜造假也要搞到学历，最好是名牌大学或者是国外的学历。这样就可以去瞒天过海，混个出人头地。八十年代，更是一个唯文凭论的年代。至于你有了文凭，哪怕是造假的文凭，只要你能蒙混过关，是否有能力，那就是另外一回事了。因为在中国社会，一切都要靠资源，靠关系来考量。有一副对子说的明明白白：“说你行，你就行，不行也行，说不行，就不行，行也不行”。横批是：“不服不行”。
1997年7月，我结束了2500个日日夜夜的牢狱生活，回归了自由。当时面对已经养育了我三十多年的父母，心中充满愧疚，我想人总要自食其力吧，先要安身立命，再去谈什么民主理想。
于是就有了我人生的第一次，也是唯一一次的应聘。拿着我自己写的简历，走进人才市场。那些政府机构、国有企业、银行、气、煤、水、电，这类的企业，我想都没想。直奔民营企业，看到了一家现在比国美黄光裕还风光，当时正极度扩张的南京本土家电企业：“苏×电器”在招聘，我因为了解此企业老板年轻时，也曾经受到过政府的处理。所以应聘这家企业，至少老板不会歧视，觉得自己可以试一下，就投了我的简历。没想到，丫要求比参军入党政审还要严格。我解释了我的学历证书原件因为参加八九学运，被省教委没收了，但这并不代表我不具备大专文化程度，我还出示了学校给我的证明原件给他们看。美丽的人事经理脸上，一脸严肃：你参加过动乱，政治上就不合格，我们是要申请上市的企业，政治上不过关，我们怎么能用呢？我当时看着她脂粉妆艳而僵硬的脸，冷冷的回了她一句：那么你去问问你们张总吧，他的政治上如果也不合格，是不是你们就不用申请上市了？
自九十年代后，买个假文凭非常简单。我完全可以像唐骏一样去买个西太平洋大学的野鸡文凭，既可以在美丽的人事主管面前，去充充海龟，又可以隐去当年敏感的六四事件。说不准在体制内外，混个一官半职也不一定，至于被媒体曝光了去调查，你看到有几个造假文凭调查后丢了官的。再说，本来就是骗来的官，丢了又有什么心疼。
但，我不可能自己去欺骗自己。一直以来我就是这个信念：做共产党的牢，不丢人！
从此以后，我再也没有到任何地方去应聘，自我谋生，自己领导自己。在我自己的企业里面，我只看求职人的能力，他们的文凭我不在意，因为我一律把它理解为，地摊上是可以买来的。
我当时学校的党委书记兼院长王志强，是一位49前就参加中共的南京地下党员，也是年轻时敢吐真言的知识分子，五七年被定为右派，经历了文革后，直到1978年，胡耀邦拨乱反正，恢复了很多干部的名誉后，他才复职的。我一向很尊敬他。六四期间，他顶着压力，从没有为难过我，相反为我的事情，他遭到过上级的苛责。多年后他再次和我见面时，已经是八十多岁的高龄了，他还记得我文凭被扣押的这件事，曾要求我和他一起到学校去，他可以找现任校长说明情况，让学校出面到省教委（后来改为省教育厅），去要回我的“扣下待发”的毕业证书，只是我觉得没有任何必要了。我当时回答老院长：我有了判决书还需要学历证书吗？
我一直都是这么一个感受，省教委对我的学历证书的扣发，政治上是多么的英明。因为我没有学历证书了，我就只能去拿判决书了，至少我知道，坐牢是不需要文凭的。
2012-7-8于江苏
With the Verdict in Hand, Is Diploma Still Needed?
When the Students Demonstration reached the stage of hunger strike, there were outcries from all over the society, one being the Li Peng government to start immediate dialogues with students to put the hunger strike to an end; another being for the students to give up this self-inflicted hunger strike and choose another way more sensible to pursue democracy. Both outcries had a common goal of advancing the course of democratic politics in China.
However, what happened next showed nothing but fake kindness from the government, being it Li Peng’s dialogue with the students’ representatives, or Yuan Mu’s statement as the spokesman of the State Department, saying the government perfectly understood the patriotic passion of the students, and there would be no “post-autumn settlement seeking”, nor would there be any political persecution against the students who participated in the June 4 Incident.
I wonder what “political persecution” really entails – does it count as political persecution to withhold someone’s diploma? My school, the Jiangsu Commercial Management Institute (now known as “Jiangsu Economics & Commerce Institute”), an associate-degree college at the provincial level, is located at the Stone Gate Hold outside the Guanghua Gate in Nanjing. During 1989, being a student enrolled by the Commerce & Economics Department in 1987, I was looking to graduate in the summer of 1989. I was fortunate enough to participate in the Students Demonstration erupted in 1989 and became one of the leaders of the colleges in Nanjing. (My involvement in the Confederation of the Nanjing Universities and the North March to Democracy will be detailed in my future articles.)
A few days after June 4, our college was going through the final exams and thesis defenses. One morning out of nowhere, all the radios and TV channels started rolling out non-stop the arrest warrants issued by the Nanjing Public Security Bureau. I was taken aback hearing my name announced, still trying to digest the government’s promise of “no post-autumn settlement seeking”. It was not until the security staff from the school showed up in front of me did it start to make sense to me. Well, “no post-autumn settlement seeking” does not mean “no summer settlement seeking”. It did not have to wait till autumn.
This was, naturally, a golden opportunity to glow for the security staff. They tried to play games by telling me, “We’ll send you to the Yuhua Branch first, so that it counts as remanding yourself. If we were to go to the City Bureau, it would not be a remanding.” I got in their car without saying anything. For fear that I might try to escape, they made me sit in the middle. Actually I never planned on escaping. Many people asked me, “Why didn’t you try to escape?” What a joke! Where do you think I could escape to? “Any inch of the earth belongs to the King. Anyone on this earth is under the King.” In China, what makes you think you even have a chance to escape? Since I took the street, started the protest, led the movement, the least I could do is to take responsibility. Now in retrospect, many leaders of the democracy movement like Chai Ling have escaped to U.S. for 20 years, but what kind of dream of democracy have they given to the Chinese people?
I was sent to the Yuhua Branch by the car of the school security. After that, I was sent to the Fulu City Bureau by the school security together with the Yuhua Branch. After standard inquiries, I signed the papers and was booked. Then I waited till the evening, when the City Bureau finished all the procedures of releasing on bail, I was picked up by the school. I felt somewhat confused yet somewhat lucky – does this mean I remanded myself? Actually at this point, the National Security Bureau had already taken over. They had a plan of reeling in on big fishes, which was all history down the road, but it is not to be discussed here.
It was already July and all the exams and thesis defenses were over. Everyone got his diploma, except mine. I went to the school’s Administration Office. I remember the teacher’s name was Gong Nuo. He told me that per the request by the provincial government, my diploma had been sent to the Educational Committee, and the school had received the notice for my diploma to be withheld. I asked for a written statement to that effect. After consulting the management of the school, Mr. Gong issued me a statement as attached. I wonder if this statement serves as “post-autumn settlement seeking”, or political persecution. As a matter of fact, out of all the students’ leaders from the Confederation of the Universities in Nanjing, I was the only one who got to enjoy the special treatment of the withheld diploma pending issuance. It has been pending for 23 years now.
How much does a diploma mean in China? It depends on what it is used for. If for seeking employment, self-advancement, qualifications evaluations, promotions, they all need a diploma to certify your education. Nowadays, scandals break out all the time about the fake diplomas by celebrities or officials. Does it not manifest that a diploma plays such a big role in one’s advancement in life that people would venture to produce fake ones, or better yet, the fake ones from the famous universities or from overseas. It certainly covers you up and elevates you to where you want to be. The 1980’s was an era that a diploma counted for everything, even a fake diploma, as long as you did not get found out. As to whether you actually have any capability is another matter. In Chinese society, everything depends on your social resources and connections. A famous ragged verse says it all, “If they say you are good, you are, even if you are not. If they say you are not good, you are not, even if you are.” The footnote of it is, “Quit fighting.”
In July 1997, after spending 2,500 days and nights in prison, I regained freedom. When facing my parents who had raised me for the last 30 years, I was overcome with guilt. I realized that before talking anything about democracy, I first needed to make a living on my own. So I had the one and only interview in my life. I walked into the talents market with my resume.
I did not give a thought about the government agencies and state-owned banks and enterprises for gas, coal, water and electricity, and went straight to the private businesses. I focused on a wanted ad from a local appliances company in Nanjing called “SuXXX Appliances”. It was, at the time, more successful than Huang Guangyu’s Gome Group, and was going through aggressive expansion. Another reason I applied with this company was because I knew that its owner was “disciplined” by the government when he was younger, I should probably have less chance of being discriminated by them. So I gave it a shot by sending them my resume. Much to my surprise, the screening was tighter than the political screening joining military. I explained to them that my diploma was withheld by the Provincial Educational Committee because of my involvement of the ’89 Students Demonstration, but it should not negate my college education. I also showed them the original statement as such issued by the school.
The beautiful Human Resources Manager said with a deadly serious look on her face, “You participated in the riot, so you are disqualified politically. We’re looking to go public on the market. How can we hire someone disqualified politically?” I looked at her face made stiff with too much make-up and told her coldly, “Then I guess you can ask your boss Mr. Zhang. If he himself is disqualified politically, wouldn’t there be no point for your company to go public?”
It was actually quite easy to obtain a fake diploma since 1990’s. I could have easily bought a couple of fake overseas diplomas (known as the “Wild Roosters’ Diplomas”), just like Tang Jun’s from the Pacific Western University. It would have not only made me in front of the beautiful HR Manager a fake overseas student returning home, but also covered up the sensitive June 4 Incident in 1989. Who knows, it might even get me a higher rank position under the government. Even if I would risk of being found out and investigated because of the media exposure, how many people really lose their titles because of the investigations of the fake diplomas? Plus, what do you have to lose for a position won with lies anyway?
But, I cannot deceive myself. I have always held firmly that there is nothing to be ashamed of having been in the prison of the Communist Party!
Ever since the interview, I never tried that route anywhere else. I have depended on myself, and managed by myself. For the job applicants of my own business, the only thing I look at is their abilities. I care little about their diplomas, because I know darn well that it can be obtained easily from the street stands.
Mr. Wang Zhiqiang, the Party Secretary and the Chancellor of my college while I was there, was an underground Chinese Communist Party member in Nanjing before 1949. He was also an intellectual who dared to speak the truth as a young man. He was labeled as the “rightist” in 1957 and went through the Cultural Revolution, and was not rehabilitated till 1978 with the collective rehabilitations led by Hu Yaobang. He returned to his original post after many others had already theirs. I have always respected him. During the June 4 Incident, despite the extreme pressure he was under, he never made things difficult for me. Instead, he was criticized severely by the upper officials because of me. Many years later when I saw him again, he was already in his 80s. He still remembered that my diploma was withheld and asked me to go with him to talk to the school, and he could explain whole thing to the current chancellor, so that the school could state my case with the Provincial Educational Committee (later changed to “Provincial Educational Department”), and hopefully the withheld diploma could finally be returned to me. The only thing is that I do not consider it necessary anymore at this point. I told my chancellor, “Do I still need the diploma now that I have the verdict?”
That is truly how I feel. It is such a shrewd political decision for the Provincial Educational Committee to withhold my diploma. Without the diploma, the only thing I could have is the verdict, and I know that it does not take a diploma to go to prison.