I often have much critical to say about the course of human events in the good-ole U.S. of A. But Americans still enjoy a lot of freedom, including the freedom to openly criticize our own institutions and leaders. Mostly. Not everybody has it so good.

I’m thinking in particular of the dissidents in China who lived through the events in Tiananmen Square some 15 years ago. Many were killed, many more imprisoned. As we mark the 15th anniversary, these pro-democratic patriots are suffering increasingly tough monitoring and restrictions. They’re being closely watched, detained in their homes, even deported.

“The 15-year anniversary is a big event,” says one dissident, Ren Wanding. He was imprisoned for more than a decade for advocating democracy after taking part in those demonstrations of June 4, 1989. Ding Zilin is a spokesman for a group called Tiananmen Mothers. Her son was one of those killed when the government tanks rolled in to subdue the protestors. She is being allowed to leave her home only to buy groceries or go to the hospital. She says, “I ask who authorized this action and they say their superiors, but they won’t say who. I say, ‘I’m not your enemy. What law gives you the right to do this?’ but they don’t answer.”

With all our problems here in America, at least we don’t have to put up with the kind of tyranny that those who love liberty in China must endure. Let’s make sure we don’t ever have to. And maybe by jealously guarding our own liberty we’ll help the cause elsewhere as well.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.