"For the sake of honesty, of sanity, and even regional peace, the Chinese authorities need to tell the world the truth," David Aikman, the Time Magazine bureau chief in China who witnessed the killings, said in a statement to the Committee. "It will be a tragedy if China continues to hobble along dragging its civilization and its recent history behind it like an injured war veteran. Greatness of civilization requires truth, honesty and modesty, not continued countenancing of lies like the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin.