The Sichuan earthquake of 12 May has already claimed 68,000 lives, with close to 20,000 still unaccounted for. At this time of national grief, everyone, no matter how rich or poor, is making a financial contribution, rushing to the disaster area or seeking other ways to help those in need. The terrible suffering brought about by this natural disaster has truly opened the hearts of the Chinese people, and in the aftermath of the earthquake, the Chinese people are firmly united and have shown a fundamental level of trust in the government.

When I see this touching picture of humanity in the face of adversity or read tearful accounts of the tragedy, I cannot but think back to the events of May 1989, when the citizens of Beijing and many other cities were similarly united in a spirit of national solidarity, trust and hope. The government should learn the lesson of 19 years ago, when that spirit was squandered and lost in the June 4 crackdown. As the country struggles to recover from the recent natural disaster, steps could be taken to heal the social and political wounds left over from that period too, by freeing those still imprisoned for their role in the Tiananmen protests, along with others wrongly jailed.

The shift in leadership style shown by the government in response to the earthquake disaster suggests that the time is now right for such a step. Premier Wen Jiabao has twice visited the disaster zone and shown intense concern for the people. Moreover, the media has not only played its traditional role of reporting the "great and wise" deeds of national leaders, it has also focused on the pain and suffering of ordinary people affected by the disaster: news reports on the heroic relief efforts of the PLA have been soaked in journalists' tears. The support and concern of the whole nation has strengthened the will to live of those in the disaster area, which in turn has elevated the spirits of the Chinese people.

In a key sense, all this recalls the best of the "spirit of May 1989," when a million people took to the streets of Beijing to protest corruption and press for democracy. For weeks at that time, no police directed traffic but the traffic accident rate was at an all time low. Usually when people in Beijing crash into each other they raise their voice or raise a hand, but in May 1989 people instead apologized to each other. The feeling of good will and common humanity was so strong that even Beijing's criminal fraternity went "on strike." Our hope then was that Deng Xiaoping would echo and respond constructively to the people's lofty spirit, by turning the student's campaign against corruption into a powerful, government-led movement for national reform and renewal. The upcoming Olympics, coupled with the outpouring of national unity in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake, offer a golden opportunity to seek national reconciliation and address lingering resentment over the Tiananmen crackdown. By seizing this moment and declaring an amnesty for all those still jailed in China for involvement in the May-June 1989 protests or for defending human and labor rights in the years since then, the government could close the door on that era and inaugurate a new chapter in Chinese politics.

Prominent among those restored to freedom should be the many labour rights activists wrongfully imprisoned in China over the past two decades. Some advocated for the right of workers to organize trade unions, while others merely appealed to the Chinese government for urgently needed improvements in labor rights and standards. Others still, since the early 1990s, have been thrown in jail for leading a wave of workers' demonstrations and protests that sought redress for the widespread violations of labor rights during the "shock therapy-style" state-owned enterprise reforms.

The great mistake of Deng Xiaoping's final years – the crushing of the Tiananmen protests – has continued to hurt Chinese society for the last two decades. If the government had responded to the students' demands with concrete anti-corruption measures, in the short term it would have reduced antagonistic sentiments at the grassroots of society, and in the long term it would have put the brakes on runaway official corruption. And by showing willingness to listen to public opinion, the government could have taken a positive step towards democracy. After June 1989, however, political reform not only stopped, it went into reverse. Citizens' concern for politics and the affairs of state became taboo, even criminal, and the corrupt and powerful took full advantage of the situation. Indeed, the rampant corruption of the last 19 years has engendered even greater public anger and indignation than that of the previous four decades.

Nowhere have the effects been more serious than in the labor rights field, with tens of millions of former SOE workers thrown on the scrap heap, and even larger numbers of migrant workers facing miserly wages, severe overwork and unsafe workplace conditions. These workers are currently all on their own, since most existing trade union branches are controlled by the bosses and thus helpless to defend workers' rights. In the face of continuing exploitation, however, China's workers do not oppose the government; rather, they have strong faith in its ability to act in defence of labor rights and social justice. In the increasingly tense social atmosphere in China today, by boldly pardoning workers imprisoned for advocating democratic trade unions and greater labor rights, the government could not only demonstrate its sincerity in building a harmonious society that puts people first; it would also deliver a powerful message to employers around the country who routinely violate workers' rights in defiance of national labor laws.

June 4 and May 12 : two dates so close, and yet so far apart. On the first, the PLA was ordered into Beijing to forcibly retake the Square; the number of unarmed citizens killed remains unknown even today. Nineteen years later, soldiers from the same army risked life and limb to save their compatriots amid scenes of appalling death and destruction. All those who lost their lives on 12 May and 4 June are our compatriots. We cannot selectively choose whom to mourn, or what to forget – and nor should the government ask us to do so. The victims of the Sichuan earthquake, the dead of June 4 and of the Cultural Revolution, and those who have died in floods, in coal mine disasters and on construction sites around the country over the past two decades: they are all our countrymen, and the loss of each is a tragedy.

We will not forget a single one of the many lives tragically lost in China's modern history. We, the survivors, shall pray for all of the dead. Moreover, we pledge ourselves anew to continue the struggle for national strength and freedom, and we call upon the government to join hands with the people in this shared endeavour.

Han Dongfang is founder and director of China Labour Bulletin.