Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars

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The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) was founded on August 1st of 1989 when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 major U.S. universities held their First Congress of Chinese Students and Scholars in USA at the University of Illinois at Chicago and elected Liu Yong-chuan (Chinese: 刘永川) as its president. The mission of IFCSS was to promote democracy in China and to protect the interests of the Chinese students and scholars studying in the United States, as a response to Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Since its birth, IFCSS had became one of the most influential overseas Chinese students groups in history. It had lobbied successfully in U.S. Congress, organized the well-known "Washington March for Chinese Democracy" in 1989, and united tens of thousands of Chinese students together for many years since 1989. However, due to its out-of-sync with newer Chinese students and scholars, it has largely become irrelevant now.