We will never forget crackdown in Tiananmen Square, Taiwan and U.S. say on 36th anniversary

Security was tight and activists faced pressure from police in Hong Kong on the 36th anniversary of China’s bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, an event Taiwan’s President and the top U.S. diplomat said the world must not forget.

The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China, which treats the date as taboo and allows no public remembrance.

Rights groups and witnesses say thousands may have died when Chinese tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square before dawn, crushing weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers. China blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the Communist Party.

Ahead of the anniversary, security around the square in Beijing was tightened with increased police presence. Police officers set up multiple checkpoints for identification checks on motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, and also prevented people from taking photographs near the square.

Commemorations in Hong Kong, which once drew tens of thousands of people annually, have been shut down since a new security law took effect in 2020.

Hundreds of police officers patrolled Victoria Park, the site of previous mass candlelight vigils. Officers searched passers-by, and at least half a dozen people, some wearing black T-shirts and holding flowers, were taken away.

Several pro-democracy activists told Reuters they had been called by national security police several times over the past week, and followed by individuals in public in what they described as intimidation by authorities.

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said stringent enforcement action would be taken against acts endangering national security without specifying what these might be. Hong Kong police gave no response to questions from Reuters on whether activists had been targeted.

“I don’t think commentating on June 4 is illegal,” said Derek Chu, the owner of a pro-democracy shop that displayed candles and was visited by police. “I don’t think speaking up for the deceased, the survivors and the families is illegal.”

One jailed pro-democracy activist, Chow Hang-tung, is staging a 36-hour hunger strike in prison to mark the anniversary, while another recently released former democratic lawmaker, Claudia Mo, posted a picture of a candle online.

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Public commemorations were held in over 30 cities in Europe, North America and Asia, including Taipei, where several hundred people gathered in a vigil, with chants including, “Retake Hong Kong. Revolution of our time”.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, in a post on Facebook, praised the courage of those who took part in the 1989 protests, saying human rights are a concept shared by Taiwan and other democracies that transcend generations and borders.

“The commemoration of the June 4 Tiananmen incident is not only to mourn history, but also to perpetuate this memory,” said Lai, who is described as a “separatist” by Beijing.

“Authoritarian governments often choose to silence and forget history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who gave their lives – and their dreams – to the idea of human rights,” he added.

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In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said China’s ruling Communist Party “actively tries to censor the facts, but the world will never forget.”

“Today we commemorate the bravery of the Chinese people who were killed as they tried to exercise their fundamental freedoms, as well as those who continue to suffer persecution as they seek accountability and justice for the events of June 4.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China had lodged a complaint against Rubio whose “wrong comments maliciously distort the facts of history” and seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs.

“With regard to the political turmoil that took place in the late 1980s, the Chinese government has long since come to the clear conclusion that the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the choice of history and the people.”

British, European, U.S. and Australian diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and China marked the anniversary with various gestures including placing candles in windows, light projections and social media posts.

“We join communities around the world to remember the loss of life at Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989,” Australia’s Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau, Gareth Williams, said in a post on X.

Some attempts were made to mention the event on Chinese social media, including by the British embassy, which posted on China’s microblogging site Weibo an animation of a man standing before tanks near Tiananmen Square, an image which has come to symbolize the event. Such posts were censored by authorities.

The Tiananmen Mothers, which represents relatives of those killed, put out this week their annual statement calling for a public accounting of what happened.

“The executioners of that year have passed away one after another, but as the continuation of the ruling party, the current government has a responsibility to respond to and address the Tiananmen Massacre,” Zhang Xianling, whose son Wang Nan was killed, said in a video message.” Not only do we refuse to forget history, we will implement our core values every day.”