Human rights groups said they would hold an event in Taipei on Sunday next week to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
The event would remember Chinese democracy protesters who were injured or killed during the Chinese military’s violent crackdown at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, which lasted from the early hours of June 3, 1989, to the morning of June 4, New School for Democracy chairman Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said in Taipei on Saturday.
Organized by the New School for Democracy, the Judicial Reform Foundation and Covenants Watch, the event is also intended to demonstrate the “resolve” of Taiwanese to safeguard democracy and freedom, he said.
Photo: Screen grab from the New School for Democracy’s Facebook page
Remembering the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre is not one of China’s internal affairs, but a responsibility of Taiwanese society as a democracy, Tseng said.
Hong Kong used to hold the largest vigil on the anniversary of the massacre, but that has been greatly hampered after China imposed the National Security Law on the territory.
In Taiwan, the commemoration of the anniversary has sometimes been overshadowed by other events, such as the anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, the 2020 presidential election in Taiwan, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.
Tseng said he hoped that all of the candidates in next year’s presidential election take part in the event or express their position on the massacre publicly.
The presidential race would not just be “a simple election,” but “a fight between democracy and autocracy,” Tseng said.
Apart from the commemorative event, which is to begin at 2pm at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the New School for Democracy on Saturday launched an exhibition titled “Bravery, Defend Democracy!” at the hall that runs until June 13.
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