Chinese authorities are snuffing out any remembrance of the deadly 1989 military crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, which happened 37 years ago yesterday, in a further tightening of a years-long campaign to erase what happened from public memory.
Police told relatives of the victims they would not be allowed to visit a cemetery in Beijing on the anniversary of the crackdown, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Relatives of the victims visited the cemetery on the anniversary for more than 30 years to read memorial statements with police keeping watch, Amnesty International said.
Photo: Reuters
Hundreds of people, and possibly thousands, were killed in 1989 as troops advanced through crowds that were trying to stop the military from reaching the protesters in Tiananmen Square, a vast plaza in the center of the Chinese capital. The decision by the Chinese Communist Party leadership to send in the military was a pivotal moment in China’s modern history, determining that the market reform that transformed the country into the world’s second-largest economy would not be coupled with political liberalization.
In Hong Kong, police stepped up security to prevent any kind of commemoration at or near a park where a massive candlelight vigil lit up the night on the anniversary every year until a clampdown following major anti-government protests in 2019.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement marking the anniversary said: “No amount of censorship can erase the past.”
“Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday,” it said.
In response, China accused the US of distorting facts and smearing its political system.
“The Chinese government has long since reached a clear conclusion regarding that political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) told a news briefing. “The relevant erroneous remarks by the US side distort historical facts, smear China’s political system and development path, and interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
Tiananmen Mothers issued an annual appeal for justice ahead of this year’s anniversary. The statement, signed by 107 people, demanded full disclosure of what happened, compensation for the victims and their families and the pursuit of legal accountability for those responsible.
“The sacrifice of our family members is an indelible pain etched in our hearts. Our tears have run dry, grief is buried deep within, what remains is eternal remembrance of our family members and hatred for the crime of massacring the people,” Zhang Xianling (張先玲), a member of the group, said in a video message posted on Facebook.
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