BEIJING - China tightened security and stepped up efforts on Thursday to erase the memory of the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, with victims' families barred from visiting a cemetery on the 37th anniversary.
All forms of public remembrance were banned in mainland China, with large numbers of police officers and vehicles deployed near the square in the run-up to the anniversary to prevent any attempts to honor the victims. The incident left at least hundreds dead.
The ruling Communist Party has justified the assault on student-led protesters as a necessary move to quell political unrest.
Authorities issued a notice to members of the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of victims' relatives, prohibiting them from holding a memorial ceremony at the cemetery in the capital on Thursday or otherwise commemorating the victims through eulogies or memorial photos.
Every year on the anniversary, members of the Tiananmen Mothers had been allowed to pay respects to their loved ones, accompanied by police. They also held annual meetings from 2009 to 2024, but were unable to hold one last December due to interference by the authorities.
You Weijie, 72, a representative of the group whose husband was killed in the crackdown, told Kyodo News she lamented the situation, saying exchanges among members had helped ease their grief. "Does the government even try to take away our rights to get together?" she asked indignantly.
Zhang Xianling, 88, one of the founders of the Tiananmen Mothers who lost her 19-year-old son in the incident, said the ban on visits to the cemetery was an "unreasonable and inhumane order."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday criticized Chinese authorities for attempting to erase memories of the bloody crackdown, saying in a statement, "No amount of censorship can erase the past," and that "those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday."
In a social media post, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te urged China to "face its history, embrace different voices and protect the inalienable right to dream." The self-ruled democratic island will "always stand with those striving for freedom," he added.
In Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese region, authorities also tried to suppress any memorial activities. On Wednesday, at least two performance artists were quickly stopped by police in Causeway Bay, the shopping district near Victoria Park, once the site of candlelit vigils to commemorate those killed in the incident.
According to local media, the two artists were holding a 6.4-meter piece of red string and metallic balloons, respectively, before being led away and escorted to a nearby metro station. The length of the string apparently referred to the June 4 incident.
The once-annual vigils have been banned since 2020, after Hong Kong authorities denied permission for public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, pro-China groups have held large-scale fairs at the park.
After Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organized the yearly event, was disbanded, with the group's key leaders now facing a national security trial. A Hong Kong court is expected to deliver its ruling in July.
