Tiananmen anniversary sparks more Chinese jitters
Taiwan’s new President vowed on Tuesday that the memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre ‘will not disappear in the torrent of history’.
Taiwan’s new President vowed on Tuesday that the memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre “will not disappear in the torrent of history”.
“We will continue to work hard to keep this historical memory alive and touch everyone who cares about Chinese democracy,” Lai Ching-te said on Facebook.
“Because this reminds us that democracy and freedom are not easy to come by, we must … respond to autocracy with freedom, face the expansion of authoritarianism with courage.”
China’s Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989, killed hundreds of people, with some estimating the death toll was higher than 1000.
Beijing described the events as riots, while rights groups and exiled dissidents depict it as a massacre of innocent people, including many students.
Many young people today in China are unaware of the 1989 events due to the wide censorship.
Since Mr Lai was sworn in as President last month, China has repeatedly lashed out against him, branding him a “dangerous separatist” and a “saboteur of peace and stability”.
His inauguration last month prompted Beijing to launch military drills around Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
Asked about the anniversary on Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the government “has long since reached a clear conclusion with regards to the political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s”. In Beijing early on Tuesday, tourist groups visited Tiananmen Square donning matching neon hats and posing for pictures beside the mausoleum of China’s founding leader Mao Zedong.
But in Hong Kong, once the sole place on Chinese soil where public commemoration was allowed, an annual vigil has been banned since 2020, the year that Beijing imposed a national security law to quell dissent.
The city’s Victoria Park, which before the ban drew tens of thousands each year, was on Tuesday the site of a carnival promoting food and culture of Chinese cities.
Hundreds of police were expected to descend around the area by nightfall.
On Monday, Hong Kong artist Sanmu Chen was briefly detained after he appeared to trace the Chinese characters for “8964” – representing the anniversary’s date – in the air. Police said he was later released.
In the week leading up to the anniversary, Hong Kong police arrested eight people over commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown on social media, with authorities accusing them of publishing “seditious” online posts.
When asked about whether any public remembrance of June 4 was permitted, Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Tuesday that “some people are hijacking the issue … as a pretext to stir up troubles”.
“The threat to national security is real … any activities that contravene the law, law enforcement agencies will take action accordingly,” Mr Lee warned.
Last weekend, a Hong Kong Christian weekly newspaper pulled its front-page article about the 35th anniversary, explaining in an editorial that Hong Kong’s society had “become more restrictive”.
A university students’ publication axed its campaign to collect people’s recollections of the crackdown due to “factors we cannot resist”, according to a post on their official social media page.
AFP
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