{"id":843888,"date":"2026-06-04T13:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843888\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T13:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:32:16","slug":"chinese-authorities-erase-tiananmen-crackdown-from-public-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843888\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese authorities erase Tiananmen crackdown from public memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEIJING (AP) \u2014 Chinese authorities are snuffing out any remembrance of the deadly 1989 military crackdown<\/a> on student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, which happened 37 years ago Thursday, in a further tightening in a yearslong campaign<\/a> to erase what happened from public memory.<\/p>\n

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. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution.<\/p>\n

Relatives from a group called Tiananmen Mothers visited the graves for more than 30 years, reading memorial statements while police kept watch, Amnesty International said. <\/p>\n

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 on Tiananmen Square, a vast plaza in the center of the Chinese capital. The decision by the Communist Party leadership to send in the military was a pivotal moment in China\u2019s modern history, determining that the market reform that transformed the country into the world\u2019s second largest economy would not be coupled with political liberalization.<\/p>\n

Rubio says censorship can\u2019t erase the past<\/p>\n

In Hong Kong, police stepped up security Thursday at or near a park where a massive candlelight vigil<\/a> lit up the night every year until a clampdown following major anti-government protests in 2019. A handful of people showed up in the evening. Officers allowed some to go freely \u2014 including a man holding flowers and an activist who said she bowed 37 times \u2014 but took at least three others away.<\/p>\n

The U.S., the EU and Britain posted messages on social media marking the anniversary. \u201cNo amount of censorship can erase the past,\u201d a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio read. \u201cThose who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed his words as a smear on her nation\u2019s political system. \u201cWe urge the U.S. side to … stop using so-called democracy and human rights as a pretext to interfere in China\u2019s internal affairs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tiananmen Mothers calls crackdown a crime<\/p>\n

Tiananmen Mothers issued an annual appeal for justice ahead of this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Zhang Xianling, a member of the group, said in a video message posted on Facebook \u2014 which is blocked in China.<\/p>\n

Amnesty said it is deeply troubling that China\u2019s suppression of the commemoration appears to be escalating. \u201cBanning the relatives of people killed in the Tiananmen crackdown from visiting their loved ones\u2019 graves is a heartless act by the Chinese authorities,\u201d Sarah Brooks, the organization\u2019s deputy director for Asia, said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The Beijing Public Security Bureau did not respond to a faxed request for comment. <\/p>\n

Hong Kong has banned an annual vigil<\/p>\n

Authorities in Hong Kong have banned the vigil since 2020, at first citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Simon Ng, a past participant, walked around the nearby Causeway Bay shopping district to mark the anniversary. \u201cThere are some things I can neither forget nor let go, so I have to come and and take a walk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Three of the organizers of the vigil have been charged under a 2020 national security law. One pleaded guilty, which may result in a lesser sentence. The other two have been tried<\/a> and are awaiting a verdict.<\/p>\n

One of them, lawyer Chow Hang-tung, said in an online post published last weekend that she would go on a 37-hour hunger strike in prison. \u201cBehind the glitter of power and dictatorship lies the blood and broken dreams of ordinary people. For in amnesia lies the demise of democracy,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n

Derek Chu, a former district councilor, said on Instagram that he visited Chow on Thursday and told her he would also stop eating for 37 hours in support. He added that a shop he runs is giving out LED candles that can be used to remember the victims.<\/p>\n

An annual vigil was held in Taiwan, but a driving thunderstorm reduced turnout to about 200 people. China, which claims the self-governing island as its territory, sanctioned<\/a> four New Zealand lawmakers on Thursday to protest their recent visit to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Leung reported from Hong Kong. AP video journalist Taijing Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEIJING (AP) \u2014 Chinese authorities are snuffing out any remembrance of the deadly 1989 military crackdown on student-led…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":843889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[105187,13214,9710,74,13212,7837,345266,57,8464,410,8132,50,402,345267,229107,103,107],"class_list":["post-843888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-amnesty-international","tag-asia-pacific","tag-beijing","tag-china","tag-china-government","tag-democracy","tag-derek-chu","tag-general-news","tag-hong-kong","tag-marco-rubio","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-sarah-brooks","tag-simon-ng","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116692093998295618","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}