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Tiananmen square falls silent as tight security surrounds symbolic anniversary | Tiananmen square falls silent as tight security surrounds symbolic anniversary |
(about 2 hours later) | |
China was marking 30 years since its deadly crackdown on student demonstrators in Beijing with silence and extra security measures on Tuesday. | |
The nation’s government has worked to suppress discussion of one of the darkest chapters in its history, when Beijing deployed tanks and troops to put down a countrywide movement calling for democratic reforms. In the lead up to the anniversary, activists have been detained and internet controls tightened. | |
On Tuesday, security forces were deployed throughout Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where on the evening of 3 June through the morning of 4 June, 1989, hundreds if not thousands of people were killed. | |
Crowds of tourists were waiting to pass through security to have their ID card scanned and bags checked. Plainclothes and uniformed police patrolled the perimeter of the area. An armoured police car was stationed along a street leading to the square. Asked about the extra checks, a police officer said: “Today is a bit special.” | |
Official media on Tuesday made no mention of the anniversary, instead featuring articles about Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s promotion of garbage sorting, an environmental campaign. | |
China has issued few statements about the Tiananmen crackdown, which is largely omitted from history books. When pushed to comment, officials justify the government’s use of force as necessary for stability and development. Following a period of international isolation after the crackdown, the Chinese economy grew at breakneck speed in the 1990s and 2000s. | |
China’s defence minister, Wei Fenghe defended the crackdown as the “correct” policy to end “political turbulence” at the time in response to a reporter’s questions at a conference in Singapore on Sunday. | |
'Sacred day': Chinese remember Tiananmen killings by fasting | 'Sacred day': Chinese remember Tiananmen killings by fasting |
On Monday, the state-run tabloid Global Times praised the government’s response, calling it a “vaccination” for Chinese society providing “immunity against any major political turmoil in the future”. | |
Meanwhile foreign journalists were either not allowed to enter the square or were followed when they did. Plainclothes police blocked journalists from taking photos by opening umbrellas in front of them. | |
The search terms “Tiananmen” and “6,4 30,” were blocked on the microblog Weibo, and “6,4” as the episode is known in China turned up results like the address of a compound or a type of gun. | |
In the weeks leading up to the anniversary, social media users were not allowed to change their usernames and a video platform disabled some of its comment functions. | |
Despite the censorship, some Chinese citizens have found ways to mark the day, by referring to it elliptically. One user posted a photo of himself standing in front of Mao Zedong’s portrait, which faces Tiananmen Square, in the early morning hours. “Paying respects,” he wrote. | |
Activists in China said they planned to fast for the day, barred from being able to commemorate the event in any public way. In neighbouring Hong Kong, activists are permitted to commemorate the event with an annual candlelight vigil attracting about 180,000 people. | |
“This year, with the 30th anniversary more people will be coming in,” said Chauk-Yan Lee, a former legislator. Lee was a young labour organiser in 1989 and was in Beijing on 4 June. | |
But activists are coming under pressure in Hong Kong. On Sunday, Hong Kong deported an exiled dissident and former Peking university student, Feng Congde, who had come to the city to attend the vigil. | |
Hong Kong immigration is not required to give reasons for its decisions, but legislator Regina Ip told the Guardian she believes it was likely because Congde intended to go to the vigil. “Hong Kong allows our people to hold the annual June 4 candlelight vigils, they have a right to express their views, to remember whatever happened 30 years ago. But we don’t have to allow high profile dissidents to come in and stir up further emotions. What’s the point?” | |
Gao Yu, a journalist who attended the protests in Beijing has been “traveled” away from the city and will be kept under close watch today by security minders. “I can only remember [the students] in my heart,” she said. | |
Other internet users posted a quote by a famous Chinese writer, Lu Xun, in 1933, remembering a group of young writers who had been killed by government forces. The night is long, the road is also long. It’s better I forget, not to mention it. But I know that even if it weren’t for me, there will always be someone who remembers them.” | |
Tiananmen Square protests 1989 | Tiananmen Square protests 1989 |
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Asia Pacific | Asia Pacific |
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