China deports artist to Australia after detention over Tiananmen protests

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/17/china-artist-australia-detention-tiananmen-protests

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A Chinese-born Australian artist detained following his comments on the 25th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square has been deported back to Australia.

Guo Jian, 52, a former Chinese soldier, arrived back in Sydney on Tuesday after being detained last month after an interview with the Financial Times regarding his experiences as a protester during the army's violent dispersal of the demonstrators on June 4, 1989.

The ABC reported that Guo told media at Sydney airport he was happy to be home.

China's foreign ministry has said that Guo had been detained on visa fraud charges.

His detention was seen as part of a wider effort by authorities to stifle criticism of the government and remembrance of those who died in connection with the events 25 years ago.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that authorities had smashed one of Guo's works at his Beijing studio, a large diorama of Tiananmen Square that he had at one point last month covered in raw minced pork.

Guo's girlfriend Yang Fangfang said that Guo had been able to return to his Beijing studio briefly to pack up some of his old paintings, but that his Tiananmen-related pieces had been destroyed.

For the ruling Communist Party, the 1989 demonstrations that clogged Tiananmen Square in Beijing and spread to other cities remain taboo.

The anniversary of the date on which troops shot their way into central Beijing has never been publicly marked in mainland China, though every year there are commemorations in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

The government has never released a death toll for the crackdown, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand.

This year's anniversary was marked by the detention of at least 66 rights activists, according to rights group Amnesty International, increased security in Beijing, and tighter controls on the Internet.