The repression of Tiananmen Square in Beijing by the Chinese government will not disappear “in the torrent of history”, said the new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Tuesday for the 35e anniversary of the event.
“The memories of June 4 will not disappear in the torrent of history and we will continue to work hard to keep this historical memory alive”, for “all those who are attached to Chinese democracy”, wrote on Facebook M . Lai, who took office in May.
“Because it reminds us that democracy and freedom are not easy to achieve, we must […] respond to autocracy with freedom and confront the rise of authoritarianism with courage,” the leader added.
On June 4, 1989, China sent troops and tanks against pro-democracy and peaceful demonstrators in Beijing’s main central square to end weeks of protests calling for political change.
Hundreds of people, even more than a thousand by some estimates, were killed.
The subject is particularly sensitive for China’s communist leaders and any mention of the repression is strictly censored in the country.
Many young Chinese today are unaware of this part of Chinese history because of this censorship.
” The people’s voice “
In Taipei, an annual vigil is planned for Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. at the Chiang Kai-shek memorial.
China considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with its territory since the end of the civil war and the coming to power of the communists in Beijing in 1949.
Beijing accused President Lai Ching-te of pushing the island towards “war”, accusing him of being a “dangerous separatist”, and organized large-scale military maneuvers around Taiwan in May.
Mr. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party defends the sovereignty of Taiwan, which has its own government, army and currency.
“A truly respectable country is one where people speak out,” Mr. Lai wrote in his post on Tuesday.
“Any regime must confront the voice of the people, especially the younger generation, because social change often depends on diverse opinions,” added the Taiwanese leader.
“In the future, we will continue to join forces to strengthen democracy in Taiwan, and work with countries that share the same values to build a better world. »
Beijing claimed in 1989 to have put an end to “counter-revolutionary riots” in what outside the country was seen as a massacre of innocents, including many students.
Asked about 35e anniversary on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Beijing had “long ago reached a clear conclusion regarding the political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s.”
Tourists in photos
In Tiananmen Square, groups of tourists wearing matching neon headwear were seen Tuesday morning posing next to the mausoleum of Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung, amid a large but not unusual security presence.
Access to the largest square in the world, which is lined with numerous official buildings as well as the Forbidden City, is strictly controlled at all times and requires authorization.
In Hong Kong, a former British colony returned to China in 1997, an eighth person was arrested on Monday, in connection with a new national security law, for messages posted on networks concerning the anniversary of the repression.
Hong Kong was for a long time the only place in China where the commemoration of the June 4, 1989 massacre was tolerated.
But these commemorations, often in the form of candlelight vigils in tribute to the many protesters killed, were banned from 2020 when Beijing imposed a very restrictive security law, following a wave of giant and sometimes pro-democracy demonstrations. violent.
A local Christian weekly, the Christian Times, left its front page virtually empty in its Saturday edition and wrote that it could only “respond to the current situation by replacing paragraphs with blanks” in a society that had become so ” restrictive”.
The handover agreement guaranteed in principle an extended regime of freedoms in the former colony until 2047.