Silence and heavy state security in China on anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown

China Tiananmen Anniversary

BEIJING, China (AP) — Checkpoints and rows of police vehicles lined a major road leading to Beijing's Tiananmen Square as China heightened security on the 35th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

China has long quashed any memory of the killings, when the Chinese government ordered in the army to end the months-long protests and uphold Communist rule. An estimated 180,000 troops and armed police rolled in with tanks and armored vehicles, and fired into crowds as they pushed toward Tiananmen Square.

A Chinese paramilitary policeman watches over Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. As Beijing's toughened political stance effectively extinguished any large-scale commemorations within its borders, overseas commemorative events have grown increasingly crucial for preserving memories of the Tiananmen crackdown. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The death toll remains unknown to this day. Hundreds, if not thousands are believed to have been killed in an operation that started the night of June 3 through the following morning.

Across China, the event remains a sensitive and taboo subject that is heavily censored, and any mention or reference on social media are erased.

The city's life mostly went on as normal. Hundreds of tourists lined the streets leading to gates to enter Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Those who lost their family in the crackdown are prevented from gathering or grieving in public.

Asked by a foreign journalist for comment on the 35th anniversary during a daily foreign ministry briefing on Monday, spokesperson Mao Ning shrugged off the event.

“The Chinese government has long since come to a clear conclusion on the political disturbance that took place in the late 1980s,” Mao said, without elaborating.

In Hong Kong, a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups occupied a park that for decades was the site of an annual vigil marking the anniversary, less than a week after police arrested eight people over social media posts commemorating the crackdown under Hong Kong's new homegrown national security law.

In 2021, three former leaders of the group that organized the vigil, including activist Chow Hang-tung, were charged with subversion under a national security law imposed by Beijing. The group was also disbanded.

Still, some residents have chosen to remember the bloody event privately, including by running 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) on Monday — a reference to the date June 4 — and sharing Tiananmen-related content on social media.

Over the past week, the city’s authorities have ramped up efforts to erase reminders of the 1989 crackdown. Multiple pro-democracy activists told the Associated Press that police had inquired about their plans for Tuesday.

On Monday, police also briefly detained a performance artist on a street of Causeway Bay, a busy Hong Kong shopping district, close to the park that held the vigil.

An independent bookstore, which displayed "35/5" on its window — a roundabout reference to the date of the crackdown as “May 35th” — wrote on Instagram that police officers were stationed outside the shop for an hour on Sunday, during which they recorded the identity details of customers.

Commemorative events have grown overseas as China cracks down on memories of Tiananmen in Hong Kong and the mainland. This year, vigils are being planned in Washington DC, London, Brisbane and Taipei among other cities, and a growing number of talks, rallies, exhibitions and plays on the subject have emerged.