By Ben Blanchard and Liz Lee
TAIPEI/BEIJING, June 4 (Reuters) – Taiwan has pressed China to recognise the deadly crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 37 years ago, in commemorating the anniversary on Thursday of an event that remains taboo for Beijing.
“I sincerely hope that China can face up to the June 4 incident of 37 years ago, acknowledge the truth, soothe the pain, and open the door to reconciliation and dialogue,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in a post on his Facebook page.
The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end the student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China and the anniversary is not officially marked.
Public commemorations now take place in overseas cities, including Taipei where senior Taiwanese government leaders often use the anniversary to criticise China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory.
Lai warned against “blindly believing” in militarism and said a healthy government and society should strive to support better lives for the next generation rather than use “violence, surveillance, and other means to strangle their dreams and erase their opinions”, his Facebook post showed.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on Lai’s remarks.
China calls Lai a “separatist” and has rebuffed multiple offers of talks from him. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
U.S. HONOURS MEMORY
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Beijing’s censorship could not erase memories of the military assault, in a statement that followed past practice of the United States’ top diplomat marking the anniversary, drawing Beijing’s ire.
“Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday,” Rubio said.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rubio’s statement. A year ago, Beijing criticised Rubio for his Tiananmen comment, accusing him of “distorting” historical facts and attacking China’s political system.
Chinese tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square before dawn on June 4, 1989, crushing weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers.
China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into thousands. China blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the ruling Communist Party.
In Hong Kong, where a candlelight vigil in the city’s Victoria Park once drew tens of thousands of people each year, public remembrances came to an end after Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020.
Such vigils were once hailed as a symbol of the Asian financial hub’s relative freedom compared to mainland China, but the anniversary in the city is now marked by a heavy police presence and few visible remembrance activities.
Several vigils were still expected to take place in a number of cities around the world on Thursday, including four in Germany and one in Australia.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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