China, US clash over Tiananmen anniversary, Taiwan says face up to history

By Ju-min Park and Ben Blanchard

BEIJING/TAIPEI, June 4 (Reuters) – China on Thursday said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments about the deadly crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 37 years ago had “infected” the country’s “political system,” as Taiwan told China to face history.

The events in and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China and the anniversary is not officially celebrated.

Rubio said Wednesday that censorship in Beijing cannot erase memories of the military attack.

“Those who make sacrifices to defend their inalienable rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly will one day be vindicated,” the United States’ top diplomat said in a statement following his past practices celebrating the anniversary.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated Beijing’s position, saying that the government had long reached a “clear conclusion” about the “political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s.”

Regarding Rubio’s statement, Mao said, “China strongly opposes and firmly opposes the United States’ distortion of historical facts and smearing China’s political system and path of development.” he said.

He also accused the United States of interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of “democracy and human rights” and defended Beijing’s “path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Public commemorations of the crackdown are taking place in cities overseas, including Taipei, where senior Taiwanese government leaders often use the anniversary to criticize China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory.

Writing on his Facebook page, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that a truly great country should not “blindly believe in military might or militarism.”

“I sincerely hope that China will come to terms with the June 4 incident that occurred 37 years ago, accept the truth, relieve the pain, and open the door to reconciliation and dialogue.”

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request seeking comment on Lai’s remarks.

China calls Lai a “separatist” and has turned down several meeting offers from him. He says only the people of Taiwan can decide their future.

FOREIGN SUMMARY

Chinese tanks entered Tiananmen Square before dawn on June 4, 1989, crushing weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers.

China has never announced the exact death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could reach thousands. China blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries trying to overthrow the ruling Communist Party.

In Hong Kong, where candlelight vigils in the city’s Victoria Park once drew tens of thousands of people each year, public commemorations ended 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 with a heavy police presence and few visible commemorations.

Several vigils were expected to be held in various cities around the world on Thursday, including four in Germany and one in Australia.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Liz Lee and Ju-min Park in Beijing; Additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Kate Mayberry)