We will never forget Tiananmen crackdown, Taiwan and US say on 36th anniversary
TAIPEI (Reuters) -The world will never forget China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Taiwan's president and the top U.S. diplomat said on the 36th anniversary of an event Beijing treats as taboo and allows no public remembrance.
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 take place in overseas cities including Taipei where senior Taiwan government leaders often use the anniversary to criticise China and urge it to face up to what it did.
Lai, in a post on Facebook on Wednesday, praised the courage of those who took part in the protests, saying human rights are a concept shared by Taiwan and other democracies that transcend generations and borders.
"The commemoration of the June 4 Tiananmen incident is not only to mourn history, but also to perpetuate this memory," said Lai, who Beijing detests as a "separatist" and has rejected his repeated offers of talks.
"Authoritarian governments often choose to silence and forget history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who gave their lives - and their dreams - to the idea of human rights," he added.
"Not only do we refuse to forget history, we will implement our core values every day."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday praised the courage of the Chinese people who were killed in the bloody crackdown.
"Today we commemorate the bravery of the Chinese people who were killed as they tried to exercise their fundamental freedoms, as well as those who continue to suffer persecution as they seek accountability and justice for the events of June 4, 1989," Rubio said in a statement.
"The CCP actively tries to censor the facts, but the world will never forget," he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SECURITY TIGHT IN HONG KONG
Before dawn on June 4, 1989, Chinese tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, 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.
The Tiananmen Mothers, which represents relatives of those killed, put out this week their annual statement calling for a public accounting of what happened.
"The executioners of that year have passed away one after another, but as the continuation of the ruling party, the current government has a responsibility to respond to and address the Tiananmen Massacre," Zhang Xianling, whose son Wang Nan was killed, said in a video message.
In Hong Kong, where thousands used to gather to mark the anniversary before China's imposition of a national security law in 2020, security was tight around Victoria Park, the site of the previous mass candlelight vigils.
Hong Kong's leader John Lee said on Tuesday police would take stringent enforcement actions against any acts endangering national security. A performance artist was forced to leave the vicinity of the park and a shop selling small white candles was raided by customs officials on Tuesday.
One jailed pro-democracy activist, Chow Hang-tung, is staging a 36 hour hunger strike in prison to mark the anniversary.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash
Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) -When a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into her school and erupted in a fireball on Monday, Maherin Chowdhury rushed to save some of the hundreds of students and teachers facing mortal danger, placing their safety before her own. The 46-year-old English teacher went back again and again into a burning classroom to rescue her students, even as her own clothes were engulfed in flames, her brother, Munaf Mojib Chowdhury, told Reuters by telephone. Maherin died on Monday after suffering near total burns on her body. She is survived by her husband and two teenaged sons. "When her husband called her, pleading with her to leave the scene and think of her children, she refused, saying 'they are also my children, they are burning. How can I leave them?'" Chowdhury said. At least 29 people, most of them children, were killed when the F-7 BGI crashed into the school, trapping them in fire and debris. The military said the aircraft had suffered mechanical failure. "I don't know exactly how many she saved, but it may have been at least 20. She pulled them out with her own hands," he said, adding that he found out about his sister's act of bravery when he visited the hospital and met students she had rescued. The jet had taken off from a nearby air base on a routine training mission, the military said. After experiencing mechanical failure the pilot tried to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, but it crashed into the campus. The pilot was among those killed. "When the plane crashed and fire broke out, everyone was running to save their lives, she ran to save others," Khadija Akter, the headmistress of the school's primary section, told Reuters on phone about Maherin. She was buried on Tuesday in her home district of Nilphamari, in northern Bangladesh. Solve the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
10 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Bear was suspiciously familiar, Mississippi man says. Turns out they had history
Black bears may look alike to most of us, but Anthony Ballard swore he encountered one in the Mississippi wilderness that seemed familiar. Turns out he was right, only the bear weighed less than 5 pounds at their previous encounter. That was in 2023 when Ballard, a state biologist, found two adorable cubs in a den and implanted them with microchips as part of the Mississippi's bear tracking program. That microchip confirmed Ballard wasn't imagining things. 'When it is scanned, the scanner will display a unique number (like a serial number). I had my suspicions about who she was before, but when the reader picked up the tag I knew for sure,' he told McClatchy News in an email. 'Her litter mate (a male) was killed by a car in winter 2024, so I was glad to confirm she was still alive.' The reunion happened this month in Warren County, just over a mile and a half from where the two originally met, he says. The bear is now known as F60 in record books, and she roams turf near Eagle Lake, about a 65-mile drive northwest from Jackson. A July 21 Facebook post highlighting the bear's reappearance had more than 3,700 reactions and comments as of July 23, including from some who wondered if she was eating enough. 'To many, she may appear skinny but don't worry, this is normal!' the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said in its Facebook post. 'Young bears often appear this way as their bones grow faster than their muscle and fat. She's still growing — similar to the human pre-puberty stage — so her frame looks lean and leggy for now. As she matures, she'll bulk up and grow into that build.' Mississippi's black bears were nearly wiped out a century ago due to overhunting and habitat destruction, the state says. In 1974, bears were added to the state's 'list of rare and threatened vertebrates of Mississippi.' 'Biologists currently estimate the Mississippi bear population to be about 150 bears in the state, which is a major improvement over the estimated 40 individuals in 2002,' the wildlife department says.
American Military News
10 minutes ago
- American Military News
Tensions High As EU Leaders Head To China For Pivotal Summit
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet with the Chinese president and prime minister in Beijing on July 24 in what is expected to be a tense EU-China summit with the war in Ukraine and a potential transatlantic trade war looming large in the background. Brussels will raise the usual concerns about human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong with Beijing expected to quickly bat away any form of criticism. Instead, the most heated discussions will likely center around China's support for Russia's war in Ukraine and what the EU views as unfair Chinese trade practices, which have led to a ballooning deficit in Sino-European trade in favor of Beijing. Briefing the media before the summit, European Union officials underlined that the EU presidents are expected to be 'direct, open and constructive' but are also 'ready to defend our interest.' 50 Years Of Diplomatic Ties The summit was meant to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and the bloc, but don't expect too many niceties or concrete deliverables of any kind. Given that both sides are keen to showcase their green credentials, there were hopes in the EU that they would at least agree on a common declaration on the climate, but it is very uncertain if even this will materialize. This stands in sharp contrast to the EU-Japan summit held the day before in Tokyo, where a 24-page declaration covering a broad policy agenda was expected, including progress on bilateral security ties and a rare earths deal. The key meeting to look out for in Beijing is the morning session, when von der Leyen and Costa will have a 'geo-strategic' discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Have The Gloves Come Off Regarding Ukraine? Ukraine will take up a big part of the meeting, which comes just a few weeks after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told European diplomats in Brussels that his country could not accept a Russian defeat in the war. Brussels has long sought not to antagonize China too much on the issue, but the gloves appear to have come off, at least to a certain extent. EU officials now say openly that 80 percent of dual-use items used by Russia in its war effort originate from China. Brussels has also criticized Beijing's continued export of components like drone engines to Moscow. China has also been targeted — both directly and indirectly — in the latest EU sanctions package on Russia agreed last week. Several Chinese companies and a handful of financial institutions are now blacklisted, with the Chinese Commerce Ministry already criticizing the move. The fact that Brussels now feels confident and can find unanimity to target Beijing in this way is something new. New EU restrictions, such as a ban on refined petroleum products made from Russian crude oil and processed in third countries, are also expected to affect China indirectly. An EU official involved in summit preparations told RFE/RL that no major shift is expected in Beijing's 'no-limits partnership' with Moscow, but Brussels hopes for modest steps, such as tighter customs and financial controls on dual-use goods. Trade Deficit The afternoon discussion with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang will focus on the economic relationship and is expected to be equally delicate. The EU and China are each other's second biggest trading partners with trade reaching $2.3 billion daily. But it's the trade deficit that is irking Brussels. Compared to last year, it has doubled to the current $350 billion, with subsidies, procurement barriers, and export controls cited by the EU as real irritants. No major breakthroughs are expected in Beijing, but EU officials hope China might at least acknowledge the concerns and take steps to stimulate domestic demand or address imbalances. Brussels will also hint at possible reciprocal measures, referencing past actions against Chinese electric vehicles and dairy products. But the question is how far the bloc is really ready to go. It does rely on China for critical minerals and permanent magnets — items that are essential for pretty much all modern technologies. And, despite the EU's best efforts to strike new trade deals with the likes of Australia, India and Indonesia to 'de-risk' from China, the shortfall will not be covered immediately. Beijing knows this as well. And then there is the delicate issue of EU-US relations. Unless a deal can be found in the coming days, American tariffs of 30 percent will hit the EU on August 1 with Brussels poised to strike back with countermeasures on US products worth billions in a move that will derail transatlantic trade. One EU diplomat told RFE/RL that this was 'a prospect that has the Chinese rubbing their hands in sheer delight,' as Beijing has long sought to drive a wedge between Brussels and Washington. So, expect China in the next few days to very much push the narrative that it, together with Europe, now represents the rules-based international trade order and that the real distorter of commerce and protectionism isn't to be found in Beijing but in Washington. Depending on what is happening with the transatlantic trade talks, the EU might just be tempted by such rhetoric.
