China's Apology for Tiananmen Massacre Still Matters 36 Years On

Japan Forward

07-06-2025

June 4 marked the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On that day, the Chinese communist regime used its military forces to suppress students and other supporters of the democracy movement gathered peacefully in Tiananmen Square. Numerous deaths and injuries took place in that public space that marked the heart of Beijing.
China's communist government has characterized the protests as a "counter-revolutionary uprising." And it has tried to repress the very memory of the bloodbath by suppressing freedom of speech among the Chinese people.
The website of Tiananmen Mothers, a group made up of members of families of the victims, once again in 2025, has called for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable. It calls the event "the most horrific massacre in the world, perpetrated by the government and politicians of the time."
Memorial rallies continue to be held annually worldwide. However, they have remained effectively banned in Hong Kong since the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect in 2020.
Older family members of the victims are dying off one by one, and it's sad to contemplate their profound despair. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has an inbred compulsion to violate human rights and hide the truth. We cannot condone that.
Xi Jinping's administration must make the facts about the Tiananmen Massacre public and apologize to the victims and their families.
The Xi administration is now attacking the "America First" ideology of the Donald Trump administration. Specifically, Beijing is pointing to US tariff policies while claiming to act as a defender of the global order and "uphold international fairness and justice." The hypocrisy of the Xi administration's stance is staggering.
In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Tibet, and Hong Kong, the Xi administration has thoroughly suppressed human rights. China's coercive actions have also intensified in the East and South China Seas. Beijing is aiming to change the status quo by force in those regions to gain maritime dominance and annex Taiwan. In Taipei, Taiwan, the lights at a memorial rally are the shape of "8964" (1989 June 4), the date of the massacre. (©Sankei by Yoshiaki Nishimi)
This anniversary of the June 4 tragedy should serve as a reminder to the world that the CCP's inhumane and authoritarian nature remains unchanged from 36 years ago.
Especially worrisome is the conciliatory stance that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet seems inclined to pursue toward China.
From appearances, the governments of Japan and China are of one mind in wanting to promote a mutually beneficial strategic relationship. But aren't our leaders being taken in by Beijing's current smile diplomacy? Predictably, Beijing is making overtures towards Tokyo designed to gain China's advantage in its confrontation with the United States. However, a look beyond the capital reveals another truth.
Recently, a helicopter took off from a China Coast Guard vessel, violating Japanese airspace around the Senkaku Islands (Ishigaki City). But the Ishiba administration's response was hesitant.
As well, we must not forget the blunder made by the Japanese Cabinet in office at the time of the Tiananmen Massacre. That Cabinet parted from other democracies and opposed joint international sanctions after the incident. Tokyo instead argued that it would be inappropriate to force China into international isolation.
Since then, China has used its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as leverage to dominate the global market and build up a mammoth military. Japan also bears some responsibility for that.
The Ishiba administration should once again call on China to reveal the truth about what really happened in Tiananmen Square.
As things stand, it is out of the question for Xi to visit Japan as a state guest.
(Read the editorial in Japanese .)
Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun