Security Crackdown Takes Place in Beijing on Tiananmen Anniversary
Chinese police filled Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, the 25th anniversary of the deadly crackdown of student-led demonstrations there.
Watchful security forces, both uniformed and plain-clothed, checked identifications of passersby and kept journalists from reporting in the square.
In what has become a yearly ritual, China has rounded up or placed under house arrest dozens of activists, journalists and lawyers ahead of the anniversary.
The United States on Tuesday demanded Beijing free the government critics and allow for public discussion about the Tiananmen Square incident.
A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry defended the detentions, saying China was only punishing “law breakers,” and not “dissidents.”
At least hundreds, and possibly thousands, died on June 3-4, 1989, when Chinese troops moved in to break up the demonstrations, which had spread nationwide.
The official death toll is not known and the government has gone to impressive lengths to erase the nation’s collective memory of the incident.
Shen Tong was a third year student at Beijing University when the massacre happened. He told VOA that at the time, he did not expect Chinese troops to kill civilians.
“It’s one of those things that the day before you think is impossible, the day after it becomes inevitable. So in some larger sense, I would say nobody predicted that. But then when the moment actually was upon us, all the factors before that seemed to lead to that inevitable outcome,” said Tong.
Tong was forced to leave China for his safety following the crackdown. He said the incident represents a missed opportunity for the Communist Party to be more open to the will of the people.
“China could have gone onto a more balanced development instead of embracing this unbalanced, full embrace of materialism, which now eventually led to the breakdown of moral and social fabrics in China,” said Tong.
The 1989 demonstrations included Chinese citizens from all walks of life, including some members of the Communist Party. Many were expressing frustration at a lack of freedom of speech, rising inequality, and rampant official corruption.
Beijing’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday defended the 1989 crackdown, saying China has “long ago” reached a conclusion about the incident. It instead focused on China’s rapid economic development since then. (VOA)
