Showing posts with label #Tiananmen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Tiananmen. Show all posts

Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism

 On June 4th 1989, student-led demonstrations which had been brewing across China for a few months were violently crushed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who declared martial law and sent their troops onto the streets of Beijing to end the protests.

Estimates of the death toll vary from several thousand with thousands more wounded. While the massacre has been downplayed and deleted from public record in China, it has been commemorated outside of China in the intervening years.

Prior to 2020, the biggest Tiananmen commemorations used to take place in Victoria Park in Hong Kong. However, after the introduction of the National Security Law on June 30th 2020, and the subsequent CCP clamp down on democracy, any hint of remembrance has been rigorously stamped out and forbidden.

In nearby Taiwan where freedom and democracy prevail, the Tiananmen Square Massacre is commemorated each year on June 4th. However this year, even Taipei was not free from threat!

A number of Taiwan's news outlets reported that eight government offices, including the Presidential Office and Executive Yuan (parliament) received bomb threats by email on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The messages warned of attacks if the memorial events were held. Police traced the sender's IP address to the U.S., but it is expected that the real location was masked through a VPN and searches of government buildings did not yield any suspicious devices.

Despite the threats and the inclement weather, the Tiananmen commemoration still went ahead in Taipei. According to local media, about 3000 people gathered for a candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups. The event took place on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism". It featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan, Tibet, China, Hong Kong as well as other nations.

This is out report from the event.


Date of Recording: June 4th, 2025.




The picture show two activists giving their speeches on a lighted stage at the 2025 Tiananmen commemoration in Taipei as the audience watches on. Behind the stage in the unlit background is the outline of Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall.
Activists commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre at an event in front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan on June 4th, 2025



DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:


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  • Tiananmen at 35 - our report from the Tiananmen Commemoration in Taipei in 2024


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Tiananmen at 35

 On June 4th, 1989, student-led demonstrations which had been brewing across China for a few months were violently crushed in Beijing by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping in what became widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. From the outset, the Chinese Government downplayed the significance of the event and suppressed any discussion of it inside China.

After weeks of protests, hunger strikes and unsuccessful attempts between the demonstrators and the Chinese Government to find a peaceful resolution, the CCP declared martial law on the night of June 3rd and sent their troops onto the streets in Beijing to crush the protests. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundreds to several thousands, with thousands more wounded. The vast majority of those killed were civilians, though a small number of soldiers were also killed.

While the massacre has been downplayed and deleted from the public record in China, it was covered extensively by international media at the time of the event, mostly due to the fact that many foreign media had been visiting China to cover the first China-Soviet summit in 30 years, which included a visit to Beijing by Mikhail Gorbachev. The student protests in Tiananmen Square caused the CCP to lose face during the Soviet visit, and this is thought to have been a major factor in triggering the heavy handed military response to the protests. 

The Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 or June Fourth Incident as it also became known, has been commemorated outside China in the intervening years, most notably in Hong Kong.  However, with the return of Hong Kong by the UK to the PRC in 1997, and the subsequent enforcement of the National Security Law, any hint of remembrance has been rigorously stamped out and forbidden.

In nearby Taiwan, where freedom and democracy prevail, the Tiananmen Square Massacre is commemorated each year. 2024 marks the 35th anniversary of the event, and on June 4th, we went along to Liberty Square in Taipei to find out more. We spoke to a number of people who graciously shared their perspectives and insights with us.


Date of recording: June 4th, 2024.



Picture of the hosts on stage at the 35th Tiananmen Anniversary Commemoration in Taipei, Taiwan



DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:
  • Interviewee organization's websites:
  • Freedom House - Democracy Index - China
  • 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and Massacre - wiki


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