US Secretary of State Marks Tiananmen Anniversary, Says Censorship Cannot Erase the Past

To mark this year's anniversary, Rubio issued a statement condemning the Chinese government's information controls. "Kein Ausmaß an Zensur kann die Vergangenheit auslöschen," he said, adding that those who fought for their rights "Jenen, die Opfer brachten, um ihre unveräußerlichen Rechte auf freie Meinungsäußerung und friedliche Versammlung zu wahren, wird eines Tages Recht geschehen." Beijing hit back through Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who said the US position amounted to interference in internal affairs and "falschen Äußerungen der US-Seite verzerren historische Tatsachen, diffamieren Chinas politisches System und seinen Entwicklungsweg und stellen eine Einmischung in Chinas innere Angelegenheiten dar."

Restrictions in Beijing and Hong Kong

In Beijing this year, authorities barred relatives of those killed from visiting graves at Wan'an Cemetery on the anniversary, according to reports from the AP news agency. Amnesty International described the prevention of cemetery visits as a "herzlosen Akt." The survivors' group known as the Mothers of Tiananmen said the government continues to refuse reparations and to suppress public discussion of the events, and is failing to meet its responsibilities to the victims' families.

The pressure on public memory has extended to Hong Kong, which for decades hosted the only large-scale public commemorations of the crackdown. Since the introduction of the national security law in 2020, the annual vigil in Victoria Park has been banned, and AFP reporters described a heavy police presence in and around the park this year. Late at night, activist Tang Ngok Kwan stood alone at Victoria Park and read the names of hundreds of victims in a low voice while several plainclothes police officers watched.

Symbolic Acts of Remembrance

Artist Chen Sanmu also tried to mark the date in Hong Kong by stretching a 6.4-meter-long red thread near Victoria Park, a length meant to symbolise the calendar date 4 June. According to reports, plainclothes police officers took down his personal details and searched him shortly afterwards. The episode underlined how, even small and symbolic acts of remembrance, can draw a swift response from the authorities.

Survivors' families say they will continue to press for truth and compensation, and activists have urged the government in Beijing to acknowledge what happened and enter into a dialogue with the victims' relatives. Lai, a Hong Kong-based activist, expressed hope that China would face the events, acknowledge the truth, and begin a dialogue. Whether the public space for such a conversation has grown in mainland China is doubtful: many young Chinese know little or nothing about the massacre, and the ruling Communist Party has been largely successful at erasing the events from national memory.

Diplomatic Dispute Between Washington and Beijing

The broadcast on Deutschlandfunk noted that facts about Tiananmen have nonetheless continued to surface in unexpected ways, including among younger Chinese who learn about the crackdown despite the censorship regime. Rubio's statement, and the diplomatic dispute it triggered with Beijing, reflected the wider US position that the anniversary should not pass unmarked, and that the victims of the crackdown should one day see justice.