The Tiananmen Papers | 60 Minutes Archive
Beijing deed backmost Wednesday astatine Secretary of State Marco Rubio for saying the satellite volition "never forget" the deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown successful 1989, describing his remarks arsenic an "attack" connected China.
Chinese troops and tanks forcibly cleared peaceful protesters from the quadrate successful the superior connected June 4, 1989 aft weeks-long demonstrations demanding greater governmental freedoms.
The nonstop toll is chartless but hundreds died, with immoderate estimates exceeding 1,000 people.
China's communist rulers person since sought to erase immoderate nationalist notation of the crackdown, with censors scrubbing each online references and overseas media warned implicit their sum of the 36-year mark.
Mike Wallace's "60 Minutes" study connected the concealed Tiananmen papers
Police were seen by AFP connected Wednesday astatine the entranceway to Wan'an Cemetery, a tract successful westbound Beijing wherever victims of the crackdown are known to beryllium buried.
Officers were besides posted astatine respective intersections starring into Tiananmen Square connected Chang'an Avenue, a wide thoroughfare that is placed nether choky information passim the year.
Police officers basal astatine the obstruction successful beforehand of Tiananmen Square connected June 4, 2025.
Johannes Neudecker / representation confederation via Getty Images
Rubio said successful a connection the "world volition ne'er forget" what happened connected June 4, adjacent arsenic Beijing "actively tries to censor the facts."
"Today we commemorate the bravery of the Chinese radical who were killed arsenic they tried to workout their cardinal freedoms, arsenic good arsenic those who proceed to endure persecution arsenic they question accountability and justness for the events of June 4, 1989," Rubio said.
Chinese overseas ministry spokesperson Lin Jian deed backmost during a Wednesday briefing successful the capital, saying Beijing had "lodged a solemn protest" implicit Rubio's comments.
"The erroneous statements by the US broadside maliciously distort humanities facts, deliberately onslaught China's governmental strategy and developmental path, and earnestly interfere successful China's interior affairs," Lin said.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te echoed Rubio's remarks, vowing to sphere the representation of victims of the bloody crackdown.
"Authoritarian governments often take to beryllium soundless and hide history; antiauthoritarian societies take to sphere the information and garbage to hide those who person contributed to the perfect of quality rights and their dreams," Lai said connected Facebook.
China claims Taiwan is portion of its territory and has threatened to prehend the antiauthoritarian land by force.
Hong Kong commemorations banned
In Hong Kong, jailed activistic Chow Hang-tung began a 36-hour hunger onslaught connected Wednesday, a dogged effort to individually commemorate the people successful a metropolis that erstwhile hosted immense nationalist remembrances.
The erstwhile lawyer utilized to assistance signifier an yearly vigil that drew tens of thousands to the city's Victoria Park.
Police patrol extracurricular the entranceway of a just astatine Victoria Park successful Hong Kong's Causeway Bay territory connected June 3, 2025, wherever radical traditionally gathered annually connected June 4 to mourn the victims of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown successful 1989 - present banned pursuing a nationalist information instrumentality imposed connected the metropolis successful 2020.
PETER PARKS / AFP via Getty Images
Hong Kong had been the lone spot nether Chinese regularisation wherever commemoration of the crackdown was tolerated.
Slogans astatine the candlelight vigils sometimes called for ideology successful China and an extremity to one-party rule.
But aft immense and sometimes convulsive protests roiled the metropolis successful 2019, Beijing brought successful a wide-ranging nationalist information instrumentality that has quashed governmental dissent.
The nationalist memorial has efficaciously been banned and Chow imprisoned, facing a imaginable beingness condemnation connected subversion charges.
Over the past fewer years, activists person been detained for "offences successful transportation with seditious intention" astir the anniversary.
In a societal media post, Chow said her hunger onslaught would "commemorate this time and reaffirm our commitment".
She called the city's nationalist information officers "real 'criminals'" and urged authorities to apologise to her implicit her "wrongful" imprisonment.
"History tells america that (the apology) volition apt instrumentality a precise agelong clip -- the Tiananmen Mothers person been waiting for 36 years and inactive person not received an apology," she said, referring to an activistic radical made up of families of victims of the crackdown.
A video featuring 87-year-old Zhang Xianling, whose 19-year-old lad was killed successful 1989, circulated online past week.
China's authorities person ne'er addressed the group's plea for dialog astir the contented -- instead, they person utilized each means to show and wiretap members of the Tiananmen Mothers, Zhang said.
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