More than a thousand people gathered in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Tuesday to commemorate the victims of China’s violent suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest, urging the Beijing regime to stop trampling human rights.
The candlelight vigil marking the 35th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 tragedy was held in central Taipei on Tuesday with the theme “Ideals are bulletproof.”
Participants included ordinary Taiwanese residents, rights activists supporting Tibet and China’s oppressed Uyghur Muslim minority, exiled Chinese pro-democracy dissidents and Hong Kongers who have fled to Taiwan in recent years after Beijing tightened control over the former British colony.
Wu Renhua, 68, who witnessed the 1989 massacre in Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square and now lives in Taipei, told the crowd how he and students were forcibly expelled by tanks on that terrible day.
“When I returned to campus and saw the bodies run over by tanks… I vowed that I will never forget it,” Wu told the crowd.
Beginning in mid-April 1989, tens of thousands of student-led demonstrators had gathered in Tiananmen Square demanding democracy and government reforms. The protest ended in a bloodbath, a subject that remains taboo in China even decades later.
At the vigil in Taipei, participants held small electric candles and observed 64 seconds of silence at 8:09 PM (1209 GMT).
A 13-year-old student from Taipei told dpa that he was very curious about the events when he saw the now historic photos of the Tank Man, the lone figure who stood in the path of the approaching tanks during the pro-democracy protests in Taipei. 1989.
“It’s absurd that I couldn’t find any information about it when I went to websites set up in China. It shows that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has refused to face history,” YM Liu told dpa.
“At that time, the CCP bureaucracy was moving toward the restoration of capitalism, so it cruelly oppressed workers and youth,” Sam Hung, a 30-year-old Taiwanese man from the International Socialist Alternative, told dpa.
Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, posted in English on social media platform X: “On the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, we remember the students and citizens who bravely marched for change.
“As Taiwan deepens our commitment to human rights, we remain steadfast in our belief that only with freedom and democracy can its people truly prosper.”
On Facebook, Lai said in a post written in Chinese that a truly respectable country is one that allows its citizens to express their opinions.
Tseng Chien-yuan of the New School for Democracy, who co-organized the vigil, told dpa it was unfortunate that the Taiwanese leader only commented on the tragedy on personal social media platforms.
“Taiwan must continue to strengthen its democracy… (it) will play a key role in sharing Taiwan’s experience in promoting human rights and democracy to the Chinese people in China, helping them resist the CCP dictatorship,” Tseng told to dpa.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the highest body responsible for Chinese affairs, called on authorities in Beijing late on Monday to have the courage to face the historical facts of the June 4 incident and adopt a softer and adopt a more open attitude to accommodate different opinions.
Meanwhile, an art exhibition on the theme of pursuing human rights and democracy in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan was held in Taipei to commemorate the 1989 crackdown. The exhibition runs until June 13.
