“The Tiananmen Square Massacre” and Related Reports
Today, on the 17th anniversary of the bloody suppression of the 1989 student democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, police are strictly monitoring the behavior of tourists and pedestrians. Nothing greatly unexpected has taken place in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square today. Please watch the following Voice of America “Talk of the Times” report.
As normally happens at the crack of dawn each morning, a large group of people gathered in the square in front of the Tiananmen Gate to watch the flag-raising ceremony. Sightseers are all over the square. Vendors, as usual, are selling food and hawking souvenirs, and in every corner of the square can be seen police who are closely monitoring the sightseers and pedestrians who happen to linger in the square. One man attempted to unfurl a banner that had nothing to do with the Tiananmen Square Massacre, it is believed, but was still swiftly stopped by Beijing police. An older woman attempted to display a poster only to be quickly confronted by police who proceeded to tear her poster up on the spot. The old woman was then put into a police car and taken away.
The Chinese government continues to avoid discussing its June 4, 1989 crackdown of student protestors, and strictly prohibits any public commemoration of this historic event. The exact number of people who were killed, wounded, or detained during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations is still unclear, but it is believed that hundreds were killed and thousands of other detained.
As in previous years around June 4, police in China have stepped up surveillance of noted political dissidents and others. The Chinese government believes these individuals are a threat to peace and stability. The families of those who died in the Tiananmen Square Massacre say the police have already begun to interrogate them regarding their plans this year to commemorate the victims.
