At the site of the vociferous banner protest against Xi Jinping in October, on the eve of the Party Congress, even road signs have disappeared for fear that they will become symbols. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, where until 2020 the vigil was held in honor of the victims murdered on June 4, 1989, a fair of products from mainland China was organized.
Hong Kong () – Beijing’s repressive activities have already begun in anticipation of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which took place on June 4, 1989, when the then Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, ordered the intervention of tanks to stop the massive protests by pro-democratic students that had lasted for months.
One of the leaders of the movement at that time -Zhou Fengsuo, who lives in exile in the United States- shared images from China yesterday on his Twitter profile showing how the Beijing authorities had removed the traffic signs that identified the bridge. of Sitong, a place that made headlines last October when dissident Peng Lifa, on the eve of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, vociferously defied President Xi Jinping by unfurling pro-democracy banners against the “Covid zero” policy. He was immediately arrested and in a few days he became a hero on the networks, also inspiring other protests. Referring to the news, Zhou Fengsuo also recalled that many young people who participated in the Tiananmen Square movement were from Sitong.
The disappearance of the posters is, together with online censorship, a method that Beijing uses to prevent uncomfortable content from being disseminated and prevent new protests. A few days after the appearance of the Peng Lifa banners on the Sitong Bridge, a skyscraper in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, caught fire and the people inside, all of them Uyghur ethnicity, had died. because the doors were welded in compliance with the “Covid zero” policy. As the news leaked on social media, spontaneous vigils broke out on “Urumqi Road” in the city of Shanghai, attended by hundreds of people. However, despite being one of the busiest roads in the metropolis, after a few days the sign pointing to the street had also disappeared there.
If the posters disappear in Beijing, in Hong Kong, in order to avoid demonstrations in memory of Tiananmen, in addition to the very strict meshes of the National Security Law, other routes are also used. In Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, where every year before 2020 a vigil was held in memory of the victims of the communist regime, a fair organized by 26 pro-China associations will take place from June 3 to 5. For the event, more than 200 stalls will be installed, which will occupy the space of four soccer fields, and products from different provinces of mainland China will be offered. In a press conference, the organizers declared that the event was organized to “promote social harmony”. And when asked why the fair was being held on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, Tang Ching-ho, chief executive of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Federation of Community Organizations, said it was a “coincidence “: “We usually organize this type of event and, coincidentally, our application for this period was approved,” he said.
What nothing can eliminate, however, are the wounds left by the repression of 34 years ago. In recent days, the “Tiananmen Mothers”, a group representing the victims of the massacre, have once again called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to take responsibility for the government’s actions ahead of the anniversary of the tragedy: “You may believe that they had nothing to do with the order to open fire on unarmed civilians at the time, but the ruling party, the Communist Party, still did it,” You Weijie, a spokesman for the organization, told Radio Free Asia. “The current government should take full responsibility and tell the people everything that happened then.”
In mainland China, censorship governs the events of 1989 and the number of people who died during the armed crackdown is unknown: it could range from a few hundred to a few thousand. For 34 years, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to demand that Beijing make the details of the massacre public, prosecute those responsible, and compensate the families. “We are sincere in seeking dialogue with the government,” You said. “The government has evaded its responsibility.” Meanwhile, the activist continued, more than 70 parents of the victims have died in the last 34 years. We will not give up,” she stressed.
