China, US trade barbs over Tiananmen anniversary and memory crackdown

Washington and Beijing traded sharp criticism over the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the Chinese Communist Party of ordering troops to attack thousands of peaceful demonstrators and Chinese officials rejecting the attack as interference. In a June 3 statement, Rubio said the world was marking 37 years since the assault on students, workers and other civilians who had gathered in and around Tiananmen Square to demand democratic reforms and accountability for corruption.

China responded by defending its handling of the 1989 protests and resisting outside pressure to revisit the episode. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing had already reached a clear conclusion about the political turmoil of the late 1980s. The clash underscored how Tiananmen remains one of the most politically sensitive subjects in China, where the events around the square are not publicly discussed and are not officially commemorated.

Taiwan used the anniversary to push a different message. President Lai Ching-te said China should “acknowledge the truth,” “soothe the pain,” and open the door to reconciliation and dialogue. About 500 people gathered in Taipei on Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil marking the 37th anniversary of the June 4 Incident, a public reminder that the memory of 1989 remains central to Taiwan’s democratic identity and its criticism of Beijing.

The tension around memory was also visible in Hong Kong. Police detained people near Victoria Park over symbolic June 4 items including a candle, flowers, a marker pen and a copy of the Chinese constitution. Victoria Park was for decades the site of Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigils for the crackdown, but Hong Kong Watch said 2026 marked the seventh consecutive year those gatherings were banned. Foreign missions in Hong Kong, including the U.S. consulate, marked the anniversary with candles or social-media tributes even as local public commemoration stayed tightly controlled.

The anniversary carries force far beyond symbolism. The crackdown followed weeks of student-led pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989, and the fight over how to remember it now shapes arguments about legitimacy, democracy and cross-strait identity. Near Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, a police officer stood watch as the capital remained under tight control, a scene that captured how the dispute over June 4 continues to be managed through security, censorship and diplomacy alike.