On the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre, the United States said that it will continue to support human rights and fundamental freedoms in China and around the world.
The US State Department marked the anniversary of the suppression by issuing a statement, calling on the Chinese Communist Party to end the alleged harassment of those who took part in the protests and to fully account for those killed, detained or missing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Tomorrow, we observe the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On June 4th, 1989, the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) sent tanks into Tiananmen Square to brutally repress peaceful Chinese pro-democracy protesters and bystanders alike”, according to an official statement.
He added that the victims’ bravery would not be forgotten and would continue to inspire advocates for these principles around the world.
“The United States will continue advocating for people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms in China and around the world,” Blinken said.
The establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the US and China in 1979, together with Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms, inaugurated a decade of vibrant cultural exchange and expanding economic ties between the two countries, the State Department said in an official release.
However, the Chinese government’s violent suppression of demonstrations in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, cooled the US-Chinese relations considerably.
The demonstrations started on 15 April, 1989 when Chinese students gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where many student and mass demonstrations had taken place since the early 20th century, to mark the death of the popular pro-reform Chinese leader Hu Yaobang.
“The demonstration became a forum to protest corruption and inflation, and call for broader political and economic reforms to build on the reforms that had already transformed China considerably in the post-Mao era,” the release added.
On 3 June and June 4, the People’s Liberation Army stormed the square with tanks, crushing the protests with terrible human costs. Estimates of the numbers killed vary. The Chinese Communist Party stated that the injuries exceeded 3,000 and over 200 individuals, including 36 university students, were killed that night.
Later, then President George HW Bush denounced the actions in Tiananmen Square and suspended military sales as well as high-level exchanges with Chinese officials, according to the State Department.