Reportage
Taiwan commemorates Tiananmen crackdown with a thought for Hong Kong
A Taiwanese holding a candle for the Tiananmen crackdown commemorations in Taipei on June 4, 2022. © ANN WANG/REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Today is the 33rd commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre, a repression that cost the lives of several hundred, or even several thousand, according to estimates, of demonstrators in Beijing in 1989. In China, this memory is obviously censored, but also in Hong Kong since the takeover of the city by the Chinese authorities.
This is not the case in Taiwan, a democratic archipelago of 23 million inhabitants located off the coast of China.
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With our correspondent in Taipei,
Adrien Simorre
Hundreds of candles in Taipei's Freedom Square.
Like every year, Taiwan watched in tribute to the victims of Tiananmen.
This ceremony is special for Mr. Fu, a 75-year-old Hong Konger.
“
This year, it is forbidden to organize this commemoration in Hong Kong,
he recalls.
But in Taiwan, there is democracy, freedom of expression.
It was essential that I be here.
»
Flags of support for Hong Kong, but also for Tibet or Xinjiang.
The event is also a platform for all the voices suppressed by Beijing.
Black cap on the head, this Chinese student wishes to remain anonymous: “
It was only after arriving in Taiwan that
I really understood what had happened in Tiananmen
.
I understood that these students were like me, young Chinese people who simply wanted to have the right to freedom of expression.
It had a big impact on my life.
»
A copy of the Statue of Shame erected in Taipei
The Taiwanese, on the other hand, came in fewer numbers.
These commemorations remain distant for the democratic archipelago which has never been controlled by communist China.
Zeng Jian-Yuan, organizer of the event: “
Some Taiwanese think that this event does not concern them, but every day China sends military planes to threaten Taiwan.
If the Chinese regime was able to treat its population in Tiananmen Square in this way, then it could do the same with Taiwan, of course this memory concerns us
!
»
Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident.
As authoritarian forces seek to erase the reality of June 4th, we renew our commitment to free speech, democracy & preserving the memory of those who gave their lives in pursuit of these values.
pic.twitter.com/CPE3aByOC1
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) June 4, 2022
Highlight of the ceremony, a copy of the Statue of Shame was erected in the center of the square.
The sculpture in tribute to the students of Tiananmen had been destroyed last year in Hong Kong.
►Also listen: International guest - Nathan Law: "We must continue to resist the Chinese totalitarian regime"
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