Taiwan demands China take responsibility for the Tiananmen Square massacre

Taiwan has raised its voice on the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, demanding that the Chinese regime assume its historical responsibility for one of the darkest episodes of the 20th century. Through the Mainland Affairs Council , the body in charge of relations with mainland China, the Taiwanese government urged the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to acknowledge the abuses committed during the 1989 crackdown, respect fundamental rights , and initiate democratic reforms to return power to the people.

This statement comes as Beijing intensifies its systematic erasure of the collective memory of Tiananmen Square through censorship, information control, and national security policies that restrict access to critical information in both mainland China and Hong Kong . Taiwan's position resonates not only as a symbolic gesture, but as an active defense of freedom of expression and democratic values ​​in an increasingly authoritarian environment.

On June 4, 1989, the Chinese regime ordered the use of military force to suppress peaceful demonstrations led by students and citizens calling for political and economic reforms . People's Liberation Army tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, leaving an unknown number of casualties. Although the exact number has never been officially recognized , organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China have identified at least 522 detainees , while the Tiananmen Mothers collective has documented over 200 confirmed deaths .

Despite official censorship, the massacre was recorded by foreign journalists in Beijing covering the visit of then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev . Images of the iconic "Tank Man" traveled around the world, turning Tiananmen Square into a global symbol of civil resistance.

Beijing , however, maintains the narrative that it was a "necessary security operation" to prevent an uprising and has refused to initiate any kind of truth, justice, or reparation process . This refusal has drawn harsh international criticism and has become a recurring point of conflict between China and democratic governments.

In recent decades, the Chinese regime's control over the Tiananmen Square historical narrative has intensified, especially following the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong . What was once a city of memorial spaces and mass public commemorations has transformed into an environment of self-censorship and legal repression .

Recent investigations reveal that independent bookstores have removed Tiananmen-related titles from their shelves, while public libraries have removed works that address the topic. A report by the South China Morning Post confirms that, although there were more than 1,000 books on the subject in Hong Kong libraries in 2009, none of them are currently available to the public .

In the academic field, universities still maintain some titles in their digital catalogs, but access is restricted exclusively to students and faculty , severely limiting the circulation of knowledge about a historical event of global impact.

As a consolidated democracy in Asia , Taiwan has emerged as a bastion of human rights defense against the Asian giant's authoritarian practices. By calling on China to assume responsibility for the Tiananmen crackdown, Taipei is not only taking a political stand but also seeking to defend a regional model based on respect for fundamental freedoms.

For the Taiwanese government, commemorating June 4th is not just a commemorative act, but a call to prevent similar events from happening again. In its statement, the Mainland Affairs Council emphasized that "history cannot be buried" and that a truly modern China must reconcile itself with its past , rather than silence it.

This position has been supported by international organizations and legislators from Western democracies, who emphasize that the repression of memory is not just an internal matter for China, but a global challenge to the universal principles of justice, truth, and human dignity .

Thirty-six years after the massacre, the silence imposed by Beijing contrasts with the insistence of victims, human rights defenders, and democratic governments to keep the memory of Tiananmen alive . History has shown that forgetting does not prevent abuses, but rather repeats them . Therefore, Taiwan's calls, although symbolic, represent a moral resistance to a regime that seeks to rewrite history to consolidate its power.

In an era where information becomes a weapon and historical truth is constantly questioned, remembering Tiananmen is not only an act of justice for the victims, but a warning about the risks of authoritarianism. And as long as China clings to forgetting, others, like Taiwan, will continue to demand remembrance.

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