This month marks the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. “We remember the tens of thousands of peaceful Chinese pro-democracy protestors who were brutally assaulted for standing up for freedom, human rights, and an end to corruption,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement. “Thirty-five years later, the true toll from that day is still unknown, but we honor all those killed and imprisoned on June 4, 1989, and the days that followed.”
“We also honor the many voices now silenced throughout the country, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong,” said Secretary Blinken. According to the most recent State Department human rights report, “Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during [2023] in China against predominantly Muslim Uighurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.” Indeed, since 2017, more than one million Uighurs and members of other predominantly Muslim minority groups have been held in extrajudicial internment camps, prisons, and an additional unknown number subjected to daytime-only “re-education” training.
In Hong Kong, the National Security Law passed in 2020 is being used by the government there to arrest, try, and sentence pro-democracy activists. And press freedoms have been severely curtailed.
Many political prisoners in China remain either in prison or held under other forms of detention, according to the human rights report, including among others writer Guo Feixiong; Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti; and Tibetan Buddhist monk Go Sherab Gyatso.
“We will continue to speak out and work with the international community to promote accountability for [the People’ Republic of China’s] human rights abuses both within and outside its borders,” said Secretary Blinken. “We echo the call of the brave Tiananmen demonstrators for the PRC to recognize and respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which it is a signatory.”
The United States also calls on the PRC to accept the recommendations made this year during the Universal Periodic Review of its human rights record, including unconditionally releasing those it has arbitrarily and unjustly detained.
As Beijing attempts to suppress the memory of June 4, the United States stands in solidarity with those who continue the struggle for human rights and individual freedom. The courage and sacrifice of the people who stood up in Tiananmen Square thirty-five years ago will not be forgotten.
