Commemorations were held in Taiwan and elsewhere on Friday ahead of the 27th anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, while the Government in China, where the incident remains a taboo topic, said it had long ago turned the page on the “political turmoil.”
Former student leader Wu’er Kaixi was joined by lawmakers at Taiwan’s legislature on Friday to mark the June 4, 1989, military assault that left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead. Taiwan’s democratic politics and open society have long served as a counterpoint to China’s authoritarian one-party system, which permits no discussion of the crackdown or memorials for the victims.
Wu’er said the Chinese government continues to prevent him from returning to China and bars his elderly parents from traveling to meet him and their grandson outside the country.