BEIJING — Authorities in Beijing blanketed the city center with heavy security Wednesday on the 25th anniversary of the bloody military suppression of pro-democracy protests centered on Tiananmen Square.
Police and paramilitary officers patrolled the vast plaza and surrounding streets, stopping vehicles seeking to enter the area and demanding identification from passers-by. Reporters were told to leave the area after the usual dawn flag-raising ceremony.
Dozens of activists, dissidents and other critics already have been detained by police, held under house arrest or sent out of the city.
“June 4 has come again and the plainclothes officers are here to protect us. I can’t leave the house to travel or lecture,” Jiangsu province-based environmental activist Wu Lihong said in a text message.
China allows no public discussion of the events of June 3-4, 1989, when soldiers backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers fought their way into the heart of the city, killing hundreds of unarmed protesters and onlookers. The government has never issued a complete, formal accounting of the crackdown and the number of casualties.
However, authorities were allowing relatives of some of those killed in the crackdown to visit their graves under police escort, according to Zhang Xianling, a member of a group that campaigns for the crackdown’s victims.
“Even though 25 years is a very long time, as a relative, as a mother, it feels like this happened just yesterday,” said Zhang, whose son Wang Nan death was 19 years-old when he was killed in the suppression.
Despite China’s discouragement, the crackdown is recalled with rallies and commemorations in Chinese communities worldwide, especially in Hong Kong.
Thousands marched through the city on Sunday, and organizers expect about 150,000 people to join a candlelight vigil in a city park Wednesday.
A look back. See the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest photos taken by British photographer Robert Croma.
