China Brazenly Boasts of ‘Aborted’ Revolution to Mark 32 Years Since Tiananmen Square Massacre – By Paul D. Shinkman (US News) / June 4 2021
Beijing now openly acknowledges the massacre at Tiananmen Square – a troubling sign of its increased confidence and control.
China on Friday issued a rare acknowledgement of the landmark massacre at Tiananmen Square 32 years ago, saying it successfully “aborted” an attempted revolution akin to uprisings in Eastern Europe and that it has been vindicated by its subsequent economic progress.
“More than three decades have passed by. Facts speak louder than words,” read an op-ed in the state-run English-language Global Times, considered a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.
The brazen statements represent an escalation in how Beijing acknowledges its history of violent crackdowns against civil dissent. And they provide an indication that fears the country’s communist leaders previously held about their ability to silence dissent are now waning.
For decades, China refused to acknowledge and actively censored any mention of the student-led uprising that took place in the central square in the middle of Beijing. That policy endures domestically and has been seen this week through aggressive crackdowns against vigils marking the Tiananmen protests in Hong Kong, over which China increasingly exerts autocratic control. Chinese-language media continues to censor any mention of the massacre.
