‘The threat to national security is real,’ John Lee said on June 4

Checkpoints and rows of police vehicles lined a major road leading to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square yesterday as China heightened security on the 35th anniversary of a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Life went on mostly as normal in the Chinese capital yesterday, with tourists lining the streets leading to gates to enter Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace across from the north side of the square.

“As to the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s, the Chinese government has long had a clear conclusion,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said without elaborating. Asked about Western government statements on the anniversary, she added, “We are firmly opposed to anyone using this as a pretext to attack and smear China and interfere in China’s internal affairs.”

Tiananmen Mothers, a group formed by families of the victims, made an online appeal to the Chinese government to publish the names and numbers of those who died, grant compensation to the victims and their relatives and pursue the legal responsibility of those responsible.

Tiananmen memorials have also been scrubbed out in Hong Kong. A carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups was held yesterday in Victoria Park.

Officers were out in force, one day after they briefly detained a performance artist in the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district close to the park.

“It’s different from the past,” said Hong Kong resident Keith Law. “Many people seem to act as if there’s nothing happening, including myself.”

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee did not answer directly when asked yesterday whether residents could still publicly mourn the crackdown. He urged residents not to let down their guard against any attempts to cause trouble.

“The threat to national security is real,” Lee said at a weekly briefing. “Such activities can happen all of a sudden and different people may use different excuses to hide their intention.”

The crackdown on protesters at the Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 became a turning point in modern Chinese history, ending a crisis in favor of Communist Party hardliners who advocated for stability instead of political reforms.

The economy boomed in the ensuing decades, turning a once impoverished country into the world’s second largest economy.

China’s historians view the protests of 1989 as a movement that aimed to subvert the Chinese regime, aligning with the ruling Communist Party narrative. MDT/AP