On the eve of the 37th anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen Square Incident, members of the “Tiananmen Mothers” group in Beijing received a notice from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau that they are not allowed to go to Wan’an Cemetery in Beijing to mourn their relatives on June 4 this year, nor are they allowed to hold the customary memorial ceremony. This is the first time in over thirty years that they have been prohibited from visiting the cemetery to mourn their loved ones on June 4. The families of the deceased issued a protest letter on June 1, demanding the withdrawal of the related restrictions.
According to a protest letter disclosed by Radio Free Asia, some family members of “June 4th” victims in Beijing received notifications from a subordinate organization of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, stating that on June 4, 2026, the family members of the victims are not allowed to conduct personal or collective mourning at Wan’an Cemetery, read eulogies, or release memorial photos.
The protest letter stated that the unreasonable demands of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau are in violation of the country’s constitution, laws, and basic humanity. The families of the victims strongly protest against this and urge the relevant authorities to rescind these unreasonable demands.
Zhang Xianling, a member of the Tiananmen Mothers, told Radio Free Asia on June 2 that the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has prohibited them from going to Wan’an Cemetery to mourn the victims of June 4th and from holding the customary memorial ceremony. This has never happened before.
Zhang Xianling is the mother of Wang Nan, a victim of the June 4th incident. Over the years, the Tiananmen Mothers group has continuously called for the truth of June 4th to be made public, for accountability to be pursued, and for compensation to be given to the families of the deceased. Every year on the eve of June 4th, members of the Tiananmen Mothers group are subjected to varying degrees of surveillance.
Since April 28, this year, the “Tiananmen Mothers” group has been monitored by public security and community personnel.
In late May, the “Tiananmen Mothers” jointly released the “37th Anniversary Memorial of the 1989 June 4th Tragedy” online. The memorial text states that as victims of the June 4th tragedy, they appeal to the Communist authorities to resolve all the lingering traumas and issues left behind from that year in a peaceful and rational manner through legal means, granting justice to every victim’s family.
The memorial text indicates that this human tragedy still cannot see a possible resolution 37 years later. The authorities have continued to evade, not resolve, and comprehensively suppress speech. Despite highly developed information technology, true information about June 4th remains inaccessible within China.
The memorial text reiterates the three demands of the “Tiananmen Mothers,” including: 1. Public disclosure of the truth of June 4th; 2. Reasonable compensation for the victims and their families; 3. Holding the perpetrators accountable under the law.
(Prior report: “37th Anniversary Eve of June 4th Tiananmen Mothers Issue Memorial Text”)