This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, also known as the June 4th Incident.
In the past 35 years, every June 4th, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has been on high alert, treating the day with extreme caution as if facing a major enemy. The paranoia and heightened security measures have reached unprecedented levels this year.
Reports online indicate that the subway stations around Tiananmen Square have been completely shut down, the gate of Tiananmen City Tower was suddenly closed on the day of June 4th, roads around the square are not allowing any lingering, and the square itself appears empty of tourists, only plainclothes security personnel can be seen. Any Beijing residents or visitors from other places who wish to enter Tiananmen Square not only have to make reservations online with real names, but also need to present identification when entering the square. People holding foreign passports and journalist visas have been informed that they need special permission to enter the surrounding areas of Tiananmen Square.
On June 1st, Beijing’s subway system issued a notice stating that from the start of service on June 2nd until the last train on June 5th, the D exit of Tiananmen East Station on Line 1 Batong Line would be temporarily closed.
Even gaming activities have been restricted during the sensitive period of June 4th. “World of Tanks” announced that during the June 4th period, maintenance would be conducted on the in-game chat system, disabling chat and renaming functions. There were rumors circulating online about an upgrade and maintenance of the overseas live broadcasting system on TikTok during June 4th. Additionally, the Chinese server of “World of Warcraft” announced the cancellation of the event “Warcraft Person Search” scheduled for June 4th.
To add a touch of humor, during the June 4th period, domestic social networking apps such as WeChat, QQ, Weibo, TikTok, and Kuaishou have even banned users from changing their profile pictures.
According to users’ disclosures, after updates to social apps like Sogou input method, WeChat, Weibo, and QQ, the “candle” emoji was also blocked.
On Weibo, there is a topic trending titled “The heartbreaking view of this blood-soaked police uniform,” mourning a police officer. However, due to June 4th, all candle emojis in reposts of condolences are not being displayed.
Hong Kong used to be the only place in China where public memorials could be held openly on the anniversary of June 4th, to commemorate the hundreds, even thousands of young students and brave citizens who were killed or run over by tanks in the fight for freedom and democracy in China. But this year’s June 4th is different. It was reported that Hong Kong police deployed a large number of officers in the Causeway Bay area, with officers and plainclothes police on guard and patrol, stopping and searching citizens from time to time, with several individuals taken away in police cars.
Due to the content related to June 4th, the entire content of the Times Forum published in Hong Kong was reviewed and censored. It is reported that one piece was a Christian prayer article about the 35th anniversary of June 4th, and another was a report on a figure from the 1989 protesters who later became a pastor. These are the last remaining contents related to “June 4th” in Hong Kong, and the authorities are eager to eliminate them altogether.
Looking back on the history of nearly 35 years, especially in the past decade since Xi Jinping took office, it is not difficult to see that the CCP’s fear of the public commemorating June 4th has grown deeper, and their measures to prevent such commemorations have become more severe and increasingly paranoid.
Some people who are not well-versed in the CCP’s ways find it hard to understand: Why is this happening? Ideally, the massacre of June 4th was carried out by Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Li Peng, and has little to do with the current Party leader. After Xi Jinping took office, he could have overturned the decision on June 4th, gained public trust, and pushed China towards democratic constitutional governance. However, he not only failed to do so, but also blamed himself for the actions of Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Li Peng, intensifying the crackdown on and prohibition of public commemorations of June 4th.
Is Xi Jinping doing this out of ignorance or foolishness? Certainly not. The real reason is that he has tightly linked himself with the CCP, determined to protect the Party and return to the era of Mao Zedong. However, the result has been the opposite. Under Xi Jinping’s rule, the CCP’s authoritarian regime has not only failed to solidify, but has become increasingly weak, facing severe crises. As the crisis deepens day by day, the CCP becomes more fearful of resistance from the public, afraid that any misstep could trigger a domino effect leading to its collapse.
What is June 4th? It was the largest grassroots protest movement since the Cultural Revolution. Can the CCP not be afraid when the public commemorates it? Moreover, the more severe the crisis the CCP faces, the more it fears public commemorations of June 4th, explaining the increasingly paranoid measures taken by the CCP. Conversely, as the CCP’s fear of public commemorations of June 4th intensifies, it reflects how deeply mired it is in crisis.
The irony is that the CCP’s intensified repression has not made the Chinese people forget June 4th, but has only reinforced the memory of the massacre and heightened their awareness of the CCP’s evil intentions.