Rebels across China have been warned or placed under surveillance to remain silent ahead of the 36th anniversary of the CCP’s Tiananmen Square Massacre.
As the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre approaches, communist Chinese authorities are once again tightening their opposition.
In the massacre that occurred on June 4, 1989, the Chinese military violently suppressed a student-led democratic movement, resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands. Today, authorities remain deeply sensitive to the memories of the tragic public.
Wang, a Beijing resident and a prominent opposition friend, told the Epoch Times that the capital’s major individuals are already under close scrutiny by the provincial security police.
On May 30, senior journalist and opposition Gao Yu was taken away on so-called “travel” by national security, according to Wang, whose full name has not been disclosed due to fear of retaliation.
Several other people, including Mo Shaoping, a prominent human rights lawyer known for defending dissidents and defending legal reform, are well-known civil rights lawyers, who have been recognized for free speech work and recognized as representing activists in sensitive cases, and famous commentators, including his important commentator Lao Gui, who is told by the compritics and Essayist, who pays homage to Chinese politics.
“These restrictions are expected to remain in effect until June 4th,” Wang said.
“Travel” for opposition
As explained by Chinese dissidents, the term “forced travel” refers to a common tactic used by authorities during politically sensitive times, such as the Annual Second Session and the Tiananmen Square Massacre Day. Pretending to be tourism, police quarantine them and remove activists from their homes to prevent contact with the media or participation in commemoration activities.
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The King pointed out that not all dissidents have been moved this time, probably due to budget constraints. Instead, many are monitored by local police or security guards. He has appointed another individual who is currently trapped in his home: Hu Jia, a well-known democratic activist.
A candid critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Hu is internationally recognized for his advocacy of democracy, environmental protection and HIV/AIDS awareness. In 2008 he received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for freedom of thinking.
At the Sakharov Prize Giving Ceremony held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on December 17, 2008, European Parliament President Hans Gelt Potterling gave a speech at the Skarov Prize-winning ceremony. Dominique Faged/AFP via Getty Images
“For these individuals, even trips to supermarkets require police escorts. Officers are chasing them everywhere. Decades have passed since June 4, 1989, but the authorities are still mercilessly targeting dissent,” Wang said.
The king added that repeated detention is a blow to the health of older rebels.
“Gao Yu is an elderly person and has a poor health. It’s painful to rely on this over and over again,” he said.
Gao, 81, is a former assistant editor at Economics Weekly and is well-known for his candid reports on political and economic issues. She has been jailed multiple times for work. Most notably, a prominent case in 2015, when he was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly leaking CCP documents to foreign media.
Veteran Chinese journalist and opposition Gaoyu will take a photo at his home in Beijing on March 31, 2016. She was recently forced to leave Beijing ahead of a major diplomatic forum in the capital. Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
Her courage and commitment to freedom of the press have won her extensive international recognition.
In Gizhou Province, southwestern China’s Chinese state, Christian, identified as Fan, who refused to give his name because of fear of retaliation, told the Epoch era that several members of the Guizhou Human Rights Seminar Group were placed under house arrest, along with police officers stationed at the doors of at least four members. Authorities also visited the home to issue direct warnings against talking to foreign media, he said.
“The nation is very financially tense, but still, they don’t spare the costs by using taxpayer money to curb opposition,” he said.
Hu’s gang, a friend of Gitsow-based opposition Jufen, told the Epoch Times on May 30 that he received a call from security in Gyatso province who was instructed to instruct Yangzhao, a town on the western border with Beijing, to instruct him to prepare for a “travel.”
This meant that the police would take him away, keep his place private and closely monitor him on the following days.
Ji was a student leader at Guizhou University during the 1989 democratic protest and has since been an outspoken critic of the CCP.
In Hefei, in the Eastern China Anhui province of Anhui, which refused to give his name for security reasons, Zhang said that former prosecutor Shen Liangqing, who was jailed multiple times in the 1989 protest, had recently been warned by police who could not speak to foreign journalists.
“They told him to ‘see his words.’
Online censorship
Online censorship has also been strengthened. Netizens report that their accounts have been suspended on June 4, 1989, to share commemorative images featuring bright candles as symbols of mourning for the victims. This shows a zero tolerance policy for any reference to Tiananmen Square Massacre.
San Li, a Beijing-based political analyst, said the Tiananmen Square massacre was a deep scar on modern China’s political history.
The Tiananmen Square massacre was the CCP’s response to a student-led peaceful protest known as the 1989 democratic movement. The protests lasted nearly two months in Beijing and other cities in China.
On the evening of June 3 and early on June 4, 1989, Chinese troops in Beijing opened fire on unarmed students and civilians. The Chinese administration has never announced official deaths, but declassifying US documents in 2014 has resulted in the estimated 10,454 people being killed and 40,000 injured.
Shen Yue contributed to this report.
