Taipei [Taiwan], June 5 : Around 3,000 people gathered in Taipei on Tuesday evening to mark the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre with a candlelight vigil organised by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups. The event, held outside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, carried the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism."
Participants, many of whom are Hong Kongers now living in Taiwan, stood silently in the rain, holding electronic candles. At around 8:30pm, they observed 64 seconds of silence to honour those killed during the brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on June 4, 1989, in Beijing.
Wu Renhua, a Chinese academic and survivor of the massacre, spoke at the event. Recalling the night of the crackdown, Wu said he witnessed five students crushed to death outside a building at the China University of Political Science and Law. "I knelt in front of the bodies and wept. In my heart, I kept telling myself: Never forget," he said.
Wu, who has attended Taipei's June 4 vigils since 2018, emphasised that "human rights have no borders," and praised Taiwan for continuing to spotlight the massacre as part of its commitment to democracy.
Lin Chan-wei, a 24-year-old Taiwanese student attending the vigil for the first time, said footage from Tiananmen always leaves him feeling devastated. "The CCP used guns and tanks to crush its people," he said, adding that Taiwan's continued commemorations show solidarity with China's suppressed civil society.
Hong Konger Ivan Choi, 26, who volunteered at the event, described how he once attended annual June 4 vigils in Victoria Park, Hong Kong, before moving to Taiwan in 2019.
Another vigil was held at 228 Peace Memorial Park, attended by around 100 people, mostly Hong Kong expatriates.
Organisers reported that approximately 3,000 people attended the events overall, which featured speeches from activists and rights advocates from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and other countries.
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