Tibetan activist leaders expressed support and solidarity with Chinese people in China and around the world.
On Sunday 4th June, protests and rallies were held across the United Kingdom to mark the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On this day in 1989, the peaceful demonstrators, mainly students, young men and women, were brutally crushed down by the CCP authorities when at least a thousand were massacred, many more thousands injured in Beijing. The hardliner rulers of the CCP regime ordered at least 300,000 armed troops to engage in a bloody crackdown on their own people, who were simply calling for more freedom and democracy for the Chinese people in China.
China’s authorities continue to conceal information on the events of this period and ruthlessly crush any modern protests associated with the pro-democracy movement in China as well as in other regions, including in Hong Kong. Up until 2020, Hong Kong was the only part of China where the anniversary related to the Tiananmen Massacre event could be commemorated. However, after Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law, the citizens in Hong Kong today can no longer publicly commemorate the anniversary.
Several hundred thousands of Hong Kong citizens, especially the young people, had already fled and continue to leave their homelands into exile for safety, fearing brutal crackdown by the CCP’s authorities for their pro-democracy activities in recent years. Countries such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia have become their new homes from where their fightback for pro-democracy and freedom in Hong Kong is pursued. In the UK, protests and rallies were held across many cities, including in Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham to commemorate the day.
In London, the China Deviants, which comprised young Chinese from mainland China as well as from Hong Kong, organised a protest and rally in Trafalgar Square once again, where hundreds of people attended from 5pm to 7pm. Many of the organisers wore face masks to conceal their identity for fear of reprisals from the CCP authorities back home in China and Hong Kong against their families, for organising the anniversary event, banned by the Chinese authorities.
Speakers from various groups, including Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities, World Uyghur Congress, Voice of Southern Mongolia, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) as well as young students and activists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Manchuria, condemned the CCP’s regime for its atrocities and crimes committed against humanity. They called for joint actions to defeat the CCP regime.
Whilst expressing his support and solidarity, Tsering Passang, Founder and Chair of the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities, said: “As we observe the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre or the June Fourth Massacre, we remember all those brave young men and women, students as well as other individuals, for the ultimate sacrifices they had made for all people in China – who called for democracy and freedom of speech.
“People of China’s occupied nations such as Tibet, East Turkistan and Southern Mongolia, also must continue our campaign for freedom by fostering stronger relations with our friends from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and challenge the CCP regime altogether. By coming together also means we become a stronger voice for our respective causes and one day we can defeat the brutal regime.”
The Tibetan activist also said, “Today, nearly a million Tibetan children from the age of 4 to 18 are being forcefully admitted in colonial-style residential schools by the CCP authorities with the core objective to sinicise the Tibetans – in other words – a last resort towards the annihilation of Tibetan identity, language and culture.”
“Since Xi Jinping came to power, we have seen an increased crackdown on ordinary people across China, Tibet and East Turkistan. I do not need to mention the curtailment of freedoms of the Hong Kong people, especially after the CCP regime imposed the National Security Law”, the Tibetan activist added.
Passang also said that Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama fully supported the young Chinese students’ pro-democracy movement back in 1989, who issued “strongest condemnation of the Chinese government and their policy of brutalizing their own people” whilst offering “his unconditional support for the youngsters on the Square”.
The March
At 7pm, the protesters marched towards the Chinese Embassy via Piccadilly Circus, Regents Street and Oxford Circus, passing the landmark BBC building. On the march, the protesters chanted loud slogans such as “Down Down Xi Jinping” “Free China” “Democracy in China” “Free Tibet” “Free Hong Kong” “Free East Turkistan” and “Free Taiwan” whilst carrying banners and big posters.
Rally outside London-Chinese Embassy
The rally outside the Chinese Embassy was held from 8pm to 10pm. This part of the protest and candle-lit vigil was organised by Amnesty International UK and June Fourth Sparks, which was attended by over 500 people. The protest was also aimed to highlight current intimidation of Chinese/Hong Kong people in the UK.
Speakers included Chinese, Hong Kong, Uyghur and Tibetan activists. Tenzin Kunga, Chairman of Tibetan Community UK, spoke at the rally, sharing Tibetan people’s solidarity and support with the Chinese people around the world in their fight for freedom and democracy in China.
Voices from Victims’ Mothers of the Tiananmen Massacre were heard through story-telling and poetry readings during the rally in Chinese and English. This was followed by a candle-lit vigil.
In the joint press release, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, Sacha Deshmukh said:
“The anniversary of the brutal Tiananmen crackdown is a stark reminder of the lengths to which the Chinese authorities will go to silence dissent.
“Protest continues to be ruthlessly crushed in both mainland China and in Hong Kong, with the long arm of Chinese state repression extending far beyond its borders to communities living in the UK.
“The UK government must defend Hong Kong and mainland Chinese people living here from Beijing’s efforts to intimidate and silence them – it’s vital their rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression are protected.”
Dr Shao Jiang, June Fourth Sparks’ co-founder, said:
“The 1989 movement was a movement for human rights, freedom, democracy and equality for all. Its goal was for every person to enjoy equal political, economic, social and cultural rights.
“Over the past four years, the Chinese authorities’ refusal to release the truth about the Covid-19 pandemic and its suppression of doctors, journalists and activists’ efforts to investigate it and call for scientific methods to prevent the outbreak and protect people, has resulted in the loss of many lives, including some of the mothers of those who took part in the 1989 protests and became activists themselves.
“The spirit of resistance in Tiananmen and in other places has never died. The dignity and courage of the ‘tank man’ are embodied in the movement to defend people’s rights and a new citizen movement, labour movement and movement against the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the feminist movement whose spirit keeps inspiring us in our struggles ahead.”
Useful links
http://www.Facebook.com/GATPM2020
https://64sparks.blogspot.com/
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) 
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