Tiananmen: China Accuses U.S. of Distorting Historical Facts, Says "That Matter Is Buried"

China has accused the United States of distorting historical facts and maligning its political system.

The charge came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that censorship could not “erase” the memory of the Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing in 1989.

On June 4 of that year, the Chinese government deployed troops and tanks to suppress protests demanding political reform around Tiananmen Square.

Reports indicate that the exact death toll from the incident remains uncertain, and discussion of the events is censored within mainland China.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Rubio asserted that “no amount of censorship can erase the past.”

He added, “Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.”

In response, China’s foreign ministry issued a strong statement of opposition to Rubio’s remarks on Thursday.

Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the ministry, said at a regular news briefing, “The Chinese government has long since reached a clear conclusion regarding the political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s.”

She continued, “The erroneous remarks made by the US side distort historical facts, tarnish China’s political system and development path, and interfere in China’s internal affairs.”

Earlier this year, reports emerged that authorities had prevented families of those who died in 1989 from visiting their graves at Wan’an Cemetery in Beijing, a move that Amnesty International described as “a heartless act.”

In recent years, Beijing has also taken steps to eliminate all public commemorations in Hong Kong, where an annual candlelight vigil had been observed for decades prior to the enactment of a national security law in 2020.