TRUMP vs. world: White House says China’s Tiananmen Square ‘slaughter’ not forgotten
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured November 2018), who had earlier denounced China for preventing Hong Kong’s annual commemoration, tweeted a photo of his meeting with Tiananmen Square survivors
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The White House said Thursday that China’s “slaughter” of protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989 has not been forgotten, urging Beijing to give its first accurate accounting of the bloodshed.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s slaughter of unarmed Chinese civilians was a tragedy that will not be forgotten,” President Donald Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.
“The United States calls on China to honor the memory of those who lost their lives and to provide a full accounting of those who were killed, detained, or remain missing in connection with the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989.”
Beijing’s city government claimed weeks after the crackdown that around 200 people had died, the vast majority soldiers, with only 36 university students killed.
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Remembering the Tiananmen Square Crackdown, and the “Tank Man”
A man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Cangan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. (AP Photo/Jeff Widener) (AP Photo/Jeff Widener)
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China’s central government has never released a full official toll, but estimates from academics, witnesses and human rights groups have put the figure between several hundred to over 1,000.
Open discussion of the brutal suppression is forbidden in mainland China. In Hong Kong, where Beijing is tightening its central rule, a mass vigil to mark the anniversary was banned, though tens of thousands of people defied the decision.
Every year, the United States issues a similar statement demanding China be held accountable. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with survivors, including Wang Dan, perhaps the most prominent of the student leaders from the doomed pro-democracy protest.
Pompeo, who had earlier denounced China for preventing Hong Kong’s annual commemoration on the grounds that mass gatherings went against guidelines in fighting the coronavirus, tweeted a photo of the meeting.
However, this year, Washington’s message has been overshadowed by what critics describe as Trump’s heavy-handed response to nationwide protests — some marred by rioting and arson — against police brutality.
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China on Friday accused the United States of hypocrisy.
“The US has always bragged about so-called democracy and human rights, but the facts repeatedly show that the US record in this area is full of stains,” foreing ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing.
Geng said Washington should “put its own house in order” and defended China’s political system.
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Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader has also accused the United States of double standards in criticizing the city’s own clampdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Relations between China and the United States are already at a low ebb in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak that began in Wuhan. Trump blames Beijing for allowing the virus to spread rapidly across the world and has broken off relations with the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward the Chinese government.
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MORE NEWS:
Irony of ironies: Cops arrest 7 Cebu students while protesting anti-terror bill
At least seven students of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu were arrested today inside campus grounds by members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and Cebu police during a peaceful protest against the anti-terrorism bill.
Tug-Ani, UP-Cebu’s student publication posted a video of protesters fleeing the scene sometime past noon after cops clad in body shields and riot gear attempted to chase the protesters, supposedly searching them for quarantine passes.
Tug-ani@upcebutuganiPolice in full riot gear disperse and chase protesters after searching them for quarantine passes. #JunkTerrorBill
Tug-ani@upcebutuganiProtesters scurry to shelter in UP Cebu. The Soto-Enrile accord bars police officers from automatically entering UP campuses. #JunkTerrorBill #ResistAsOne
They also posted a photo of two trucks that pulled up near the campus vicinity, one bearing the SWAT emblem, and another carrying several police officers.
Tug-ani@upcebutuganiA SWAT tactical team and two trucks of police officers arrive. #JunkTerrorBill
Tug-ani@upcebutuganiAccording to a source at the site, the armed forces are asking the protest attendees for permit and quarantine passes. #JunkTerrorBill
One video posted by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Cebu shows activist Dyan Gumanao of the Kabataan party list screaming and visibly resisting arrest while she’s being hauled into a truck.
CEGP Cebu@CEGPCebuReports say heavily-armed SWAT men are outside the campus. #JunkTerrorBill #ReleaseCebu7
CEGP Cebu@CEGPCebuLOOK: Dyan Gumanao of Kabataan Partylist (and former ANINAW Productions correspondent) being taken by police forces. #JunkTerrorBill #ReleaseCebu7
Lt. Col. Melbert Esguerra, deputy director for administration of the Cebu City Police told reporters that the students had violated the ban on mass gatherings under the city’s general community quarantine.
Esguerra said they gave the protesters “10 minutes to disperse, but they did not heed our call. Hence, we decided to arrest them.”
The protesters were reportedly forced to board police patrol cars and were brought to the city’s police office headquarters for detainment, though none have been charged as of posting.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines has condemned the “vicious” arrests, and apart from Gumanao, identified the detained activists as Jaime Paglinawan of BAYAN CenVis, Johanna Veloso of the National Union of Students in the Philippines, Nar Porlas of Anakbayan UP Cebu, UP alum Al Ingking, Bern Cañedo of YANAT Cebu, and Janry Ubal from Food Not Bombs Cebu.
CEGP also pointed out that police and armed forces are barred from entering campus premises under the Soto-Enrile agreement.
“Policemen, and non-uniformed personnel, also entered the UP Cebu premises and aided in further harassment of the peaceful rallyists. However, they did so in violation of the 1997 DND [Department of National Defense] agreement (also known as the Soto-Enrile Accords) which prohibits the armed forces and the police from entering any UP campus, especially if for the purpose of arresting dissidents and critics of the government,” the guild said in a statement.
“[S]cores of police in full uniform carrying dispersal equipment and high-powered arms suddenly materialized on the scene and started harassing the protesters, who have only been wielding placards and exercising their protests peacefully,” the CEGP alleged.
“We are fully enraged by the violation of the police of our rights to speak out against such an abomination of a bill that will only enable the fascist state to carry out their agenda without further resistance.”
The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7), meanwhile told Cebu Daily News that they will investigate the allegations of police abuse.
“We have sent a team to investigate the incident. We still cannot confirm anything as of now because we need more details, but we have prepared lawyers to assist should the arrested individuals request them,” CHR-7 Director Arvin Odron said.
Online, outrage over the arrests have quickly prompted the use of the tag #junkterrorbillnow, along with #ReleaseCebu7.
With people like @slyngsue pointing out that this is no time to be complacent.
“There, they’re doing it out in the open, and you’re still neutral? Apolitical?…Sorry sis, but in these trying times, that’s not valid. Open you’re goddamn eyes!”
hannasue@slyngsueAyan na, lantaran na oh, and you’re still neutral??? Apolitical??? Apathetical??? sorry sis, but in this crying times, di na valid, open ur gaddamn eyes! #JUNKTERROBILLNOW #ReleaseCebu7
@iamraoulManuel questioned which of the two groups committed alleged violations of physical distancing, based on these photos.
Raoul Manuel@iamRaoulManuelSPOT THE DIFFERENCE. Sino ang nag-violate ng physical distancing???#ReleaseCebu7
Under section 25 of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, also known as the controversial anti-terror bill, the government will have an Anti-Terror Council composed of top cabinet officials, which can designate any individual, group of persons, or organization as terrorists if they find “probable cause.”
This article, Irony of ironies: Cops arrest 7 Cebu students while protesting anti-terror bill, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia’s leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
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6.6.2020
