By Michael Martina
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) – Beijing’s censorship cannot erase memories of its 1989 military assault on peaceful demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, ahead of the anniversary of China’s violent suppression there.
Rubio’s statement largely mirrored his past remarks on the crackdown but is likely to be reassuring to Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy supporters at a time when President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted his relationship with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, whom he met in Beijing last month.
According to human rights groups, Chinese troops opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square and killed hundreds if not thousands of people.
“On June 4, the world marks 37 years since the Chinese Communist Party ordered its troops to attack thousands of peaceful demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square,” Rubio said in a statement.
“No amount of censorship can erase the past. Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday,” Rubio said, in keeping with practice in which the United States’ top diplomat marks the date, often to Beijing’s dissatisfaction.
China’s embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Rubio’s remarks.
In China, any mention of the Tiananmen Square crackdown is taboo and the subject is heavily censored.
China at the time blamed the unrest on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the Communist Party and has never provided a full death toll.
Restrictions in Hong Kong have snuffed out what were once the largest vigils marking the anniversary, and cities like London, New York, Berlin and Taipei are left carrying the candle to commemorate the June 4 anniversary.
In Washington, U.S. lawmakers plan to mark the date on Thursday with remarks, hearings and press conferences.
The U.S. and China, locked in an often tense global economic and military rivalry, have entered a period of standoff in the wake of Trump’s trip to Beijing, where he and Xi maintained a fragile trade truce.
Trump, who often praises Xi as a great leader who runs China with an “iron fist”, has nonetheless included China hawks in his administration, including Rubio, who as a senator was sanctioned by Beijing for his hardline views toward the country.
(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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