Washington uses Tiananmen Square commemorations to invoke current human rights issues

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pays tribute to 1989 protesters as well as ‘voices now silenced throughout the country, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong’

Members of the House select committee on China speak in front of Capitol, while an advisory panel holds hearing with Zhou Fengsuo, a Tiananmen student leader

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Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, joins member of the House select committee on China to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 5:38am, 5 Jun 2024Updated: 6:34am, 5 Jun 2024

Washington marked the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown with a series of events and statements on Tuesday, urging Beijing to release political prisoners and hold itself accountable for alleged human rights abuses.

“Today, on the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, we remember the tens of thousands of peaceful Chinese pro-democracy protesters who were brutally assaulted for standing up for freedom, human rights and an end to corruption,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Blinken also paid tribute to the “many voices now silenced throughout the country, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong” and vowed to continue working with the international community to promote “accountability” for Beijing’s alleged abuses within and beyond its borders.

Blinken, the top US envoy, further called on the Chinese government to accept recommendations made this year during the United Nations’ twice-a-decade review of its human rights record, including “unconditionally releasing those it has arbitrarily and unjustly detained”.

Bipartisan groups of lawmakers hosted public commemorative events of their own.

Members of the House select committee on China spoke in front of the Capitol. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the panel’s senior Democrat, vowed to support anyone who “stands for freedom”.