US top diplomat’s Tiananmen comments ‘smear’ China, Beijing says

China's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused Rubio of distorting historical facts and smearing China's political system and development path.

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The Chinese government has long since reached a clear conclusion regarding that political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s.

Rubio had stated that "no amount of censorship can erase the past" and asserted that those who advocated for free expression and peaceful assembly would be vindicated. In response, Mao Ning declared that China has "long since reached a clear conclusion" regarding the events of the late 1980s, framing them as "political turmoil."

The ministry's statement characterized Rubio's comments as interference in China's internal affairs. This exchange occurs against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny over human rights and political freedoms in China. Authorities have reportedly intensified efforts to suppress any public commemoration of the Tiananmen events, including preventing families of victims from visiting graves and dismantling public memorials in Hong Kong.

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Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.

In Hong Kong, where annual candlelight vigils were a tradition for decades, the space for public expression has significantly narrowed following the imposition of a national security law in 2020. Even solitary acts of remembrance, like an activist reading victim names in Victoria Park under police observation, highlight the shrinking freedoms.

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The relevant erroneous remarks by the US side distort historical facts, smear China’s political system and development path, and interfere in China’s internal affairs.