Taiwan Urges China to Acknowledge the Truth About Tiananmen
On the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on Beijing to face the truth, as the commemoration deepened US-China tensions.
- Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on China on June 4 to face the truth about Tiananmen on the 37th anniversary of the massacre.
- Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council urged Beijing to abandon its one-party authoritarian model.
- The commemoration deepened tensions between Washington and Beijing.
- Chinese authorities have never released an official death toll, with estimates ranging from hundreds to thousands of victims.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on China on June 4 to face the truth about the bloody crackdown on protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, on the day marking exactly 37 years since those events. The message from Taipei arrived as relations between Washington and Beijing sharpen once again, and for Belgrade, which maintains a close diplomatic channel with China while building its European path, such clashes of narrative show how the question of historical memory remains a geopolitical reality today.
In his address, Lai demanded that China acknowledge the truth about what happened, guarantee freedom of expression, and allow its citizens to take part in decision-making. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the body responsible for relations with mainland China, on the same day urged Beijing to abandon its one-party authoritarian model. With this, Taipei turned the anniversary into a political message aimed directly at the Chinese leadership.
What happened at Tiananmen in 1989
In the spring of 1989, students and citizens gathered in Tiananmen Square to demand political reform and greater freedom. The demonstrations lasted for weeks, and on the night between June 3 and 4 the Chinese authorities moved the army into central Beijing and dispersed the crowds by force.
To this day, the Chinese authorities have never released an official death toll. Independent estimates differ significantly:
- Some sources speak of several hundred victims.
- Others state that the number of dead may have reached several thousand.
- The topic remains censored in mainland China, where the anniversary is not officially marked.
It is precisely this absence of official figures that gives Taipei’s call for China to acknowledge the truth a concrete meaning: it is a demand to open the archives and publicly admit the number of those killed.
Why does the anniversary deepen US-China tensions?
This year’s commemoration did not stay at the symbolic level. It came after comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to which Beijing reacted sharply, accusing Washington of slandering the Chinese system. In this way, a historical anniversary turned into yet another point of friction between the two powers.
For Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its own territory, invoking Tiananmen serves a dual purpose. Taipei at once defends its own democratic model and signals to the international public that there is a clear difference between the Taiwanese and Chinese political orders. President Lai summed up that difference in a single sentence.
A truly great nation should not place its faith in military power or the use of force.
The message was directed at Beijing at a time when China continues its military pressure in the Taiwan Strait. For Serbia and the region, watching how great powers treat small democracies, such dates show that history is not a closed chapter but an active instrument of contemporary diplomacy.
Should acknowledging historical truth be a condition for trust in international relations?
