Marco Rubio Honors Tiananmen Victims, Slams CCP

Marco Rubio Commemorates Victims, Honors Tiananmen Victims of 1989 Crackdown

By Uyghur Times Staff
June 3, 2025

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre with a statement on X, honoring those killed and imprisoned during the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal 1989 crackdown. “We remember the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal crackdown 36 years ago in Tiananmen Square and commemorate the courage of the innocent people killed and imprisoned that day. Freedom, democracy, and self-rule are human principles the CCP cannot erase.”

The Tiananmen Square massacre refers to the Chinese government’s violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing in June 1989. After weeks of student-led protests calling for political reform, the Chinese military moved into central Beijing, opening fire on unarmed civilians around Tiananmen Square and surrounding streets. The Chinese government has never released an official death toll, but independent estimates range from several hundred to several thousand people killed, with many more injured or imprisoned.

The event remains one of the most sensitive topics in China, where public discussion, academic research, and online references are heavily censored. Each year, international officials, human rights groups, and overseas Chinese communities commemorate the anniversary, while authorities in China continue to restrict memorial activities and detain activists who attempt to mark the date.