Overview
- Police told relatives they could not visit Wan'an Cemetery on Thursday, June 4, blocking the Tiananmen Mothers from holding their decades‑long annual graveside memorial for the first time in 37 years.
- Authorities deployed large numbers of officers and vehicles around Tiananmen in Beijing and stepped up patrols in Hong Kong, where police stopped street performance tributes and detained people near Victoria Park.
- The Tiananmen Mothers issued a statement signed by 107 members demanding full disclosure of the 1989 crackdown, compensation for victims and legal accountability for those responsible.
- U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and bipartisan Senate leaders publicly commemorated the victims, prompting China's foreign ministry to accuse critics of distorting history and interfering in its internal affairs.
- The moves extend a long campaign of censorship and legal pressure that has ended open vigils in Hong Kong since 2020, put former vigil organisers on trial with a verdict pending, and pushed public remembrance into overseas communities.