Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times,
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement to mark the 37th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Tiananmen Square Massacre.
“On June 4, the world marks 37 years since the Chinese Communist Party ordered its troops to attack thousands of peaceful demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square,” Rubio said in a statement late June 3 in the United States, which is hours behind China.
“Chinese students, workers, and other civilians who lost their lives had gathered to exercise their natural rights and demand democratic reforms and accountability for corruption. We remember their lives and honor their legacy,” he said.
“No amount of censorship can erase the past. Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.”
Mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre is heavily censored in mainland China, with terms such as “June 4,” “6/4,” “64,” “六四” (in Chinese), and related phrases routinely blocked across all information platforms by China’s internet police. Closer to the sensitive date, even terms like “that year” are censored in an effort to suppress all mention of the Chinese lives lost that day and what they stood for.
Despite being unsuccessful in China, the protests sent shockwaves throughout the world and helped strengthen the resolve of people in other communist states, such as East Germany and Romania, also seeking liberty.
At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dispatched Vice Premier Yao Yilin to East Germany in October 1989 to share its methods for suppressing protests.
This year may be particularly sensitive for the CCP, following the November 2025 leak of classified video footage of the 1990 military trial of Maj. Gen. Xu Qinxian, who refused to deploy troops against the protesters in 1989.
Xu’s testimony revealed operational details of the military response in 1989—information that the CCP considered to be state secrets.
The video footage was quickly scrubbed from the Chinese internet after it was leaked, but it generated widespread attention among Chinese-speaking users outside of mainland China.
Every year, the CCP harasses or rounds up dissidents, activists, journalists, lawyers, and Tiananmen-related figures for preemptive detention or house arrest ahead of the June 4 date as part of its “stability maintenance” operations.
But in a first such action in more than three decades, the Tiananmen Mothers group, representing the families of victims of the massacre, was blocked from visiting the graves of their loved ones at Beijing’s Wan'an Cemetery by police on June 4, according to Radio Free Asia.
Ahead of the date, arrests were also underway. In May, pro-democracy activist Mao Qingxiang in Hangzhou was detained by Chinese police after he shared a video of recently released dissident Xu Guang, whose post-prison remarks included a call to “never forget June 4.”
Chinese in Hong Kong have also been blocked from marking the anniversary, with the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park that once drew tens of thousands of people in remembrance of the human rights travesty banned since 2020 under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
(Top) Hong Kong police officers occupy Victoria Park in the afternoon of June 4, 2021, to prevent people from entering; (bottom) The June 4 candlelight vigil in Victoria Park in 2017. The Epoch Times
Known pro-democracy voices in the city have also been monitored or harassed in an attempt to deter any bigger incidents. But Chinese around the world in cities such as Taipei, Sydney, London, and New York will gather for vigils to commemorate the June 4 anniversary.
In a statement the morning of June 4, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on China to acknowledge the deadly clampdown on Chinese protesters in Tiananmen Square 37 years ago and “face the wounds of history” for a better future.
“What was shot and crushed that year was not only the life and youth of those who participated in the democracy movement, but also the desire and practice of the pursuit of freedom and democracy by an entire generation of China,” he said in a post on social media.
“I sincerely hope that China will face up to the June 4 incident 37 years ago, recognize the truth, comfort the pain, and open reconciliation and dialogue.”
Lai said that a “sound government” should support the next generation to “live a better life than themselves, instead of killing their dreams and erasing their opinions with violence, surveillance, etc.”
“Taiwan will stand with all those who pursue freedom and democracy until the truth is seen, the pain is comforted, until no one else loses their lives in the pursuit of freedom. Because a country that respects its people, protects freedom, and practices democracy is a country that is truly worthy of respect,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump also made a statement condemning communism as June 4 arrived in China.
“Remember, breathtaking ‘Popularity’ first, and then, guaranteed DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Has anyone ever seen a Happy Communist?” he added.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/04/2026 - 17:40Unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know that South Korea's stock market has been rocketing higher on the back of the AI/Semi speculation as SK Hynix and Samsung have dominated (accounting for over 40% of the KOSPI market cap)...
But, as the following chart from Goldman Sachs shows, this surge in Korean stocks has been driven by domestic Retail investors as Foreign investors have fled that market en masse...
These outflows have sparked a collapse in the Korean Won (exacerbated by pressure some Asian currencies face as the Iran war drags on), now at its weakest versus the USDollar since 2009...
...and pushed yields for South Korean bonds to their highest in almost 3 years...
With all that in mind, Bloomberg reported earlier in the week that South Korean officials have intensified monitoring of the government bond market through daily phone calls and a private messaging group with market participants, as authorities step up efforts to contain rising yields.
Since May 18, a group of deputy directors in the finance ministry’s treasury-bond division have been calling bond dealers and asset managers before the start of trading to gauge market sentiment and investor positioning, Hwang Soon Kwan, deputy finance minister for treasury, said in an interview. In some cases, the discussions are held in person, he said.
“We are paying close attention to managing the bond market and are determined to respond firmly to any excessive moves,” Hwang said Friday in Seoul.
The ministry also set up a private KakaoTalk chat room on May 21 that now includes about 17 participants, according to Hwang.
Members include Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, senior ministry officials, researchers, primary dealers and fund managers, who share research reports and market views on a daily basis.
The moves are not intended to press yields down, but to signal authorities are closely monitoring the market, he added.
The government last week reduced planned bond issuance for June by about 21% from the previous month, adding to efforts to ease upward pressure on yields.
Additionally, just days later, Bloomberg reports that Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol said authorities were closely monitoring FX market developments “with a high degree of vigilance to prevent anxiety from spreading,” and vowed to “take prompt, necessary measures in case of excessive market moves.”
Asian policymakers are coming up against the limit of their currency defense as elevated oil prices hurt the region’s importers.
Authorities in Indonesia and the Philippines also stepped up measures to defend currencies.
“The authorities are doing what they can, but given that the won is being driven by external factors, it’s likely difficult to control,” said So Jaeyong, chief economist at Shinhan Bank in Seoul.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/04/2026 - 17:20