The Canadian government marked the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre by expressing “real concerns” about the Chinese regime’s human rights record.
“We have real concerns about China’s behaviour in regards to human rights and we'll continue to advocate—both directly with Chinese leadership, as I have every time I have sat down with them, and indirectly with our allies—call for better respect of human rights on this anniversary and every day going forward,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when asked about the anniversary during an event in Vancouver.
The event was remembered around the world, including in Hong Kong where tens of thousands marked the anniversary with a candlelight vigil at Victoria Square to honour those who lost their lives during the protest.
“Canada asks Chinese authorities to break the silence on these events by openly accounting for the Chinese citizens who were killed, detained, or went missing,'' Freeland said.
Freeland said that the Chinese constitution allows for freedom of speech and assembly, however she said, 30 years after the massacre, “the struggle for basic freedoms continues for human rights defenders in China, including lawyers and journalists.
Freeland called on China to uphold human rights and release “those who have been unjustly and arbitrarily detained.”
The Canadian government has repeatedly called the detentions of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by Chinese authorities last December as “arbitrary.” Demands for their immediate release have been met with angry dismissals from Beijing.
Canada’s relationship with the Chinese regime has deteriorated significantly since last December when Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on an extradition request from the United States. Chinese authorities then detained Kovrig and Spavor in a move widely regarded as retaliation for Meng’s arrest, and tensions have only escalated since.
The two men are being held without access to lawyers or family, and they receive separate consular visits about once a month, while Meng is out on bail in Canada, staying at her multi-million dollar home in Vancouver while she awaits court proceedings.
Calls for Improved Human Rights in China
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the European Union’s Federica Mogherini also urged China to address its decision to kill hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pro-democracy student protesters in 1989.“The exact numbers of those who died and were detained on 4 June and in the subsequent crackdown have never been confirmed, and may never be known,” Mogherini said. “Acknowledgment of these events, and of those killed, detained or missing in connection with the Tiananmen Square protests, is important for future generations and for the collective memory.”
Liberal Sen. Jim Munson, who covered the massacre in Beijing as a CTV television journalist, also marked the anniversary by making a statement in the Senate Monday.
“It’s difficult to watch people die. It’s difficult to watch people being crushed by tanks. And it’s difficult to be in a hospital, in the morgue section, and taking a look at the bodies that were once, moments before, chanting slogans about democracy and talking about freedom and that sort of thing,” Munson said in an interview with the Canadian Press Tuesday.
“What bothers me immensely is the erasing of history in China by the Chinese government, and the fact that the young people of today are not aware of what took place, and if you are aware you don’t dare to talk about it.”
