China Suppresses Dissidents as Tiananmen Square Massacre Anniversary Approaches

One of the candles lit to mark the anniversary of the massacre of a pro-democracy student movement in Beijing, outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, on June 4, 2021. Kin Cheung/AP Photo

The Chinese communist regime is tightening its suppression of Chinese activists ahead of June 4, which this year marks the 33rd anniversary of the massacre of peaceful student protesters in Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times attempted to contact several activists in China ahead of the anniversary, which every year marks a period of increased clamp downs on activists by the Chinese Communist Party. Some of those contacted by The Epoch Times were on “a trip,” some were under house arrest much earlier than in previous years, and others said they couldn’t receive phone calls from outside China.

Taking a trip from their hometown while escorted by public security agents is what happens to dissidents before “sensitive days,” as a way the regime restricts their freedom of expression and their activities. It’s also known as a forced trip.

The Forced Trip

Beijing dissident Ji Feng has been routinely made to take a forced trip for the past 15 years.

“They are ordering tickets now. I will have to go to the mountain area in Guizhou Province this afternoon,” Ji said on May 30.

He’s not allowed to stay in Beijing, where multiple universities are currently facing student protests against the strict lockdown measures on campuses.

The renowned Peking University, Beijing Normal University, and Tianjin University have had students gathering and protesting; some students shouted, “Down with bureaucracy.”

Gao Yu, a 79-year-old dissident journalist from Beijing, also frequently forced to take a trip, is now too old to travel. Instead, local officials have already visited her home to monitor her.

Both Ji and Gao live in Beijing, but they aren’t allowed to call each other. Ji said, “The phone has been blocked for more than a month, including international calls.”

The 85-year-old Zhang Xianling, one of the “Tiananmen Mothers,” also suspects the surveillance of the regime has changed from individual stalking and harassing to blocking their phones under the pandemic, Radio Free International reported.

“Tiananmen Mothers” is a group of family members and survivors of the military crackdown that happened in the 1989 Democracy Movement.

Ms. Ding's son, Jiang Jielian, was killed in the June 4 massacre in 1989. Ms. Ding is one of the organizers of the Tiananmen Mothers. Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Dissident Hu Feng (pseudonym) has been under house arrest and surveillance for more than a week. “My phone is tapped,” he said on May 30.

Chen Xi, a dissident in Guizhou, a landlocked province in southwest China, has been missing for days, according to Ji.

Internet Interference

Mr. Qian, a dissident in the coastal province of Jiangsu, said the internet blockade had been tightened recently. The signal has been unstable and frequently disconnects.

He commented that the 1989 massacre happened because of the regime’s fear that it would collapse.

In 1989, Ma Xiaoming, former editor of Shaanxi Province TV Station, was dismissed from his job as punishment for a report he wrote and for participating in local protests and petitions supporting the democracy petition at Tiananmen Square.

Ma, now 71, said: “For the past 30 some years, my phones—both home phone and cellphone—have been interrupted. This is human rights in China.”

Since 1989, Ma has been conducting his own investigation of local cases of human rights abuse. “I speak with facts. That frightens the regime. They have been interfering with my telecommunication, interviews, and issuing of reports.”

Activist Liu Jiacai in Hubei Province said local authorities had suspended his phone for more than a month. The police just notified him that he would be getting a visit from them soon.

“I suppose it’s getting close to June 4, the sensitive day,” he said.

Over 180,000 people participated in a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, where an unprecedented mass demonstration was cleared up by soldiers dispatched by the Chinese communist regime. The number of people who attended on June 4, 2012, set a new record. Sung Pi Lung/The Epoch Times

There are other activists who have been suppressed recently. Lu Qianrong, a freelance writer defending the rights of Chinese peasants, hasn’t been reachable; Chen Jianxiong, a human rights activist in Hubei Province, has been detained by the local police since April and held at the Chibi City Detention Center; and Ji Xiaolong, a dissident in Shanghai, was detained by the police for a day for his online exposure of inhumanity during the Shanghai lockdown.

A Big Scar on the Regime: Activist

Activist Dong Guangping was a police officer in Zhengzhou City. He lost his job in 1999 because he criticized the regime and participated in a Tiananmen massacre memorial. He was imprisoned for his human rights activities in 2001 and 2014, respectively.

He said the massacre was a big scar on the regime, and the CCP couldn’t tolerate it being exposed.

“The regime is good at controlling the people through cellphones or telecommunications,” and its purpose is “blocking the Chinese voices from being heard by the outside world,” he said.

Lin Cenxin and Yi Ru contributed to this article.