Communities worldwide commemorated the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on Tuesday, despite crackdowns in Hong Kong.

The Details: On June 4th, 1989, Chinese troops cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. The official death toll has never been released, and the incident has since become taboo in mainland China. Hong Kong, the only Chinese territory to publicly commemorate the incident until 2020, deployed hundreds of police officers to monitor potential commemorative activities.

For Context: Recently, several Tiananmen Square memorial statues have been removed in Hong Kong, and the former annual vigil in Victoria Park is now banned with its organizers jailed. Eight people were recently arrested for alleged sedition over social media posts related to Tiananmen in the first arrests under Hong Kong's domestic national security law.

How the Media Covered It: Coverage was common, although some mainstream right-rated outlets used wire service instead of original coverage. Articles in Western media across the political spectrum generally took a negative attitude towards China’s repression of commemorations; The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) Editorial Board framed restrictions in Hong Kong as emblematic of “Chinese repression.” The Epoch Times (Lean Right bias), historically opposed to the Chinese Communist Party because of its ties to the Falun Gong movement, highlighted a quote labeling the CCP “the enemy of freedom and democracy.” This summary was developed with the help of AllSides' AI technology.