A System Afraid of Its Own History

China's relationship to its own history remains mired in cover-ups and silences, and a look at how school textbooks present the 60 years since the People's Republic was established reveals the problem.

Hong Kong Pays Tribute to Tiananmen Protesters While Beijing Stays Silent

China appeared determined to prevent commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the military crackdown.

English-Language Chinese Newspaper Breaks Silence on Tiananmen Crackdown

In a front-page article on Thursday, a state-run media outlet officially broke the taboo on discussing the June 4, 1989, crackdown on China’s pro-democracy movement.

Thousands Gather in Hong Kong for Tiananmen Vigil

The tens of thousands of people assembled represented the largest crowd for the annual event here in recent years.

Taipei Times Editorial: Democracy in whose words?

As the 20th anniversary of these tragic events passes, Taiwanese may soon find themselves faced with a crucial decision on how close they want to get to China. But whatever they decide, they must ensure that any rapprochement respects the time-honored conceptions of “democracy” and “human rights,” and not the sophistry of the KMT or the CCP.

TIANANMEN 20 YEARS ON: Beijing brushes off calls for probe

China yesterday rejected calls for a probe into the Tiananmen Square Massacre, saying that the matter had been settled.

TIANANMEN 20 YEARS ON: Ma calls on China to face ‘painful’ past

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded China’s efforts to address human rights issues but called on Beijing to face the “painful history” of its bloody military crackdown on demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

China's Tiananmen anniversary

Jun 4 - There was tight security on the 20th anniversary of a military crackdown on Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests on Thursday (June 4, 2009).

Opinion: Tiananmen’s Enduring Challenge

Wang Dan argues that China has changed in 20 years, but the central causes of the student protesters have remained unresolved.

Opinion: Bullets Over Beijing

Twenty years after the events in Tiananmen Square, why is China frozen politically even as it has transformed economically?

After Tiananmen and Prison, a Comfortable but Uneasy Life in the New China

In an interview, Liu Suli, a protester in the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square movement of 1989, tried to reconcile China then and now.

Chinese Activist Tries to Surrender

One of the principal student leaders of the 1989 protests flew to the Chinese territory of Macao, saying he wanted to surrender after two decades in exile.

Tiananmen Square Scars Soldier Turned Artist

Chen Guang, an artist and a former soldier who helped clear Tiananmen Square in 1989, has defied officials to describe his experiences there.

To Shut Off Tiananmen Talk, China Blocks Sites

As the crackdown’s anniversary nears, censors have blocked access to Twitter, Flickr and Hotmail.

Opinion: ‘Here Come the Workers!’

Notes from the protests outside Beijing, and how those demonstrations altered China’s path.

Opinion: Dance With Democracy

After the crackdown, silence was its own betrayal.

Opinion: China’s Forgotten Revolution

For many of China’s young people, June 4, 1989 means nothing.

Openness in China About Memoir Proves Short-Lived

A mix of responses to commemorations of the Tiananmen Square crackdown reflect how Beijing now seems more sensitive to the outcry that tough tactics to suppress dissent can provoke.

Tiananmen Now Seems Distant to China’s Students

Disinclined to protest, students also lack the economic grievances that motivated their predecessors in 1989.

China’s Leaders See a Calendar Full of Trouble

Anniversaries of the Tibetan uprising and the Tiananmen Square crackdown are seen as possible triggers for unrest.