Toronto Chinese Community Protests Tiananmen Anniversary

Around 300 members of the Chinese community in Toronto participate in a protest outside the Chinese consulate, 35 years after the bloody crackdown in China's Tiananmen Square.

China meticulously censors any mention of the 1989 student uprising, and veterans are commemorating the anniversary overseas.

Thirty five years have passed since the Tiananmen crackdown occurred in 1989. Hong Kong, which for 30 years was one of the only places on Chinese soil to host large-scale commemorations that marked the incident, has seen its candlelight vigils snuffed out following Covid curbs and the enactment of a Beijing-imposed security law.

However, cities around the world held their own vigils, where people lit candles and sung protest songs to remember the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989, and the changes that have happened in Hong Kong more recently. In the early days of June this year, assemblies were held in the US, the UK, Taiwan, and Canada, among other places.

Vancouver’s David Lam Park was the site of a gathering, where attendees called for human rights to be safeguarded and to prevent the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party. According to online photos, hundreds of people held up candles. The Collective reported that those present did so to mourn the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

Lenny Zhou, the only Chinese-born city councilor in Vancouver, attended the event. “Thousands of people here are at David Lam Park for the Candlelight vigil to commemorate Tiananmen Square Massacre 35 years ago.

There were also protests against the Chinese Communist Party in other Canadian cities such as Calgary.