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China Suppresses Dissidents as Tiananmen Square Massacre Anniversary Approaches

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The communist regime tightens its suppression of Chinese activists every year as June 4 approaches. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that occurred on June 4, 1989.

The Chinese edition of The Epoch Times tried to contact several activists in China. Some of them are on “a trip,” some are under house arrest much earlier than in previous years, others expressed they could not receive phone calls from outside China.

Taking a trip from their hometown, while escorted by the 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.”

The 79 year-old dissident journalist from Beijing, Gao Yu, was also frequently forced to take a trip, is now too old to travel. Instead, local officials have already visited her home to moniter 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, reported Radio Free International.

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

Epoch Times Photo
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, Jiangsu, said the internet blockade has 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, the 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 cell phone—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. He said, “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 revealed that local authorities have suspended his phone for more than a month. The police just notified him that he’s getting a visit from them soon, “I suppose it’s getting close to June 4, the sensitive day,” he said.

Fang Zheng, Tiananmen Square survivor, attends the memorial in person for the first time.
Over 180,000 people participated in the 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, has not 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 of 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 is a big scar on the regime, and the CCP can’t tolerate it being exposed.

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

Lin Cenxin and Yi Ru contributed to this article.

Mary Hong

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