TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hundreds gathered at Taipei's Liberty Square on Thursday to commemorate the 37th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Multiple civic organizations, including the New School for Democracy, organized the vigil under the theme "Memory Beyond Borders, Resistance Without Boundaries," per CNA. Organizers said about 500 people attended, significantly fewer than the 3,000 who participated in 2025 due to heavy rain.
A 3D-printed replica of Danish artist Jens Galschiot's sculpture “Pillar of Shame” was displayed with the artist's authorization. Participants took turns arranging electronic candles to form the numbers "8964" and placing flowers in the memorial area, and at around 8 p.m., the crowd observed 64 seconds of silence in memory of those who died in the massacre.
Naoya, a Japanese student currently studying Mandarin in Taiwan, told CNA that witnessing Beijing's suppression of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong reinforced the importance of the issue. He said that Taiwan, like Japan, still enjoys democracy and freedom, which motivated him to attend the vigil and show his support.
Chinese scholar and participant in the Tiananmen Square protests, Wu Renhua (吳仁華), told CNA he has attended the vigil for eight consecutive years. He said he was moved by the determination of participants who attended despite the weather.
Wu said discussion of the truth about the June 4 massacre and public commemoration remain prohibited in China. He noted that the Tiananmen Mothers have spent 37 years demanding the truth, accountability, and state compensation, but have yet to receive any official response.
Wu stressed the significance of commemorating the June 4 massacre in Taiwan. He said that while Hong Kong's annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park has disappeared, Taiwan's ability to openly remember the event not only honors those who died in 1989 but also supports Hong Kong's prisoners of conscience and demonstrates the values of a democratic nation.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) warned that Beijing is targeting Taiwan to force it to accept the "1992 Consensus" and the "one-China framework," and said Taiwanese society must recognize Beijing's ambitions. As pressure from Beijing intensifies, he said, compromise would only bury democracy and freedom.
“In Taiwan, democracy and freedom are taken for granted, but in Hong Kong, they are a luxury," he said, adding, "God bless Taiwan, long live freedom."
According to current statistics cited by the MAC, there have been 120 documented cases involving transnational repression or long-arm jurisdiction targeting Taiwanese citizens, businesses, and government officials by China.
Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元), executive director of New School for Democracy, told CNA that Taiwan has become the last bastion for preserving awareness of human rights and democratic issues in China. If Taiwan no longer speaks out about Tiananmen, he warned, the historical memory of the event could be distorted or erased by the CCP.
Starting in 1990, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China held a memorial service for the massacre in Victoria Park for 30 consecutive years, attracting up to 180,000 participants at its peak, per DW. However, after the Hong Kong government disbanded the group in 2021, Taiwan became the only country in the Mandarin-speaking world where public commemoration of June 4 is still possible.
