Tiananmen Square massacre: The day the Chinese Communist Party revealed its tyrannical identity

Thirty-six years ago, Beijing was stained red. And not because of the color of its flag, but because of blood. On June 4, 1989, China experienced one of the darkest and most inhumane moments in its history: the Tiananmen Square massacre. The incident resulted in the death of thousands of people at the hands of the communist regime as they were peacefully protesting against the situation in their country.

After Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping's government promoted a series of measures that made people believe that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was mutating towards a more open-minded identity both internally and externally, allowing the creation of private companies or entering into trade negotiations with the international community.

However, as the years went by, the citizens saw how all these reforms were smoke and mirrors and what was really happening was that China was submerged in an economic crisis, corruption, censorship and the consolidation of a regime in which only the CCP could survive.

For this reason, hundreds of thousands of citizens, led by student organizations, took to the streets to protest peacefully against what they saw, felt and lived daily. The death of Hu Yaobang, who was called to succeed Xiaoping, also played a role. These demonstrations began in mid-April and, as the days progressed, they gained popularity and followers.

The CCP's response took about two months to arrive. On June 4, 1989, the regime deployed the military, with tanks and infantry, in Tiananmen Square and surrounding areas. This order only made the atmosphere tense, and the communist regime resorted to opening fire against anyone who tried to stand up to it.

The result was devastating: thousands of people, likely more than 10,000, who were peacefully demonstrating were massacred and murdered, simply with the aim of silencing them. However, the communist regime states there were only about 200. This was the moment when the CCP revealed its true tyrannical identity.

Rubio takes aim at censorship in China

More than three decades after that violent episode, words of remembrance have come not only from within China, but also throughout the rest of the world. Citizens and authorities in dozens of countries, including the United States, continue to remember the victims as if the Tiananmen Square massacre had happened just yesterday.

One of those reminders came from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who took aim at the CCP's continued censorship and efforts to suppress images or files of the massacre so that the real number of dead in Tiananmen Square does not come to light.

"Today we commemorate the bravery of the Chinese people who were killed as they tried to exercise their fundamental freedoms, as well as those who continue to suffer persecution as they seek accountability and justice for the events of June 4, 1989," Rubio said Wednesday, adding that "the world will never forget" what happened that day, even as Beijing "actively tries to censor the facts."