05/06/2025

THURSDAY | JUNE 5, 2025

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

8

‘We will never forget Tiananmen’

o Mothers of victims call for public accounting

TAIPEI: The world will never forget China’s 1989 crackdown on pro democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Taiwan’s president and the top US diplomat said on the 36th anniversary of an event Beijing treats as taboo and allows no public remembrance. The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end the student-led pro democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China and the anniversary is not officially marked. Public commemorations take place in overseas cities including Taipei where senior Taiwan government leaders often use the anniversary to criticise China and urge it to face up to what it did. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, in a post on Facebook yesterday, praised the courage of those who took part in the protests, saying human rights are a concept shared by Taiwan and other democracies that transcend generations and borders. “The commemoration of the June 4 Tiananmen incident is not only to mourn history, but also to perpetuate this memory,” said Lai, who Beijing detests as a “separatist” and has rejected his repeated offers of talks. “Authoritarian governments often choose to silence and forget history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who gave their lives – and their dreams – to the idea of human rights.

“Not only do we refuse to forget history, we will implement our core values every day.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday praised the courage of the people killed in the crackdown. “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,” Rubio said in a statement. Beijing yesterday slammed as an “attack” comments made by Rubio. “The erroneous statements by the US side maliciously distort historical facts, deliberately attack China’s political system and developmental path, and seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. “The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it. We have lodged a solemn protest with the US side.” Chinese troops and tanks forcibly cleared protesters from Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, after weeks long demonstrations demanding greater political freedoms. The exact toll is unknown but hundreds died, with some estimates exceeding 1,000 people. China’s communist rulers have since sought to erase any public mention of the crackdown. Security around the square was tightened on Tuesday with increased

Hong Kong police officers stand guard near Victoria Park to pre-empt any observance of the crackdown. – REUTERSPIC

200,000 Afghans deported from Pakistan since April ISLAMABAD: More than 200,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the government renewed a deportation drive in April, Islamabad’s Interior Ministry said. Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades. According to the ministry, more than 135,000 Afghans left Pakistan in April, while the number dropped to 67,000 in May and more than 3,000 were sent back in the first two days of June. Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing wars, as well hundreds of thousands who arrived after the return of the conservative government in 2021. A campaign to evict them began in 2023, prompting hundreds of thousands to cross the border in the span of a few days. In total, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan. The International Organisation for Migration voiced concern over a surge in Afghan families being deported from Iran, recording 15,675 crossing in May, a more than two-fold increase from the previous month. – AFP One jailed pro-democracy activist, Chow Hang-tung, is staging a 36 hour hunger strike in prison to mark the anniversary. – Reuters Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said police would take stringent enforcement actions against any acts endangering national security. A performance artist was forced to leave the vicinity of the park and a shop selling small white candles was raided by customs officials on Tuesday.

party, the current government has a responsibility to respond to and address the Tiananmen Massacre,” Zhang Xianling, whose son Wang Nan was killed, said in a video message. In Hong Kong, where thousands used to gather to mark the anniversary before China’s imposition of a national security law in 2020, security was tight around Victoria Park, the site of the previous mass candlelight vigils.

police presence. There was no discussion about the historic event on Chinese social media, which are heavily censored by authorities. The Tiananmen Mothers, which represents relatives of those killed, put out this week their annual statement calling for a public accounting of what happened. “The executioners of that year have passed away one after another, but as the continuation of the ruling

Mushroom murders accused gives account of incident SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s elderly relatives with poisonous mushrooms gave her account of the fatal lunch yesterday, in a case that has gripped the public. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the July 2023 murders of her mother in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband. people some 135km from Melbourne. She denies the charges, with her defence saying the deaths were a “terrible accident”. She faces a life sentence if found guilty. The accused, the first witness for her own defence and who began her evidence on Monday afternoon, repeatedly wept as she told the court yesterday she may have accidentally included foraged mushrooms into the food she served. that Erin Patterson had invented medical issues partly to elicit sympathy from her estranged husband’s relatives, from whom she said she felt she was growing apart. “I didn’t want their care of me to stop, so I kept it going. I shouldn’t have done it,” she told the court. “Did you lie to them?” Mandy asked. “I did lie to them,” the accused replied, through tears. The prosecution alleges Patterson evidence from witnesses, including relatives and medical, forensic and mushroom experts. The trial, which began on April 29, has seen intense interest from Australian and international media, with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the trial is being held.

State broadcaster ABC’s daily podcast about the proceedings is the most popular in the country, while many Australian newspapers have been running live blogs on the case. The trial, scheduled to conclude this month, continues. – Reuters

invented the medical issues to lure the victims to her home for the meal, a claim she denies. The prosecution rested its case on Monday, following a month of

“Now I think there was a possibility there were foraged ones in there,”she said as she was questioned by her own barrister, Colin Mandy. The court also heard yesterday

The prosecution alleges she knowingly served the guests lethal death cap mushrooms in a Beef Wellington at her home in Leongatha, a town of around 6,000

Fugitive capybara caught by zoo after two months SHANGHAI: Officials have captured the last member of a runaway capybara gang that escaped from a zoo in eastern China two months ago, a statement said on Tuesday. home!” the zoo wrote in a social media post. The capybara walked into a humane trap early on Tuesday and was returned to her enclosure by zoo staff. person can be heard saying “welcome home Doubao ”. Capybaras are native to South America but in recent years have become popular attractions at zoos worldwide, with the semi-aquatic rodents becoming unlikely darlings of the internet.

trap the second accomplice, Duoduo or “Hide Hide”, in a rubbish bin. But Doubao eluded capture, with the zoo in May issuing a mock wanted poster accusing her of engaging in a mass jailbreak. Officials at one point offered a reward of frozen fried rice, a carton of eggs, capybara-themed merchandise and lifetime entry to the zoo to anyone with information about her whereabouts. A zoo representative also repeatedly pleaded for Doubao’s return on livestreamed videos. – AFP

The missing female rodent, named “Doubao” – “Bean Bun” in Chinese – escaped from an enclosure at the Yangzhou Zhuyuwan Scenic Area along with two other capybaras in early April. Doubao remained at large for weeks after her companions were caught by zoo officials. “The runaway child has returned

Despite spending two months on the run, Doubao gained weight and her fur was still “smooth and glossy”, the zoo said. “It looks like she was doing well out there!” A video published by the zoo showed Doubao sniffing around a cage and pawing at its sides while a

The zoo said the trio made their April breakout when another capybara Bazong , “Big Shot”, broke through a fence. Bazong was later found relaxing in a lake. It took seven or eight zoo staff to