China rebukes US over Tiananmen remarks as Hong Kong police detain seven

China's foreign ministry on Thursday accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of distorting history and interfering in internal affairs after Rubio marked the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown by declaring that "no amount of censorship can erase the past."

The exchange underscores one of the sharpest recurring flashpoints in U.S.-China relations, as Washington and Beijing remain deeply divided over an event that China censors domestically and officially calls a resolved matter. In Hong Kong, police deployed in force near Victoria Park — long the site of the city's annual candlelight vigil — detaining seven people on the anniversary.

Rubio made his remarks at a news conference Wednesday, the eve of the June 4 anniversary on which Chinese troops and tanks crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989. "Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday," Rubio said, according to The Korea Times.

China's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning dismissed the statement at a regular briefing Thursday. "The Chinese government has long since reached a clear conclusion regarding that political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s," Mao said. She added that Rubio's "erroneous remarks" distort historical facts, "smear China's political system and development path, and interfere in China's internal affairs."

In Hong Kong, police set up roadblocks and deployed plainclothes officers near Victoria Park, where residents had gathered annually for decades before the city's 2020 national security law effectively ended the public vigils. Seven people — five men and two women — were taken in for further investigation, AFP reported.

Chan Po-Ying, former leader of the now-disbanded pro-democracy group League of Social Democrats, was among those detained. Before her arrest, Chan said: "What we can do now is very, very little. Victoria Park holds 37 years of Hong Kongers' collective memory. I hope that we won't forget this collective memory."

The exact death toll from the crackdown remains disputed. Beijing officially estimates 200 to 300 dead, including soldiers, while other estimates cited by The Korea Times range from 400 to more than 2,000. China defines the protests as a "counter-revolutionary riot" driven by "a very small number of people" and censors public discussion of the events on the mainland.

Alfred Tian, a visitor from mainland China who traveled to Victoria Park, told AFP that learning about the crackdown came as a shock. "Most Chinese people don't really know much about it," Tian said. "It's like a fire in the heart, the pursuit for democracy, for freedom of speech."

Hong Kong authorities also barred families of 1989 victims from visiting graves at Wan'an Cemetery, a move that Amnesty International called "a heartless act," according to The Korea Times.