Tiananmen commemoration at Dam Square — a personal impression

The commemoration at Dam Square in Amsterdam, 6 June 2026: Chinese human rights defenders, Chinese Christians, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians came together around the National Monument.

Yesterday, 6 June 2026, I took part in the commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre at Dam Square in Amsterdam, now 37 years ago. With deadly force, the Chinese Communist Party then crushed the call for freedom and democracy that resounded across China — in dozens of cities, with many thousands of victims, followed by countless purges in the months and years that came after. There is no exact death toll, and its absence is the responsibility of the opaque regime in Beijing, which conceals the truth to this very day.

The commemoration, which drew considerable interest from passers-by, brought together Chinese human rights defenders, Chinese Christians, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians in a shared call for freedom and justice.

A broad coalition of communities jointly commemorated the victims of 1989.

As chair of the Tibet Support Group, I spoke about the solidarity of Tibetans with the Chinese people, who are themselves also victims of the oppression by the Chinese Communist Party. I also pointed to the parallels between the protests in Lhasa in early 1989 and the Tiananmen movement in Beijing several months later: in both cases people peacefully stood up for freedom, human rights and human dignity, and in both cases the dictatorial regime responded with violence and deadly repression.

Our struggle is bound together: for freedom, against a ruthless dictatorship. By standing together and ensuring that these crimes are not forgotten, we strengthen the movement for democracy, human rights and self-determination in Tibet and China — and we challenge the dictatorship that killed back then under Deng Xiaoping and still ruthlessly oppresses today under Xi Jinping.

Tsering Jampa Chair, Tibet Support Group Netherlands

An impression of the day