WASHINGTON - Beijing’s censorship cannot erase memories of its 1989 military assault on peaceful demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on June 3, ahead of the anniversary of China’s violent suppression there.

Rubio’s statement largely mirrored his past remarks on the crackdown but is likely to be reassuring to Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy supporters at a time when President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted his relationship with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, whom he met in Beijing in May.

According to human rights groups, Chinese troops opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square and killed hundreds if not thousands of people.

“On June 4, the world marks 37 years since the Chinese Communist Party ordered its troops to attack thousands of peaceful demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square,” Rubio said in a statement.

“No amount of censorship can erase the past. Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday,” Rubio said, in keeping with practice in which the United States’ top diplomat marks the date, often to Beijing’s dissatisfaction.

China’s embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Rubio’s remarks.

In China, any mention of the Tiananmen Square crackdown is taboo and the subject is heavily censored.

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China at the time blamed the unrest on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the Communist Party and has never provided a full death toll.

Restrictions in Hong Kong have snuffed out what were once the largest vigils marking the anniversary, and cities like London, New York, Berlin and Taipei are left carrying the candle to commemorate the June 4 anniversary.

In Washington, US lawmakers plan to mark the date on June 4 with remarks, hearings and press conferences.

The US and China, locked in an often tense global economic and military rivalry, have entered a period of standoff in the wake of Trump’s trip to Beijing, where he and Xi maintained a fragile trade truce.

Trump, who often praises Xi as a great leader who runs China with an “iron fist”, has nonetheless included China hawks in his administration, including Rubio, who as a senator was sanctioned by Beijing for his hardline views toward the country. REUTERS

WASHINGTON - NASA said on June 3 it will end its mission to study the atmosphere and evolution of Mars after its probe went silent for six months.

Scientific spacecraft MAVEN – short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – went into Martian orbit in 2014.

The mission was originally intended to operate for one or two years, but the probe remained active for more than a decade, until December 2025 when it lost contact with Earth.