China has blasted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments on the deadly crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 37 years ago as "smearing" the country's political system, as Taiwan tells China to face up to history.
The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China and the anniversary is not officially marked.
Rubio said on Wednesday that Beijing's censorship could not erase memories of the military assault.
