China Tightens Surveillance, Adds Travel Bans Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary, Dissidents Say

Read Online  |  June 2, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.”

— Queen Victoria

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

Good morning! It’s Tuesday. Here are today’s top stories:

  • As the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre approaches, the Chinese communist regime has stepped up suppression measures against dissidents and activists across the country, according to interviews with individuals who say they have been placed under surveillance, confined to their homes, or warned against speaking publicly about the anniversary.
  • Residents in Iowa are heading to the polls on Tuesday to vote in primary races for the state’s most powerful elected offices, with no incumbent on the ballot after Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) decided not to run for reelection. Here are the key races on the ballot.
  • President Donald Trump on Monday said that negotiations between Washington and Tehran are continuing “at a rapid pace” and that Israel and Hezbollah will stop attacking each otherfollowing a flare-up of fighting over the past weekend.
  • Monday marked the start of yet another hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of America. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a lower-than-average number of named storms between now and Nov. 30 thanks to “El Niño.” This is a recurring weather event known to lower the jet stream over the southeastern United States and create an environment in the Gulf and Atlantic less friendly to hurricane development.
  • đŸ” Health: Try these five exercises to restore your knees.

A man holds a poster of the famous “Tank Man” facing Chinese military tanks at Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, during a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020. In 1989, tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of armored vehicles crushed peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. (Anthony/AFP via Getty Images)

China Tightens Surveillance, Adds Travel Bans Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary, Dissidents Say

As the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre approaches, the Chinese communist regime has stepped up suppression measures against dissidents and activists across the country, according to interviews with individuals who say they have been placed under surveillance, confined to their homes, or warned against speaking publicly about the anniversary.

In the massacre, which occurred on June 4, 1989, Chinese troops violently suppressed a student-led pro-democracy movement, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries. Today, the regime remains deeply sensitive to any public remembrance of the tragedy.

The restrictions, reported across China, reflect a long-established pattern in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intensifies political security operations each year ahead of June 4.

At the same time, the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights in China released an annual commemorative statement from the Tiananmen Mothers, a group representing relatives of those killed during the massacre.

The group reiterated its long-standing demands that the CCP disclose the full truth about the events, provide compensation to victims’ families, and hold those responsible accountable.

Several dissidents in China told The Epoch Times that state security officers, police, and local neighborhood officials began contacting them in late May, warning them not to travel, attend gatherings, or speak with overseas media in the run-up to the anniversary. They spoke on the condition that only their surnames would be published, out of fear of reprisal.

Several dissidents in China told The Epoch Times that state security officers, police, and local neighborhood officials began contacting them in late May, warning them not to travel, attend gatherings, or speak with overseas media in the run-up to the anniversary. They spoke on the condition that only their surnames would be published, out of fear of reprisal.

A Beijing-based dissident with the surname Liu said that police surveillance had already intensified around his home.

“Police have already been assigned to monitor me,” Liu said. “There’s an unmarked van parked outside, and wherever I go, they follow.”

According to Liu, state security officers instructed him not to participate in gatherings related to June 4 and not to post information on overseas websites. He said this year’s controls appear to rely more heavily on direct surveillance than on the practice known among Chinese activists as “forced travel.”


Under that approach, the regime typically removes dissidents, rights advocates, or former participants in the 1989 movement from their home cities under the guise of tourism, rest trips, or informal meetings, keeping them away until after the anniversary has passed. (More)Sponsored by NativePath

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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launches from the Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 14, 2025. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

POLITICS

  • The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX $4.16 billion to build a network of satellites that will form one of the layers of the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense project.
  • After an unfavorable court ruling, the Justice Department has hit pause on the anti-weaponization fund created to settle President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS.
  • Tina Peters, the former Colorado election clerk jailed for lying to state authorities, was released from prisonon June 1. Peters served less than two years of her nine-year sentence. President Donald Trump issued her a pardon in December, but a court ruled that because her convictions were state-level, that authority rested with Colorado’s governor. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis did not issue a pardon. On May 15, he commuted her sentence, paving the way for her release.
  • A panel of judges ruled on June 1 that President Donald Trump’s policy of excluding people with gender dysphoria already serving in the military is unconstitutional.
  • Florida filed a civil claim against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on June 1, alleging the artificial intelligence company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT has put profits over safety and has put lives at risk, state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced.
  • California Republican governor Candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton recently called on Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to drop out of the race, saying that splitting the Republican vote could lead to two Democrats facing off in November’s election, due to the state’s jungle primary election system.

MORNING READ: Nancy Pelosi held this seat for 39 years. Who will win it this year?

Tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran, on April 18, 2026. (Asghar Besharati/AP Photo)

WORLD

  • A cargo ship that was transiting the Persian Gulf was struck by an “unknown projectile” that caused a large explosion, according to an organization run by the UK’s Royal Navy on June 1. The report came hours after the U.S. military said it struck targets inside Iran.
  • Earlier in the day, Iran said it has halted indirect negotiations with the United States over what it describes as Israel’s escalating military campaign in Lebanon, according to a report by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military on Monday to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, amid Israel’s expanding campaign against the Iran-backed terrorist group despite a ceasefire that has nominally been in place since April.
  • Hungarian Prime Minister PĂ©ter Magyar said on June 1 that he would amend the constitution to remove the country’s president, whom he has accused of failing in his duties while Viktor OrbĂĄn was prime minister.
  • European manufacturers raised pricesat the fastest pace in nearly four years in May as the war in the Middle East pushed up energy costs, disrupted shipping routes, and squeezed supply chains.
  • French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 57 police officers were injured on the night of May 30 and in the early hours of May 31 after soccer fans celebrating Paris Saint-Germain’s second successive victory in the Champions League final rioted in several French cities.

 

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Boats moored at the Old Harbour of Marseille, France, on June 1, 2026. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

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đŸŽ™ïž Podcast: The United States has been “sea blind,” neglecting the commercial side of sea power. It’s now waking up and taking aggressive steps to gain leverage over China in the trade war. (Listen)

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ARTS & CULTURE

Illustration detail of jellyfish (Plate 98) from “Kunstformen der Natur,” 1904, by Ernst Haeckel.

The Uncanny Natural World of Illustrator Ernst Haeckel 

For those drawn to the artistry of the natural world, Ernst Haeckel’s work is particularly compelling. His artworks reveal a natural world of symmetry and strangeness, where each organism is rendered with detail and compositional grace matched by few scientific illustrators. Yet for all his devotion to ordering and naming the natural world, Haeckel’s illustrations are so vivid and so stylized that the organisms themselves seem to slip free of any category that might contain them.

Working from direct observation, often aided by the microscope, he produced nearly 1,000 scientific illustrations over his lifetime, many depicting species he first identified himself. 

A German scientist and illustrator,Haeckel devoted his career to capturing the diversity and structure of life with unusual intensity and precision. His drawings and paintings of organic forms are especially distinctive for their heightened symmetry, intricate detail, and careful arrangement, often revealing patterns that feel both scientific and deliberately composed.

Illustration of “Muscinae” (Plate 72) from “Kunstformen der Natur,” 1904, by Ernst Haeckel. (Biodiversity Heritage Library)

His most celebrated achievement is “Kunstformen der Natur,” a collection of illustrations originally published in 1904. Also known as “Art Forms in Nature,” it features a wide range of organisms in lithographic and halftone prints. 

Unlike most art collections, these works were not created as stand-alone pieces. They were intended to be reproduced and widely shared for educational purposes. Even so, there’s a clear artistic intent throughout. From delicate flowers to feathery mosses, the subjects are carefully arranged to highlight both their visual beauty and biological harmony. (More)

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—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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