China tightens security on 30th anniversary of Tiananmen

Visitors gather to watch the flag raising in front of Mao Zedong's portrait on Tiananmen Gate on the 30th anniversary of a bloody crackdown of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Critics say the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, which left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead, set the ruling Communist Party on its present course of ruthless suppression, summary incarceration and the frequent use of violence against opponents in the name of "stability maintenance." (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Policemen stand watch as a Chinese honor guard opens the Chinese national flag against the Great Hall of the People during the daily flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square on the 30th anniversary for the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protest in Beijing, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Critics say the Tiananmen crackdown, which left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead, set the ruling Communist Party on its present course of ruthless suppression, summary incarceration and the frequent use of violence against opponents in the name of "stability maintenance." (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

BEIJING – Chinese authorities have stepped up security around Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, a reminder of the government's attempts to quash any memories of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests 30 years ago.

Extra checkpoints and street closures greeted tourists who showed up early Tuesday morning to watch the daily flag-raising ceremony. An honor guard marched across a barricaded street and raised the Chinese flag.

Foreign journalists were not allowed onto the square to record events.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people are believed to have been killed in 1989 when the government sent in the military to clear Tiananmen Square of protesters in an operation that began the night of June 3 and ended the following morning.

Any commemoration of the event is not allowed in China.