‘Every year I get new pictures’: the fight to preserve the memory of Tiananmen Efforts to document the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre are intensifying abroad due to growing censorship within China under Xi Jinping. Projects like the China Unofficial Archives (CUA) are preserving historical materials, such as photographs and diaries, that counter the official narrative. The fight to preserve this history extends to safeguarding artifacts like the diaries of CCP official Li Rui, ensuring they remain accessible outside of China.

• Efforts to document the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre are increasing abroad due to censorship in China.
• The China Unofficial Archives (CUA) is a non-profit project launched in 2023 to protect censored and suppressed Chinese history.
• Helmut Opletal’s photographs, capturing the hope and joy of protesters before the massacre, are among the materials hosted by CUA.
• The diaries of former CCP official Li Rui, containing his observations of the massacre, are housed at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution after a legal dispute.
• Activists and organizations are using technology and international collaboration to preserve and share historical information about the event.
• Despite attempts at transnational repression and hacking, these efforts aim to ensure an uncensored version of modern Chinese history is accessible.