Canadian Foreign Affairs Department also shortened draft social media post on massacre prior to publication.
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Chinese authorities blocked attempts by the Canadian Embassy to visually commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre for the last two years, CBC News has learned.
The second incident came just months after Prime Minister Mark Carney's trade trip to Beijing, where he touted improved relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"Late Saturday evening local authorities, working into the early hours of Sunday, planted two large, mature trees in an attempt to block the embassy's LED screen," noted an email by Diana Tan, a staffer at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, obtained by CBC News through an access to information request.
The message was dated June 1, three days before the Canadian diplomatic mission intended to display an image of a candle to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre's 37th anniversary.
"The trees were planted on municipal property, approximately 0.5-1 metre from the embassy wall," Tan noted.
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Another document released as part of the access to information package notes that in 2025, "the Chinese government sent a crane to suspend a large rectangular barrier in front of the screen of the embassy so that passersby could not see the candle."
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The documents obtained by CBC News, largely redacted, suggest 2024 was the first time the Canadian Embassy in Beijing displayed the image of the candle on its LED screen. Though the unredacted portions make no mention of the image getting blocked that year, they do state the projection "led to security officials contacting the embassy."
"The projector image of a candle in Beijing is an important tool for public communications used for the last two years to ensure some level of local visibility since social media posts in China will likely face some kind of censorship," the documents note.
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The documents also reveal Global Affairs initially intended to publish a two-paragraph statement on the social media platform X this year to commemorate the event.
In an email sent June 1, hours after the one from embassy staff sharing the news of the planted trees, senior communications adviser Meghan O'Brien sought clearance for the post's publication. The first paragraph of the draft post is redacted.
The response from Mike Williams, who is identified in the emails as deputy director for the Greater China Political and Coordination Division, reads: "Modified single tweet, rather than 2 short tweets. Also revised message to commemorative tone focused on victims/families."
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The post Global Affairs wound up publishing in full on X reads: "Today, Canadians honour the memory of all who lost their lives, were injured or went missing during the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989. Canada stands with the survivors and the families and loved ones who continue to demand accountability."
That post raised eyebrows online, many noting the use of the word crackdown instead of massacre. Former Alberta premier and federal Conservative defence minister Jason Kenney called it a "deliberate misuse of language to minimize the massacre."
Conservative MP Andrew Lawton wrote "stop letting [Liberal MP] Michael Ma write your tweets."
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The Canadian government has never publicly spoken about either attempts at blocking the LED screen, nor provided an explanation about the wording of the social media post published on X this year.
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Carney is expected to return to China this month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
He has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping twice so far in his capacity as prime minister. The two first attempted to reset relations during a one-on-one in South Korea in November 2025, on the margins of last year's APEC summit, before Carney's visit to Beijing in January.
Ties between Canada and China were fraught under Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau, with Canada arresting Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 as she faced fraud charges in the U.S.
Days later, the Chinese government imprisoned Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig for alleged espionage — eventually releasing them in 2021.
The public inquiry into foreign election interference also found China to be one of the chief state actors attempting to intervene in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021.
