Tensions Rise as Tiananmen Anniversary and Tibetan Holiday Approach As the summer heat builds in Beijing, so too, traditionally, does the tension leading up to June 4, the anniversary of the night in 1989 when democracy protests at Tiananmen Square were crushed by the military, killing hundreds of civilians. Security is tight on the vast square that day, with a large uniformed and plainclothes security presence carrying out ID checks on tourists and other visitors. Internet policing nationwide is especially heavy, and many government critics are barred from leaving their homes. Next Monday marks 23 years since the failed uprising. While that might not seem an especially sensitive anniversary per se, three separate developments suggest it may turn out that way: high political tension ahead of the leadership transition that starts in the fall; the self-immolations Sunday of two men in Lhasa, the first such protests in the Tibetan capital; and, in a quietly tragic act, the suicide Friday of the despairing father of one of the young men shot dead by the army in 1989. Seventy-three-year-old Ya Weilin left a note recounting the death of his son, Ya Aiguo, and declaring he would "fight with my death" against the government's refusal to hear his grievances, according to this story by my colleague Michael Wines. Capping it all, Tibet's Saga Dawa festival, marking Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, falls on June 4 this year. One of the most important festivals in the Tibetan calendar, it promises to be fraught with tension, with reports here that detentions have begun since the Tibetans set fire to themselves in Lhasa. The Chinese authorities are deeply concerned about Sunday's self-immolations, Robert J. Barnett, a scholar of modern Tibet at Columbia University, identified the two protesters as Dargye, from Aba County, and Tobgye Tseten, from Xiahe County, who died. "The Chinese officials are really worried," because the latest protests seem to be "driven by an idea, a political goal," said Mr. Barnett. On her blog, Invisible Tibet, the well-known part-Tibetan, part-Han Chinese writer Tsering Woeser has a photograph that she says appears to show the self-immolations. I cannot confirm that, but the image, which is taken from quite far away, shows a tall pillar of white smoke rising in front of the temple. It can be viewed here. China says more than 20 Tibetans have set fire to themselves since March 2011, and says the acts have been carried out with the support of "separatists" abroad, as Xinhua wrote here. Overseas Tibetan rights groups say the overall figure is nearly twice that and that the motive is greater freedom in Tibet. This link to the Web site of Free Tibet, a London-based advocacy group, includes disturbing video of a self-immolation, with a female onlooker throwing a white scarf toward the burning person in a gesture of respect. On her blog, Ms. Woeser said the atmosphere in Lhasa was already tense before Sunday. Last week, the state-run Tibet Daily published a notice calling on security to be tightened during the Saga Dawa festival in order to avoid "big incidents, medium incidents and also, with hard work, small incidents from happening" (report here, in Chinese). Not surprisingly, news of the Lhasa self-immolations has been heavily censored in China. By Tuesday morning, searches on microblogging sites for "Jokhang Temple," in Chinese, turned up a message saying that according to laws and policies no search results could be shown.