China/Hong Kong/US

Tiananmen Square remembered

Article published on the 2009-06-04 Latest update 2009-06-05 14:35 TU

A man blocks a column of army tanks on Changan Avenue east of Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5, 1989.
(Photo: Reuters/Arthur Tsang)

On the 20th anniversary of the incident,the Chinese government has rejected calls to review the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Thousands of people are holding demonstrations in cities around the world to commemororate the deaths of hundreds of campaigners on June 4th, 1989.

 

 

But in the face of renewed calls to account properly for the bloody events - most notably from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the matter had already been settled.

"As for the political incident that took place in China and all related issues, our party and government have already come to a clear conclusion," he said.

The Communist Party called the Tiananmen mainly-students' movement a "counter-revolutionary rebellion" during the events, but now refers to the incident as the "4June turmoil." 

Security around Tiananmen Square, where campaigners were killed by Chinese troops after six weeks of protests, is particularly tight. Police stopped some foreign journalists from reaching the square and the Chinese government has blocked access to some foreign websites and TV channels.

The only major commemoration on Chinese soil will take place 2,000 kilometres south of Beijing, in Hong Kong, where there have been a number of demonstrations this week. Organisers of an annual candlelight vigil said they are hoping 100,000 people will attend this year’s event at Victoria Park.

Some leaders of the uprising, including Wang Dan, are spending the day in Washington, where they are expected to call for more freedom in China.

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton said China should publicly state how many people were killed, detained or missing as a result of the crackdown “both to learn and to heal”.

She also said the Chinese government should release prisoners serving sentences connected to the events and “cease the harassment” of demonstrators.

"China can honour the memory of that day by moving to give the rule of law, protection of internationally recognized human rights and democratic development the same priority as it has given to economic reform," she said in a statement.

 

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