U.S, Taiwan push China on rights on Tiananmen
Reuters, 4 June 2011
By Ben Blanchard
(Reuters) – The United States and Taiwan pressed China to release dissidents and fully address the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square 22 years ago, as China tightens the noose on rights activists.
The 1989 protests that clogged Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and spread to other cities remain a taboo topic for the ruling Communist Party, all the more so this year following online calls for an Arab-style “jasmine revolution” in China.
The events of more than two decades ago continue to affect international perceptions of China, now the world’s number two economy and increasingly active on the international stage.
The U.S. State Department said China must release all those still jailed for their participation in the 1989 protests.
“We ask the Chinese government to provide the fullest possible public accounting of those killed, detained or missing,” deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.
At least five people remain in jail for joining the protests.
The president of democratic Taiwan, the island China claims as its own and has never renounced the use of force to recover, said Beijing should follow Taipei’s example and reform politically.
“As we look back upon the June 4th incident, we urgently hope the mainland Chinese authorities will have the courage to undertake political reforms and promote the development of freedom, democracy, human rights, and rule of law,” President Ma Ying-jeou said in a statement.
On Saturday, Tiananmen Square was packed with tourists as normal, with no obvious signs that already tight security had been stepped up significantly.
Some roads in central Beijing did have greater numbers of police on them. Police checked some cars on at least one section of the city’s main interior ring road.
“I didn’t agree with the method of the protest, making a disturbance on the square,” said a 60-year-old Beijing resident who gave her family name as Chen. “But I think there should be a way for people to express what’s on their mind.”
FASTING FOR THE DAY
Dissidents said controls over them had been strengthened.
“I can’t come out today. I’ve been kept at home. But I’ll be fasting for the day, like I do every June 4 anniversary,” said Zhou Duo.
Zhou was one of the four activists in 1989 who negotiated with troops to evacuate Tiananmen Square of student-protesters, avoiding bloodshed on the square itself on June 4. He was later jailed for his role in the protests.
“Of course, sooner or late June 4 will be reassessed and rehabilitated. That’s inevitable. History can never be completely erased.”
Zhang Xianling, who lost her son in the Tiananmen protests, said she had been allowed out to visit her son’s grave, but was being followed and was not allowed to go as a group with other bereaved parents, as she has done in the past.
“It shows that even after all these years, China is still limiting human rights,” Zhang said.
Later in the day, tens of thousands are expected to flock to a downtown park in Hong Kong to hold a candlelight vigil that drew about 150 thousand people last year.
Hong Kong, a former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 with a promise of a high degree of autonomy, has remained a beacon for the overseas Chinese pro-democracy movement.
After the crackdown, the government called the movement a “counter revolutionary” plot, but has more recently referred to it as a “political disturbance.”
“Traditionally in the one to two years before any Party congress, the leadership is very stubborn about maintaining law and order,” said Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based China watcher.
“Any massive outbreak of disorder might lessen the chances of politicians getting into the Politburo or the Politburo Standing Committee, so usually they will take no chances.”
The Global Times, a tabloid run by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said in an editorial unrest such as that seen in Inner Mongolia should not be over-played.
“Social conflicts are on the rise in China and ethnic minority areas are no exception. But the incidents there should not be exaggerated or over-interpreted. The key is to understand the reason behind, face it, and find the solution.”
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley, Ken Wills and K.J. Kwon in Beijing, Paul Eckert in Washington, James Pomfret and Xavier Ng in Hong Kong, and Jonathan Standing in Taipei; Editing by Robert Birsel)