Beijing/Washington, June 4
China and the US Tuesday exchanged barbs over the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised Beijing’s human rights record and asked it to publicly reveal how many pro-democracy protesters died in the crackdown.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s furious response came after Pompeo’s call for public accountability of the massacre by the PLA 30 years ago in Beijing’s iconic Tiananmen Square.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters are believed to have been killed on June 4, 1989, in and around the Tiananmen Square as the PLA launched a brutal crackdown on those demonstrating against the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).
The Chinese government has never said how many people died, although estimates range from the hundreds to thousands.
Noting that the event 30 years ago still stirs the conscience of freedom-loving people around the world, Pompeo said over the decades that followed, the US hoped that China’s integration into the international system would lead to a more open, tolerant society.
He called on China to release all those held for seeking to exercise these rights and freedom, halt the use of arbitrary detention, and reverse counterproductive policies that conflate terrorism with religious and political expression.
Reacting sharply to Pompeo's statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China firmly rejects the allegations and has lodged a firm representation with the US. — PTI
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2IoO1Zg
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