Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
China security tight in Tiananmen
Thu Jun 4, 2009 2:16am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police were out in force Thursday to prevent commemoration of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a day after Washington demanded Beijing account for those killed.
Tanks rolled into the square before dawn on June 4, 1989, to crush weeks of student and worker protests. The ruling Communist Party has never released a death toll and fears any public marking of the crackdown could undermine its hold on power.
China has changed dramatically in the past two decades. Market reforms have lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and transformed China into the world's third-largest economy, making similar protests on the same scale highly unlikely today.
The 1989 killings strained ties between Washington and Beijing and the reverberations were evident on the eve of the anniversary.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on China to release all those still imprisoned in connection with the protests, to stop harassing those who took part and to begin a dialogue with the victims' families.
"A China that has made enormous progress economically and is emerging to take its rightful place in global leadership should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal," Clinton said in a statement.
The demands reflect views Washington has long held but represent a tougher stance on China's human rights record than Clinton has taken in her first four months in the job.
Clinton's call was echoed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat once posted in Beijing.
"All people around the world were affected by those events and they still have resonance today," Rudd told the Australian Parliament.
In a sign of Beijing's mix of confidence and caution, Tiananmen Square was open to visitors Thursday, with hundreds of police and guards present. On the 10th anniversary of the crackdown in 1999, it was closed to the public.
Chinese crowded the square to watch the dawn flag-raising ceremony that is now a fixture of official patriotic ritual. Many were visitors from outside Beijing and appeared oblivious to the sensitive date. There were no gestures of protest.
But some people came quietly to the square to mourn.
"Today is June 4, so we came here to commemorate it," said a man surnamed Wang.
Authorities blocked access to the social messaging site Twitter (www.twitter.com), online photo sharing service Flickr (www.flickr.com), as well as briefly to email provider Hotmail. Foreign newscasts about the anniversary have been cut.
"The leaders would rather just avoid this topic," said Zhang Boshu, a philosopher in Beijing who has urged a public reckoning with the killings. "They know that the 1989 crackdown, shooting their own citizens, was a terrible blow to their legitimacy." Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
North Korea to hold trial for two U.S. journalists
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Fighting the Taliban
A growing insurgency in Afghanistan is also spreading deep into Pakistan, making both countries crucial to U.S. war efforts in the region. Full Coverage
More International News
New Air France debris found, explosion unlikely
| Video
North Korea to hold trial for two U.S. journalists
OAS ends Cuba suspension after 47 years
UK's Brown under pressure in European, local polls
North Korea puts two U.S. journalists on trial
| Video
More International News...
Video
Tiananmen remembered 20 years on
Play Video
Remembering Tiananmen
More Video...
Related News
FACTBOX: China's leaders and protest movement in 1989
03 Jun 2009
TIMELINE: China milestones since 1989
03 Jun 2009
U.S. has tough words for China on Tiananmen
03 Jun 2009
Taiwan president tells China to face up to June 4
03 Jun 2009
Tiananmen dissident barred from China via Macau
03 Jun 2009
China protest shifts with economic backdrop post-'89
03 Jun 2009
Web changes China and exile for Tiananmen leader
03 Jun 2009
Featured Broker sponsored link
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
New Air France debris found, explosion unlikely | Video
Venezuela Chavez says "Comrade" Obama more left-wing
WITNESS: A night with China's secret police in 1989
OAS ends Cuba suspension after 47 years
As Internet evolves, profit still missing factor
Chinese machine maker's Hummer buy raises eyebrows
Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies: study
Wal-Mart to add 22,000 jobs at U.S. namesake stores
New Air France debris found, explosion unlikely | Video
UPDATE 7-New Air France debris found, explosion unlikely
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Search efforts for Air France crash
Deadly ticks double in Russia
Facing the Taliban in Afghanistan
Engaging the Muslim world
Air France searchers find debris
Shell tried over Nigeria executions
Airbus: hunt for black box recorders
Pregnant British woman gets life
McCartney plans NY stadium concert
Air crash victims mourned in Paris
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
The Great Debate
Fearing the supermen of Guantanamo
Bernd Debusmann
The language used in the debate over plans to close the detention center has taken on a surreal quality and convey the impression that Guantanamo detainees will wander the streets, shopping for sandals and guns. Commentary
Follow Bernd Debusmann on Twitter
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.