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US urges China to release Tiananmen prisoners
2008-06-03
The United States on Tuesday urged China to give a full account of the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square and release prisoners taken during the protests, a State Department spokesman said. "The time for the Chinese government to provide the fullest possible public accounting of the thousands killed, detained, or missing in the massacre that followed the protests is long overdue," Sean McCormack said in a statement on the eve of the 19th anniversary of what China has called the "June Fourth incident." "We also join others in the international community to urge China to release all those still serving sentences for participating in the nationwide protests," he said, adding that 50 to 200 people are believed to remain behind bars. McCormack described the killings as "brutal and tragic events," and called on China to take steps to improve its global image ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing later this year. He urged China to "move forward with a reexamination of Tiananmen, to release all Tiananmen-era prisoners, and to cease harassment of the families of the victims of Tiananmen," the statement said. "These actions, together with steps to protect the internationally recognized fundamental freedoms of Chinese citizens, will help China achieve its goal of projecting a positive image to the world." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing earlier that China would not revise its verdict on the protests after calls to stop labeling the student movement a "counterrevolutionary rebellion." "Regarding the political incident that took place at the end of the 1980s, there is already a clear conclusion," he told reporters one day ahead of the anniversary of the protests on Wednesday. He would not be drawn further on the subject, saying the events in 1989 were an internal matter for China, and also brushed aside calls for the improvement of human rights ahead of the Olympic Games in August. The Chinese government gunned down peaceful pro-democracy protesters on and around Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, leaving hundreds and possibly thousands dead.
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