Tiananmen Square massacre: China in war of words with US

Beijing: China on Tuesday defended its army's action at the Tiananmen Square three decades ago and lodged a diplomatic protest with the US for calling for public accountability, amid calls for introspection of the mass shooting which left a deep scar on the psyche of the Communist nation.

The Foreign Ministry's furious response came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's call for public accountability of the June 4, 1989 massacre. Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters are believed to have been killed on June 4, 1989 in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a brutal crackdown on those demonstrating against the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

The US has asked China to make a full public accounting of those killed and missing in the Tiananmen Square massacre even as it alleged that the Chinese citizens are being subjected to a new wave of abuses, especially in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang province.

Noting that the event 30 years ago still stirs the conscience of freedom-loving people around the world, Pompeo said that 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.

"China firmly rejects the allegations and has lodged a firm representation with the US. Some in the US are so used to lecturing others on the pretext of democracy and human rights that they interfere in other country's internal affairs while turning a blind eye to their own problems," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

"On that political disturbance at the end of 1980s the Chinese government has reached clear conclusion a long time ago. The tremendous progress achieved in 70 years since founding of new China shows that the development path chosen by China is completely right," he said.