China Defends Crackdown Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary
by VOA News June 03, 2014
China on Tuesday defended as 'lawful' its detention of government critics ahead of this week's 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Dozens of activists have been detained or placed under house arrest in the lead-up to the June 3-4 anniversary of the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests.
When asked Tuesday why Beijing was detaining the dissidents, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said only that China was acting according to the law.
'In China, there are only law breakers - there are no so-called dissidents. The relevant departments of the Chinese government act according to the law. China's legal authority should be respected,' said Hong.
It has become an annual tradition for Beijing to round up activists ahead of the sensitive anniversary, but this year the crackdown has been harsher than usual.
The latest to be held is Chinese-born Australian artist Guo Jian, who was taken away by police Sunday night, just after the Financial Times published an interview with him.
China does not allow public discussion of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, in which hundreds, possibly even thousands, of protesters were killed by Chinese soldiers.
An official death toll has never been released.
Hong, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said China has 'long ago reached a conclusion' about the incident. He instead focused on 'China's enormous achievements in social and economic development.'
Security was tighter than usual in Beijing on the eve of the anniversary Tuesday, with expanded police patrols and security checkpoints throughout the city.
There are also complaints about what foreign journalists say is a campaign of harassment and intimidation to deter overseas media reporting on the anniversary.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China says some journalists were warned by police their press cards and visas would be canceled if they did not stop their reporting.
One French broadcaster reported its journalists were forced to confess on camera that they did something 'very sensitive' which could 'cause a disturbance.'
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