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Journalism of Courage
China hit back at the US for demanding the release of Chinese arrested during the bloody 1989 Tiananmen square protests,saying it was a ‘rude interference’ in its internal affairs.
“The US statement,which ignored facts and groundlessly criticised the Chinese government,was a rude interference in China’ s internal affairs,” official Xinhua news agency quoted Ma as saying.
He urged Washington ‘to abandon its political bias and rectify the wrong practice to avoid disturbing the China-US relations”.
On the 21st anniversary of Tiananmen square protest by Chinese students,the US asked China to free all those still serving sentences for participating in the June 4,1989 protests.
“We join others in the international community to urge China to release all those still serving sentences for participating in peaceful protests at that time and since,” said Philip J Crowley,the US Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.
“We ask the Chinese government to provide the fullest possible public accounting of those killed,detained or missing,and to cease harassment of those who participated in the demonstrations and the families of the victims,” the top US official said in Washington.
Crowley demanded “China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens,including those who peacefully dissent”.
However,China rejected the US statement and expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to it.
