China slams US over Tiananmen anniversary statement

By Julian Pecquet - 06/04/12 02:48 PM ET

The Chinese government on Monday blasted the Obama administration for commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

“The U.S. side has been ignoring the facts and issuing such statements year after year, making baseless accusations against the Chinese government and arbitrarily interfering with China's internal affairs,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Weimin said at a daily briefing, according to CNN. “The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to such acts.”

The spat comes at a time of heightened tension between the United States and China on the eve of a once-in-a-decade power transition this fall that's been unusually rocky this year. A top contender for one of the nine spots on China's Politburo Standing Committee, leftist governor Bo Xilai, was purged from the party over allegations of corruption, while then-Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong in a new book says the June 4, 1989, crackdown should have been prevented.

On top of that, blind human-rights activist Chen Guangcheng added to the drama by seeking refuge at the U.S. embassy last month, kicking off a days-long crisis between the United States and China while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner were visiting the country.

This year's State Department message, issued on the eve of the anniversary, was little changed from past years.

“We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens; release those who have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted, incarcerated, forcibly disappeared, or placed under house arrest; and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families,” said department spokesman Mark Toner.

Now studying law in New York, Chen also weighed in with a message to protesters commemorating the anniversary in Hong Kong.

"This Democracy Movement deserves universal approval," he said. "We ask that its requests be treated appropriately. We do not desire revenge but we want to completely reveal the truth. We are in favor of tolerance, but against forgetfulness. People who are forgetful have no future."

The full U.S. statement is below:

Message on the Twenty-Third Anniversary of Tiananmen Square
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC June 3, 2012
On this the twenty-third anniversary of the violent suppression by Chinese authorities of the spring 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, the United States joins the international community in remembering the tragic loss of innocent lives.
We encourage the Chinese government to release all those still serving sentences for their participation in the demonstrations; to provide a full public accounting of those killed, detained or missing; and to end the continued harassment of demonstration participants and their families.
We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens; release those who have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted, incarcerated, forcibly disappeared, or placed under house arrest; and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families.