Beijing Issues Protest To US Over Pompeo's Remarks On Tiananmen Crackdown

China has expressed its protest to Washington over the critical statements made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the deadly crackdown on a massive student demonstration in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Tuesday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2019) China has expressed its protest to Washington over the critical statements made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the deadly crackdown on a massive student demonstration in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Tuesday.

On Monday, Pompeo called on Beijing to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown of the largest political rally in communist China by releasing human rights activists. According to the state secretary, despite Washington's hope that Chinese society would become more open and tolerant after the deadly events, these hopes had not been realized. Pompeo added that the one-party state in China did not tolerate dissent and persistently violated human rights in its own interests.

"Secretary Pompeo's statement is a gross interference in China's internal affairs and a violation of the basic rules governing international relations. His statements have damaged the mutual trust between China and the United States. Beijing has already made strict representation to the US side in this regard," Geng said.

On June 4, 1989, a student-led protest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square was dispersed by the army, leaving over 200 dead and 7,000 injured, according to official estimates. Human rights activists, however, have claimed that the death toll is in the thousands.