China: Tiananmen was necessary

2004-03-15 09:41

Beijing - China's premier has defended the government's deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, calling the student-led demonstrations a "very serious political disturbance" that had to be put down.

In a rare, nationally televised news conference, Wen Jiabao cited China's economic advances since then as evidence the government made the right choice.

He did not directly answer a question about a military surgeon's petition calling on the government to admit it made mistakes in crushing the student-led protests 15 years ago. Hundreds of people were killed.

"What hung in the balance was the future of our party and our country," Wen said. "We successfully stabilised the situation of reform and opening up and the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics."

Crackdown

He noted China's "tremendous achievements" since the crackdown.

"At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, China faced a very serious political disturbance," Wen said.

The military surgeon, Dr Jiang Yanyong, has called on the government to reappraise the demonstrations as a "patriotic movement".

In a letter sent to the annual session of the National People's Congress, he said ordinary Chinese citizens will be "increasingly disappointed and angry" if the party does not revise its judgement on the incident.

Wen became premier last year in a generational leadership change that saw the retirement of many officials personally involved in the 1989 crackdown. His response on Sunday echoed the Chinese government's consistent reluctance to face the issue head-on.

"China has 57nbsp;000 years of history. We had a glorious past, but we also suffered humiliation and subjugation," Wen said. "The rise of China and its rejuvenation are the dreams of many Chinese people of many generations."

- AP