No remorse from China as survivors mark Tiananmen massacre

A young Chinese boy waves the national flag during a visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing yesterday as a paramilitary policeman keep a lookout for any signs of protest. China showed no sign of remorse yesterday on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. PHOTO: AFP

With the event remaining highly sensitive to the ruling Communist Party, few, if any, commemorations were taking place to mark the day when hundreds, if not thousands, of democracy protestors were killed by Chinese troops.

On the vast square Friday, police vans criss-crossed constantly to maintain order, while on the majestic Chang'an Avenue running past Tiananmen, uniformed People's Armed Police and undercover teams made their presence felt.

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All traces of the bullet holes and tanks tracks that scarred the area have long since been erased.

One wheelchair-bound man was seen protesting, wearing a headband with a slogan on it. He managed to unveil and hold up a slip of paper before security forces pounced and took him away, an AFP photographer witnessed.

While few in the capital dare to publicly commemorate the massacre, an estimated 60,000 people are expected to gather in Hong Kong to light candles in memory of those who died.

In Washington, many of the student leaders of the 1989 protests who now live in exile in the United States were to hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese embassy.

The only candles being lit in Beijing are behind closed doors, and even then it is far from safe.

"They threatened to take me away if I lit a candle," Hu Jia, a leading Tiananmen and AIDS activist, told AFP from his Beijing home where he is under house arrest.

In the lead-up to the anniversary, China's secretive state security police have placed known dissidents under house arrest and even forced some from their homes to hotels outside the Chinese capital.