Taiwan Urges Beijing To Apologise For June 4

Taiwan called on Beijing on Wednesday to apologise for the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, a call dismissed as "nonsense" by the Foreign Ministry.

Thursday marks 31 years since troops opened fire to end the student-led unrest in and around the square.

In a statement on the anniversary's eve, Taiwan's government said Beijing should face up to the people's expectations for freedom and democracy and begin political reform.

China should "reassess the historical facts about the June 4 incident and sincerely apologise", the Mainland Affairs Council said.

"We believe that those currently in power should have the courage to correct mistakes, immediately initiate reforms and return power to the people," it added.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected Taiwan's calls.

"The relevant remarks of the Taiwan authorities are totally nonsense. As to the political disturbance in the late 1980s China has drawn a clear conclusion," Zhao told a daily news briefing.

"The great achievements after the founding of new China fully demonstrate that the development path chosen by the new China is totally correct and in line with China's national conditions," he added, referring to the period post-1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.

On Thursday, activists will mark the Tiananmen anniversary at a series of public events in Taiwan.

Mainland authorities ban any public commemoration of the event, while Hong Kong's annual vigil at Victoria Park is banned this year, with police citing coronavirus gathering restrictions.

The central government has never released a full death toll for the massacre, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand. (Reuters)