Despite the Chinese government's attempts to stifle all commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown, more than 100 relatives of the victims have petitioned the government to open a criminal investigation, and have dared to name the former premier Mr Li Peng as one of the responsible officials.
If they do not succeed, the petitioners, encouraged by the arrest in Britain of Gen Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, plan to begin a campaign for international action against named Chinese leaders.
With the anniversary falling on Friday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman made clear yesterday that the petition, contained in two documents submitted to the national prosecutor's office, would not succeed. The action taken by the Beijing leadership 10 years ago constituted "prompt and timely measures to ensure China's stability and development", Mr Zhu Bang zao told reporters.
On June 4th, 1989, the communist government used tanks to crush mass student-led protests against corruption and lack of democracy, killing several hundred people. The action came two weeks after a declaration of martial law by the then-premier, Mr Li, who today is chairman of the national parliament and ranks as No 2 in the party hierarchy.
A small group of victims and relatives regularly lobbies the Chinese government for an investigation of the bloodshed, but this year, with the help of a human rights group and lawyers in New York, they are more organised and are directly challenging Beijing's commitment to a law-based society. Basing their claim on China's criminal code, they have demanded that Mr Li should be investigated as the "primary suspect" in the killings. Beijing officials and senior People's Army officers are also named for criminal violation of laws against "intentional killing" and "intentional injury".
One of the most persistent of the 105 people living in China who signed the petitions is Ms Ding Zilin, a retired professor whose 17-year-old son was killed by army gunfire. "We believe that the actions of Li Peng and other people constituted a genuine crime and nothing less," she said from her apartment in Beijing University, where she has been confined to the campus for several weeks.
Another is Ms You Weijie, whose husband died on June 3rd when he went out to see what was happening in the Beijing streets. "We've had to bury our pain in our hearts, so of course the government should pay compensation," she said. "The government should apologise to the country for such a crime against the people."
The relatives' group has compiled the names of 155 people who were killed and 65 people who were wounded by police and army action, the most comprehensive list so far. Asked about the new legal challenge the Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had no comment but China was a law-based country and "anyone can solve problems in a legal way". However, China's legal system has never been allowed to consider any claims for redress or compensation, or to take an independent line in politically sensitive cases. The information section of the Supreme Pro cur ate in Beijing, which initiates criminal prosecutions, denied on Monday that it had any knowledge of the petitions. Both were handed in personally to officials at the door of the Supreme Procurate building on May 17th and again on May 24th by Ms Zhang Xian ling (62) and Ms Su Bingxian (64), both mothers of young men shot dead on June 4th, 1989.
The relatives are going through the motions to exhaust domestic legal options as the necessary first step before seeking an international inquiry into the events, according to the dissident New York group, Human Rights in China, which will co-ordinate the international legal campaign.
In a sign of pre-anniversary jitters, one of China's most popular Internet chatrooms said yesterday it was closing for 10 days. Sohu.com issued a notice on its website announcing it was shutting down the online discussion forum to improve the system and services, but an employee told Reuters it was because the company feared on-line users might use the chatroom to post anti-government messages.