The eldest daughter of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (
Speaking on a Hong Kong radio program, Deng Lin argued that China would have "descended into chaos" if it had not been for the crackdown in which hundreds, possibly thousands, of students were killed by troops.
She said the decision to order what has become known as the Tiananmen Square massacre was not her father's alone but "a collective one taken by state leaders."
Deng's remarks follow a long-running controversy in Hong Kong over comments by the leader of a pro-China political party that the 1989 killings should not be referred to as a massacre.
Ma Lik's (
An estimated 55,000 people took part in the June 4 vigil in Hong Kong, the only place on Chinese soil that the killings are publicly commemorated.
Pro-democracy activists are planning protests for the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty on July 1.
Michael Bloomberg last week apologized at a business forum hosted by the news agency he founded for remarks by former British prime minister Boris Johnson criticizing China as autocratic. The controversy highlights China’s influence in Asia and sensitivities about overt criticism of Beijing. Bloomberg, a former New York mayor who ran for president in 2020, apologized on Thursday at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, a business gathering whose speakers included Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (王岐山) and whose delegates included Chinese businesspeople. “Some may have been insulted or offended last night by parts of the speaker’s remarks referencing certain countries and
STRONG LANGUAGE: The Turkish defense ministry posted a photograph online of an F-16 jet with the words: ‘Payback time. The scoundrels are being held to account’ Turkey launched airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, targeting Kurdish groups that Ankara holds responsible for last week’s bomb attack in Istanbul. Warplanes attacked bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG), the ministry said in a statement, which was accompanied by images of F-16 jets taking off and footage of a strike from an aerial drone. There was no immediate comment from either group. The ministry cited Turkey’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter in launching an operation it called Claw-Sword
MONEY-MAKING SCHEME: Some students said they were misled about study or work opportunities, or were not told that they were coming to a self-proclaimed republic Foreign students are big business in northern Cyprus, a tiny, breakaway statelet only recognized by Turkey, but some warn that university recruiters are selling “dreams” in the internationally and economically isolated territory. One Nigerian student, who asked to remain anonymous, said he expected to arrive in the country whose soccer teams compete in European tournaments. Instead, when he saw the currency was the embattled Turkish lira, he realized this was “not the Cyprus I thought it was.” The Mediterranean island is divided between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and a northern statelet established after Turkey launched a 1974 invasion in
POLAND-GERMANY RIFT: Warsaw’s response to Berlin over a NATO system that would increase the alliance’s involvement in the war came as Kyiv accused Russia of war crimes Anti-missile systems that Germany offered to send to Poland should instead go to Ukraine, the Polish government said on Thursday, a proposal that is likely a nonstarter for Berlin because it would significantly ratchet up NATO involvement in Ukraine. Poland’s surprising response to Berlin’s offer was welcomed by Ukraine, which is desperate to protect its airspace as barrages of Russian missiles have knocked out power across the country. German Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht said that use of NATO defense systems outside its territory needs to be agreed by all member states. “It is important to us that Poland can rely on allies
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