Tiananmen exiles say "forgotten" at home

By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 50 exiled Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protesters reunited on Thursday to remember the crackdown 20 years ago, criticizing China's government and the U.S. embrace of authoritarian Beijing.

In the type of commemorative rally the Chinese government smothered back home, the Tiananmen survivors' reunion in Washington featured prominent 1989 protesters, including a man who lost both of his legs when he was run over by a tank sent to crush weeks of student and worker demonstrations.

The tragedy is "that we have been forgotten" by China's youth who do not learn about the killings, and neglected by a world eager to court Beijing for business," said Su Xiaokang, a leading intellectual force behind the 1989 protests.

Prominent student protest leader Wang Dan levelled sharp criticism at the communist-ruled government that jailed him then sent him into exile in 1998, saying that corruption and repression remain unchanged and the political reforms they sought 20 years ago had yet to materialise.

But the 40-year-old activist and his colleagues also sounded an alarm at China's global influence and the U.S. and other Western governments that did not challenge China as they relied on it for export markets, loans and diplomatic help.

"It is not the rise of China, but the rise of the Chinese Communist Party," said student leader Chen Pokung, who called for wariness about China's motives.

"The U.S. government has made many mistakes in appeasing China in the past and I'm concerned the current government will repeat that," added Su.

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