Beijing Arrests 20 in Tiananmen Inquiry

China has detained more than 20 people suspected of smuggling abroad secret documents about the 1989 Beijing massacre, according to reports in the Hong Kong press on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the killings.

Zhang Liang, who compiled a collection of Tiananmen papers published abroad last year, says the authorities acted after a nationwide inquiry into the source of his materials.

Western scholars who worked on the book with Mr Zhang (his name is a pseudonym) believe he represents a group of dissident liberal scholars and civil servants on the mainland.

Several hundred people were shot and killed on the night of June 3-4 1989, when army units used armoured personnel carriers to smash barricades and disperse pro-democracy demonstrators in the heart of Beijing.

Yesterday, as on every other anniversary, the official Chinese press was silent on the subject. However, the massacre was referred to in postings on at least one popular website discussion group.

"The Chinese youth died for the sake of China," one contributor said in a message to the People's Daily "strong nation" site. The posting was removed within seconds by a watchful monitor, and replaced with the note that "this is a mistaken message".

In a statement marking the anniversary, Amnesty International calls the massacre an unresolved human right issue. "Despite repeated appeals from within and abroad," it says, "the Chinese authorities have failed to account for those killed, injured and imprisoned...."

Amnesty complains that "the circle of victims continues to increase" as those in China who urge a review of the 1989 events are "arrested and sentenced for drawing attention to the crackdown".

It cites the case of Huang Qi, arrested on June 3 2000 for running a website which appealed on behalf of those missing after the massacre. Mr Huang was tried in secret last year and remains in prison. No verdict has been announced.