A group of mainland students studying in the United States has published an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping calling for a reassessment of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and advocating reform in the run-up to the senior leadership reshuffle this autumn.
'It's rather puzzling to us why such an obvious mistake or even crime has been covered up for 23 years rather than being reflected upon and corrected,' the letter states. It was published on an online mainland news portal and then carried on other websites.
'We hope that the Communist Party will vindicate June 4 during the 18th National Congress of the Party [in the autumn], hold decision-makers accountable and compensate the victims, which could be a first step towards political reform that could shift China from the rule of man to the rule of law and democracy.'
The letter, issued by eight students, reflects an apparent rising tide of opinion in society daring to call for a new look at the student-led pro-democracy movement.
Such a rehabilitation of the 1980s generation is simply a matter of time, most analysts agree, but exactly how much time depends more on the growing pressure from society than on the central authorities' will to implement their decisions.
The recent downfall of Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai and the house arrest and dramatic escape to the United States of blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng are seen as indicators of a new political and social crisis, by exposing fault lines within the party leadership as it struggles to use a decade and more of economic progress to reverse growing income inequality, rising corruption and the lack of serious political reform. 'The uncertainty and conflicts in the top leadership provides more chances for civil society to [voice its political agenda],' said Zhang Lifan, a historian and political commentator.
Tiananmen pro-democracy movement leader Wang Juntao, in exile in the United States, noted that several incidents this year, in conjunction with rising civic power in recent years, had boosted the possibility of a power reshuffle.