Li under fire after attack on June 4 movement
CHINESE Premier Mr Li Peng has come under criticism for his reference to the 1989 pro-democracy movement as ''counter-revolutionary turmoil'' in his work report delivered on Monday at the opening of the National People's Congress.
The salvo was fired by Mr Xu Simin, a long-serving Hongkong delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's main united front body.
Mr Xu said: ''It [the crackdown] had been described as the June 4 incident in the past. But this year, it has been changed to 'counter-revolutionary turmoil'.
''I have reservations about this statement. It will turn something positive into negative. Hongkong people will not accept this.
''This will damage efforts to boost unity with Hongkong people. Following the swing of Deng Xiaoping to the southern region last year, many Hongkong people have become more positive about China's future. The remarks will create bad feelings in Hongkong,'' he said at a CPPCC group discussion.
Mr Xu, a magazine publisher, also pointed out that the problem of the worsening of social ethics in the mainland had shown no signs of improvement.
He cited the case that many CPPCC delegates had left the full sessions much earlier in the past two days even though top government officials were still speaking.
''What's the purpose of getting on the coach at an earlier time? I felt unease when I saw people leaving in droves when the meeting was still going on,'' said Mr Xu, who was a member of the CPPCC presidium.
This contrasted with reports by official agencies that Mr Li was greeted by ''repeated applauses'' when he delivered his state-of-nation address.
Mr Xu also pointed to the need to improve the well-being of intellectuals who faced growing hardship as the country steered towards a market economy.
