'As for the political incident that took place in China and all related issues, our party and government have already come to a clear conclusion,' foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters at a regular briefing.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands were killed when the Communist leadership decided to send tanks and soldiers to quell weeks of pro-democracy protests in the heart of Beijing in June 1989.

At the time of the crackdown, the Communist Party called the Tiananmen movement a 'counter-revolutionary rebellion', and it has not strayed from this verdict ever since. When asked whether the government would ever reassess that verdict, Mr Qin ignored the question.

China remains adamant that the policies it has pursued over the past two decades were correct, and that it has been vindicated by the country's newfound wealth and prestige.

'The facts prove that the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics we embarked on is consistent with the actual conditions in China and is... a reflection of the fundamental interests of the Chinese people,' he said.

Chinese police aggressively deterred dissent on Thursday's 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, amid calls by Hillary Clinton and even Taiwan's China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence.

An exiled protest leader, Wu'er Kaixi, famous for publicly haranguing one of China's top leaders 20 years ago, was also blocked from returning home to confront officials over what he called the 'June 4 massacre.'

In a statement marking the anniversary, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou urged China to lift the taboo on discussing the crackdown.

'This painful chapter in history must be faced. Pretending it never happened is not an option,' Mr Ma said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman attacked Clinton's comments as a 'gross interference in China's internal affairs.'

'We urge the US to put aside its political prejudice and correct its wrongdoing and refrain from disrupting or underming bilateral relations,' Mr Qin said in response to a question at a regularly scheduled news brifing. -- AFP, AP.

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