Tiananmen Square Massacre: China attacks US secretary of state for ‘lunatic ravings and babbling nonsense’ after he praises 1989 protesters

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China has denounced Mike Pompeo for paying tribute to the Tiananmen Square protesters, dismissing the US secretary of state’s remarks as “lunatic ravings and babbling nonsense”.

Mr Pompeo praised the “heroic protest movement” in a statement published on Monday, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the massacre.

Around 200,000 troops were sent to suppress pro-democracy rallies in the square on 4 June 1989.

Estimates vary on how many people died, but it is thought between 1,000 and 4,000 demonstrators were killed and 10,000 wounded.

Beijing has never released an official death toll and continues to ignore the event.

Information about the massacre is heavily censored in mainland China and police detain dozens of activists, journalists and critics in the run-up to the anniversary each year.

“The hundreds of thousands of protesters who gathered in Beijing and in other cities around China suffered grievously in pursuit of a better future for their country,” Mr Pompeo said.

“The number of dead is still unknown. We express our deep sorrow to the families still grieving their lost loved ones.”

Mr Pompeo also called on Beijing to “make a full, public accounting of those killed or missing”.

The Chinese foreign ministry responded angrily to the statement.

“These lunatic ravings and babbling nonsense will only end up in the trash can of history,” a ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“[Mr Pompeo] denigrates the state of China’s human rights and religious affairs, wantonly criticises China’s Xinjiang policy and severely interferes in China’s domestic affairs.”

Although information about the massacre is heavily restricted in China, about 180,000 people gathered at a 30th-anniversary vigil in Hong Kong.

The crowds held candles in Victoria Park and stood listening to music and speeches about the massacre.

Video montages of the pro-democracy protest movement and its victims were also played.

“They [were] the hope of China,” Henry Leung, one of the attendees, told The Independent.

“This [protest] is a very special experience to me because of what happened in Beijing.”

Hong Kong and Macau are the only places in Chinese territory where the massacre can be commemorated.

Wei Fenghe, China’s defence minister, attempted to justify the massacre during a speech in Singapore.

“Do you think the government was wrong with the handling of 4 June? There was a conclusion to that incident,” he said on Sunday.

“The government was decisive in stopping the turbulence.”

Additional reporting by agencies