HONG KONG — The second most-wanted student leader from the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests says he has been denied entry to the southern Chinese territory of Macau, a day before the 20th anniversary of China’s crackdown.
Wu’er Kaixi told The Associated Press by phone that he traveled to Macau from Taipei to turn himself in to authorities, but immigration officials asked him to take a return flight. He said the officials didn’t immediately remove him by force.
“I’m just waiting. I’m guessing they’re waiting for instructions from their superiors,” Wu’er said.
One of the best known leaders from the Tiananmen student movement, Wu’er rose to fame as a pajama-clad hunger striker haranguing then-Chinese premier Li Peng at a televised meeting during the protests in Beijing.
Chinese authorities apparently wanted to avoid calling more attention to the anniversary — the crackdown on the protests left at least hundreds dead — by arresting a high-profile figure like Wu’er. China also today barred reporters from Tiananmen Square and the government has blocked access to Twitter and some blogs.
Wu’er vowed that he would not go quietly back to Taipei.
“If they disagree with my behavior, they can arrest me. I can accept that,” he said. “But I won’t let them deport me.”
Macau police said in a statement that they had refused entry to the 41-year-old former student leader under internal security laws. The statement did not elaborate.
Beijing likely wants to keep Wu’er away from Macau to avoid a public spectacle on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, which remains a taboo topic on the mainland.
The Chinese government still considers the student protests a “counterrevolutionary” riot. Chinese officials have also rounded up dissidents and stepped up security at Tiananmen Square ahead of the anniversary Thursday.
Wu’er said separately in a statement issued through a friend that if he was allowed in, he planned to turn himself in at the Chinese government’s liaison office in Macau on Thursday, which would draw intense media coverage.
Named No. 2 on the Chinese government’s list of 21 wanted student leaders after the military crushed the protests, killing at least hundreds, he escaped and has lived in exile in the self-ruled island of Taiwan, where he has worked as a businessman and political commentator.
The student leader who topped that list, Wang Dan, was jailed for seven years after the crackdown before being expelled to the United States in 1998 amid international calls for his release.
Wu’er said in his statement that he wants to turn himself in to the Chinese government so he can visit his parents — who haven’t been allowed to visit him in Taiwan — in the western city Urumqi and believes he did nothing wrong.
“My turning myself in should not be interpreted as my admission that my behavior 20 years ago in illegal and wrong. I want to reassert here the Chinese government bears complete and undeniable moral, political and legal responsibility for the tragedy that happened in China in 1989,” Wu’er wrote.
“I hope, 20 years later, the Chinese government can set a new position on the historical problem of the ‘June 4 massacre,’ admit its guilt and apologize to the Chinese people,” he said.
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