WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called on Beijing to publish the names of those killed or missing in the Tiananmen Square protests on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the crackdown.

"A China that has made enormous progress economically and is emerging to take its rightful place in global leadership should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal," Clinton said in a statement.

She also called on China to release prisoners still detained for taking part in the peaceful pro-democracy protests and end harassment of the Tiananmen Mothers, which is pressing to know more about missing loved ones.

"China can honor the memory of that day by moving to give the rule of law, protection of internationally recognized human rights and democratic development the same priority as it has given to economic reform," she said.

The US Congress made a similar appeal in a nearly unanimous resolution approved the day before.

China has kept a tight lid on information ahead of the anniversary, blacking out foreign TV reports about Beijing's crackdown on the protests which left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead.

The Chinese army forcibly cleared the vast square in central Beijing on the night of June 3-4, crushing student-led protests that had turned into a mass movement for democracy.

AFP, June 3, 2009