China says papers `fabricated'

Beijing - China dismissed "The Tiananmen Papers" yesterday, suggesting the documents that purport to reveal government debates…

Beijing - China dismissed "The Tiananmen Papers" yesterday, suggesting the documents that purport to reveal government debates that led to the 1989 massacre of demonstrators in central Beijing were fabricated.

In the first official reaction to the papers, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Zhu Bangzao, defended the Chinese leaders' decision to crush the student-led protests. "Any attempt to play up the matter again and disrupt China by the despicable means of fabricating materials and distorting facts will be futile," Mr Zhu told a news conference.

The papers, published in the United States last week, could damage the reputations of Mr Jiang and Communist Party number two, Mr Li Peng.