Amnest chief 'forcefully shoved' during memorial ceremony for Tiananmen Square

The director of Amnesty International UK said she was “forcefully” shoved by a Chinese embassy official during a ceremony to remember protesters killed in one of China’s bloodiest crackdowns.

Survivors of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown joined human rights campaigners to lay flowers outside the Chinese embassy in central London to mark the 25th anniversary of the event.

Hundreds of people are believed to have died when Chinese troops opened fire on the student-led protest in June 1989.

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, and Ti-Anna Wang, the daughter of a Chinese political prisoner, lay the first bouquet but were pushed away from the doorway by one of two men from the embassy.

The bouquet of red flowers, which was said to represent the blood spilt in Tiananmen Square, were then thrown away from the door.

Both men then re-entered the embassy before a Metropolitan police officer instructed that the flowers be laid on the pavement outside the building.

RT @KreaseChan: Pushed off the steps of the Embassy #Tiananmen89 #tiananmen25 #TAM25 pic.twitter.com/vCGzOAq7Zl”

— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) June 4, 2014

An Amnesty International spokeswoman said the incident would be reported to police.

Speaking afterwards outside the embassy, Ms Allen said: “One of the embassy officials shoved both of us very forcefully in the back so that we both flew into the journalists and photographers standing behind us.

“It was a really hard, physical shove.

“It felt quite violent and quite shocking.

“It made me think about what people in China are facing.

“I think they’ve shown their true colours.”

Ms Wang, 25, the daughter of Chinese political activist Wang Bingzhang, said: “I think he yelled out ’You can’t do this’ and ’It’s against the law’... and then he told us to get out.

“I was just shocked and really upset that he would do something like this and seems like he’ll get away with it.

“There’s the police and the media and I don’t know if they’re going to have any reprisals for their actions.

“It makes you think about Chinese people and what kind of oppression they face every day.”

Wu Renhua, one of the survivors of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, said: “I felt extremely angry and shocked.

“Even here they use force.

“This exposed how violent they can be in front of the world.”

Amnesty International said hundreds, likely thousands, died in the Tiananmen Square crackdown, while China put the death toll at about 200.

Protest leaders said they were seeking greater democracy and freedom, along with an end to corruption.

China claimed that the protests were aimed at toppling the ruling Communist Party and plunging the country into chaos.

The crackdown reportedly remains a taboo subject in China and is banned from textbooks and websites.