China says U.S. "rude" to comment on Tiananmen

BEIJING, June 7 (Reuters) China opposes the ''rude interference'' of the United States in calling for a full accounting of the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the official Xinhua news agency said today.

''The US statement is a groundless criticism and attack on China,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao was quoted as saying in a statement.

The US State Department issued a statement on Sunday, the 17th anniversary of the pro-democracy protests bloodily put down by Chinese troops, calling for a re-evaluation by China which has branded the protests subversive.

''The US urges China to provide a full accounting of the thousands who were killed, detained, or went missing and of the government role in the massacre,'' spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

China considers the incident history and closed to further questions.

REUTERS CH KP1018