Man sets self on fire in China's Tiananmen-Xinhua

BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) A Chinese man set himself on fire in Beijing's central Tiananmen Square today to protest not being paid, Xinhua news agency said.

The man was being treated in hospital.

Tiananmen Square, the symbolic political heart of China and the site of the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters, is a magnet for protest and security there is tight.

Today's incident occurred at about 8.40 a m and the flames were soon extinguished, Xinhua said in a brief report.

The man, 53, was from the central province of Hubei, it said.

He came to Beijing ''to appeal to the higher authority for helping him get back delayed salary'', Xinhua said.

The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the man was a farmer, but had few other details.

In 2001, five practitioners of the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong set themselves on fire in Tiananmen square.

Thousands of Chinese make their way to Beijiing each year to petition the central government after failing to get redress at the local or provincial level.

REUTERS DKA KN1626