Police in China beat and detained political activists yesterday marking the 23rd anniversary of the brutal crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, rights campaigners said.

Officers used violence against activists in the southeast province of Fujian and detained them, while more than 30 people who came to Beijing “to petition” were held and forced to return to their home province, the activists reported.

“Around 20 rights defenders were stoppedby police and beaten this morning on MayFirst Square,” Shi Liping, the wife of activist LinBingxing, said by phone from Fuzhou.

“The police said they were going to ‘beat them to death’. They took about eight people into custody, including my husband. I fear he has beenbeaten badly.” Police in Fuzhou contacted by AFP denied anyone had been detained.

People’s Liberation Army soldiers stormed into central Beijing on June 3-4, 1989, firing upon unarmed demonstrators and citizens, killing hundreds if not thousands, as they ended six weeks of democracy protests on Tiananmen Square.

More than two decades later, Beijing still considers the incident a “counter-revolutionary rebellion” and a “political storm” and has refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing or consider compensation for those killed.

Any mention of the 1989 protests is banned in state media and the subject is largely taboo in China.

But the overseas dissident website www.molihua.org has in recent days urged those opposed to the crackdown to dress in black and “stroll” in public places throughout China on June 3-4.

The call, which spread through numerous microblogs, was similar to ones last year urging Chinese to hold protests akin to those that spread through the Arab world. In recent days, thousands of people have “strolled” down the main street of Wansheng district, in the southwestern city of Chongqing, in protest against the local government.