President Ma Ying-jeou called on China Thursday to face up to the history of the Tiananmen Square massacre, in a written statement issued to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. The military crackdown took place June 4, 1989 following months of pro-democracy demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It remains unclear how many people were actually killed or injured, but some estimates put the fatalities at hundreds and others at thousands. The figure published by the Chinese government was 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded. Ma said that while violent conflicts between governments and civilians were not uncommon in the history of China and other countries, the hatred and fear that result from such conflicts do not automatically fade with time. 'In any such conflict, it is the government that exercises public authority and therefore bears responsibility for critically examining its actions,' Ma said. According to Ma, it is essential to face up honestly to the history of unfortunate events and deal with the bereaved families with sympathy in order to prevent a repetition of similar tragedies. In this regard, the efforts made by Taiwan over the past two decades to redress the miscarriage of justice in the 228 incident of 1947 and during a subsequent 38-year period of martial law hold positive lessons for not only Taiwan but also other countries around the world, the president said. He noted that in the last 10 years, China has been paying greater attention to human rights than before. Beijing's signing of the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1988, its ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2001, and its publication of the national human rights action plan in April this year all demonstrate that Beijing is now more willing to directly address the issue, Ma said. He said such changes, which coincide with Taiwan's transformation from authoritarianism to a full-fledged democracy, are very gratifying. According to Ma, with relations between Taiwan and China beginning to warm following 60 years of military conflicts and political confrontation, the two sides should end their arms race and diplomatic contention and instead compete to improve their respective rules of law and human rights records to create a free and democratic future for generations yet to come. 