Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the statement by the world rights body's chief amounted to "gravely interfering" in China's judicial sovereignty and internal affairs.
Pillay yesterday called on China's Communist authorities to immediately release over 10 "activists" rounded up ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary for their exercise of their rights and freedom of expression. She also asked China to release the truth about what had actually happened at the Sqaure in Beijing in 1989.
China tries hard to quash any public memories of the June 3-4 crackdown by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) when soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians -- and by some estimates, more than 1,000 -- to crush a movement by pro-democracy students.
While China detained dozens of activists as a precaution to prevent any demonstrations, tens of thousands gathered in Hong Kong for potentially the biggest commemoration yet seen in the honour of those killed in the 1989 massacre.
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China continues to defend the crackdown saying the progress made by the country in the last few decades justified its decision. The authorities classify the 1989 protests as counter-revolutionary riots and hold no memorial.
Hong said China's "tremendous" achievement in the field of human rights is there for all to see.
Without directly referring to the Tiananmen incident, Hong said: "Over the 30 years of reforms and opening up, China has achieved remarkable progress in social and economic development.