China on Tuesday expressed strong opposition to the statement by a U.S. official linking the Beijing Olympic Games to the 1989 Tiananmen incident.

"The Olympic Game are a great world event, and we are firmly against the interference in China's internal affairs in the name of the games," said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey recently said in a statement that China will be under greater scrutiny as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approach. He also criticized what China had done in the Tiananmen incident in 1989.

Jiang said China has had a clear conclusion of the political turmoil at the end of the 1980s.

Over the past two decades, China has maintained social stability and economic growth, and made progress in democracy and legal construction, Jiang said, adding Chinese people enjoy freedom and various human rights.

"The Chinese government and people will unswervingly march forward along the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Jiang said.

Out of its own political aims, the United States has been groundlessly criticizing and attacking China year by year, which severely violates the principles of international relations and wantonly interferes in China's internal affairs.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this," she said, adding "We demand the United States halt the wrong doing and carefully review how to address its serious infringement on human rights both inside its country and overseas," Jiang said.

Source: Xinhua