"Too close to June 4" official note said. Topics for the conference included elections, labour rights and government reform.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - China has called off an international conference on human rights and democracy this week, because it was too close to the June 4 anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, a participant said yesterday.

Topics for the three-day's conference included elections, labour rights and government reform.

It was being organised by the China University of Political Science and Law and New York's Fordham University. It should start on May 19 in Beijing.

Speakers were told to "assume that it's been cancelled", pending official notice, said Bruce Gilley, author of several books on Chinese politics who was invited to speak at the conference. "This was a conference that really highlights the growing amount of interest in Chinese universities about serious democratisation," Gilley said from the United States.

At least 30 scholars from the US and the mainland were to speak at the conference, about the present state and future of human rights, democracy and constitutionalism in China.

It would be the second time in six months that Beijing has called off an international conference on a sensitive issue, after scrapping a meeting with foreign union officials on labour standards in December. The central government has reached out to foreign scholars on a wide range of topics including political reform in recent years, but it keeps a tight rein on political events.

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