Beijing, March 7 (Reuters): The doctor who blew the whistle on China’s Sars cover-up last year has asked the government to reappraise the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, according to a copy of his letter seen today.

Jiang Yanyong confirmed he had written and sent the letter to top leaders, but declined further comment.

“The mistake made by our party should be resolved by the party itself,” Jiang, a 72-year-old Communist Party veteran, wrote. “The sooner and the more thorough the better.

“Year after year, with no correction of the mistake, people feel more and more disappointed and angry.”

A reversal of the official verdict that the student-led demonstrations were a “counter-revolutionary rebellion” was unforeseeable in the near future because such a move would be politically sensitive and risky, analysts said.

They said Jiang’s letter would embarrass and anger Beijing, but the authorities were unlikely to jail him for fear of a backlash.

Rehabilitation of the protesters could split the Communist Party and trigger a power struggle. Some top leaders involved in, or who benefited from, the army crackdown on the movement are still alive or in power today, analysts said.

Jiang is a hero to many Chinese for blowing the whistle on the Sars cover-up.

His revelation led to the dismissal of the health minister and the Beijing mayor and prompted truthful, open reporting of the epidemic.

The weekly magazine Caijing, known for pushing the limits of government controls, called Jiang “the honest doctor”.