Beijing, June 03: China on Wednesday locked down Tiananmen Square on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests there, as dissidents said they faced even tighter police restrictions.
Several hundred police, paramilitaries and other
security personnel swarmed over the square in the heart of
Beijing, where the army crushed seven weeks of protests on the
night of June 3-4, 1989.
Police examined visitors at security checkpoints dotted
around the square, scrutinised bus passengers disembarking on
nearby streets and checked the bags and papers of people
approaching the square from surrounding neighbourhoods.
Leading dissident Qi Zhiyong, who lost his left leg in
1989 and is under nearly permanent police surveillance, was
forcefully taken out of Beijing early today, he told AFP.
"Every day I must send my daughter to school in a
police car. Today after seeing off my child, the police
refused to allow me to get out of the car," Qi said in a text
message.
"Instead two additional police got in the car, forced
me to sit in the middle, and they are now taking me out of
Beijing. They are going to take my phone away."
Subsequent calls to Qi`s phone went unanswered. Qi, 53,
had earlier refused to leave the capital after police had
requested him to do so.
Bureau Report
