Video: China: Over 200 Arrested on Tiananmen Square on New Year’s Day

By Zhao Zifa and Ji Jian, Epoch Times Staff, Jan 01, 2007-

Click to download the video clip (4.1 MB, .avi) : At 9:35 a.m. on January 1, 2007, a large group of protesters walk out of the underground tunnel and march towards Tiananmen Square. (The Epoch Times)

Click to download the video clip (5.6 MB, .avi) : At 9:36 a.m., police vehicle rushes in and intercepts the demonstrators. (The Epoch Times)

Click to download the video clip (10 MB, .avi) : At 9:38 a.m., demonstrators were forced onto a bus and taken away. (The Epoch Times)

On the morning of January 1, 2007, Chinese authorities arrested over 200 protesters on Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen public security, armed police and plainclothes officers were on the scene to interrogate and arrest demonstrators.

( Phone: On New Year’s morning, police cars scoured Tiananmen Square while armed officers interrogated and arrested protesters. – The Epoch Times)

Voicing a variety of complaints, the majority of these protesters came from all across China. Demonstrators were arrested in several groups near the exit of an underground tunnel leading to the Square. Police hauled off five vehicles full of protesters.

Tiananmen Square was not the only location where New Year’s dissidents have been apprehended. Laying bait for attests, authorities infiltrated several villages, circulating rumors of a planned protest at Shijing Hill on New Year’s Day. Caught in this trap, individuals later found at Shijing Hill were taken into police custody. Beijing human rights advocate Liu Anjun believes that a dozen people were arrested at Shijing Hill and are being kept by local authorities.

Just before the New Year, several groups of demonstrators protesting outside of Chinese primer Wen Jiabao’s house were apprehended by authorities. Their whereabouts are currently not known.

Some demonstrators claim that authorities began systematically hunting down and arresting protesters gathered in Beijing since December 29. Protesters were all arrested and sent to a Beijing detention center—they have neither been claimed by the respective local authorities nor have they been released. Some were still detained after two days. The rooms of the detention center are cold and crowded, with the entire building holding about 1,000 people.

The photography and video footage featured in this report were obtained at great risk and difficulty.