China’s propaganda department of the Communist Party runs a new six-month campaign to educate journalists to censor themself, RSF condemns

Chinese journalists are to undergo six-month training courses that will teach them how to “eradicate false news, improve the feeling of social responsibility and reinforce journalistic ethics.”

“In short, to make journalists themselves actors in censorship,” Reporters Without Borders commented.

The initiative comes from the Propaganda department, directly linked to the Communist Party, and follows its announcement of 10 directives relating to the press in 2011.

Reporters Without Frontiers condemns this escalation in the control of information.

In spite of Chinese regime’s threat, France says EU nations to attend Nobel peace award

By Nick Vinocur, Reuters, Nov 9, 2010 –

(Reuters) – European countries are planning to attend a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring dissident Liu Xiaobo, France said on Tuesday, rebuffing calls from  China for its trade partners to boycott the event.

China reacted angrily when the imprisoned Liu was awarded the prize last month, calling it an “obscenity” that would not change the country’s political system. Liu’s wife and a score of other dissidents have since been put under house arrest.

China’s vice foreign minister and its key negotiator for the Group of 20 meetings told journalists last week that any European government officials who attended the December ceremony for Liu would “have to bear the consequences.”

Five other prominent Chinese activists locked up for criticising the government

(Excerpt) The Amnesty International –

The human rights defence movement in China is growing, but those who attempt to report on human rights violations or challenge politically sensitive government policies face serious risk of abuse. The authorities make frequent use of vaguely-worded charges to silence and imprison peaceful activists, such as “endangering state security”, “subversion of state power” and “separatism”.

Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, became another victim of this crackdown when she was placed under house arrest after she returned home from visiting Liu in prison after he had won the Nobel prize.

Amnesty International profiles five other prominent Chinese activists who have been locked up for daring to criticise the government. (They are Liu Xianbin, Gao Zhisheng, Tan Zuoren, Hairat Niyaz, Dhondup Wangchen )

Over 2,000 Dead Or Missing In Giant Northwest China Landslide

“Then on Sunday a huge landslide in Northern China wiped out a village. Over 2,000 villagers are missing and 127 confirmed dead, according to China Daily.” –from businessinsider.com

images come from a CCTV video-- Zhouqu, Gansu Province, China

images come from a CCTV video-- Zhouqu, Gansu Province, China

(photos) Congressmen, rights activists and NGOs Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong in China (3)

By Gary Feuerberg, Epoch Times Staff, July 23, 2010 –

<< previous

Obama administration not doing enough

Falun Gong practitioners from around the world, U.S. Congress members, NGOs, and others speak out against the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of practitioners on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 22. (Mark Zou/The Epoch Times)

Smith (Rep. Chris Smith) cited the numbers of Falun Gong killed and asked why the United Nations and the United States remains silent of this “holocaust”? He said that the use of torture against Falun Gong practitioners is perhaps the worst anywhere in china.

“We call on the Obama administration to do more to raise its voice very clearly on behalf of Falun Gong.”

Smith noted that China is on the State Department’s list of a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its human rights violations. He asked rhetorically, why aren’t the sanctions imposed on China, as is proscribed by the law?

“Even though Congress has spoken out nearly unanimously against [the persecution of Falun Gong], the Obama Administration, as previous administrations, has failed to press the government of China seriously enough to motivate theme to change their policy of attempting to destroy Falun Gong,” said Efferman.

Rep. Ros-Lehtenin repeated her wish that is contained in the House Resolution 605, which she authored. “I call upon President Obama and leaders of other free, democratic nations, to meet with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to emphasize our unequivocal support for freedom of conscience as a fundamental principle of the United States Government and any democracy.”

Reps. Edolphus ‘Ed’ Towns (D-NY) and Eliot Engle (D-NY) sent statements which were read at the rally. (END)

– The epochtimes: Congressmen Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong

Part1 Part 2 Part 3

(photos) Congressmen, rights activists and NGOs Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong in China (2)

By Gary Feuerberg, Epoch Times Staff, July 23, 2010 –

<< previous

Solidarity with Falun Gong

Congressman Gus Bilrakis (R-Fla.) speaks on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 22 where around 500 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world gathered in peaceful protest against the Chinese Communist Party's persecution. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)

Nearly all the speakers were not Falun Gong practitioners, but they expressed solidarity with the peaceful practice and appreciation for what Falun Gong has done to expand freedom for others.

“You have not surrendered to the tyranny, but have fought against it with the power of your hearts and minds. Through your television broadcasts, newspapers, and internet websites you have spread the word and provided access to the truth for those who live under the communist party’s lies and oppression,” said Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL.).

He continued: “Please know that as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have worked hard to make sure your voice gets heard. … Your numbers cannot be denied and your collective voice cannot be stopped, especially not here in the United States, by Chinese communist thugs. I stand with you and share your principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) observed the first clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is about freedom of religion, which he said every person deserves, and expressed his solidarity with the protesters. The Congressman said, “We need to have change in the way we do business in the Peoples Republic of China.”

“I feel a very strong sense of solidarity with you, and so do all the members throughout the world. I believe you people today are the true martyrs in this age, as you continue to persevere through one of the worst persecutions of the 21 century,” said Dan Fefferman, Executive Director, Coalition for Religious Freedom. “We know the ideology of Marxist/Leninism is a materialistic ideology, an evil ideology, an ideology that does not believe in freedom, especially not spiritual freedom, freedom of speech and religion. You stand as a testimony to the strength of human spirit that will never be dominated by this communist ideology.”

Appreciation was also expressed by many for the work that some Falun Gong practitioners have done to defeat China’s Firewall. Clothilde Le Coz, Washington Director of Reporters Without Borders, said, “The Falun Gong’s struggle has given a gift worldwide: circumvention software for internet users. Tired of being censored and harassed, the Falun Gong petitioners created one famous tool that is used all around the world. Thank you.”

Perhaps no one could surpass an expression of solidarity with Falun Gong’s persecution than Presbyterian minister Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition. He and his family were arrested for peacefully praying in front of the White House a few years ago to call attention to the lack of U.S. Government effort to pressure the Chinese to end the persecution. Rev. Mahoney waved his passport before the practitioners and said it shows that he was expelled from the Peoples’ Republic of China. He had been arrested and deported for demanding on Tiananmen Square for Chinese people to be able to freely practice their faith.

“This passport is a badge of honor I wear proudly,” said Rev. Mahoney……. (to be cont’d)

– The epochtimes: Congressmen Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

(photos) Congressmen, rights activists and NGOs Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong in China

By Gary Feuerberg, Epoch Times Staff, July 23, 2010 –

SPEAK OUT: Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) speaks on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 22 where around 500 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world gathered in peaceful protest against the Chinese Communist Party's persecution. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)

WASHINGTON— On the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol at high noon on Thursday, about 500 Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) practitioners from around the world gathered in protest of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the meditation practice for the past 11 years.

Members of Congress, human rights activists, and Christian organizations joined offering their support for a new dawn of religious freedom in China.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) both spoke of the extreme brutality the Chinese regime inflicts on Falun Gong practitioners.

“That is absolutely despicable,” shouted Rep. Smith. “[Those who] cherish freedom must speak out against the brutality and hate that everyday manifests by the dictatorship of Beijing.”

Rep. Ros-Lehtenin said that the “Chinese communist regime’s obsessive and relentless hunting down of practitioners of Falun Gong” is “one of the most flagrant examples of systematic persecution in the 21st Century.”

Ros-Lehtenin was the author of H.R. 605 which called upon the Chinese regime to cease its campaign against Falun Gong practitioners and abolish the 6-10 office, which is given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong. The resolution also called for the release of Falun Gong practitioners from prisons and reeducation through labor camps. It passed in March, overwhelmingly, 421 to 1.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtenin said nothing had changed in the last four

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) speaks on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 22 where around 500 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world gathered in peaceful protest against the Chinese Communist Party's (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)

months since her resolution passed. “The persecution of Falun Gong is barbaric, bloody, and brutal, and it must come to an end at once!”

If anything the trend has been that the persecution is getting worse, observed Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.), in a statement read at the rally. “Over the last 11 years of the ban against practicing Falun Gong in China, we have seen persecution against Falun Gong intensify, including an increase in censorship of websites, television stations, and other forms of media sympathetic to Falun Gong.”

Two of the speakers were survivors of China’s Re-education Through Labor camps. Charles Lee spent three years in a labor camp. Jennifer Zeng from Sydney, Australia, said she was present in July 1999 when the first Falun Gong practitioners were rounded up. She was eventually sent to a labor camp where she said she was “beaten, shocked by electric batons to every part of the body,” and deprived of sleep for days.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, said that often female Falun Gong practitioners undergo forced abortions while being detained. She said that forced abortion and forced sterilizations were state policy in China and really forms of torture, which may explain the unusually large rate of female suicides in China and why China is the only country in the world where the female suicide rate is higher than the male suicide rate…….(to be cont’d)

– The epochtimes: Congressmen Call for End to 11-Year Persecution of Falun Gong

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

(Photos) 150,000 Chinese gathered in Hong Kong Marking the 21st anniversary of Beijing Tiananmen Square massacre

On June 4, 2010, more than 150,000 people gathered in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park marking the 21st anniversary of Beijing Tiananmen Square massacre.

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre (1)

Hong Kong vigil 2010 for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre (2)

Hong Kong vigil 2010 for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre (3)

On the way to Victoria Park vigil for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

Hong Kong vigil 2010 in Victoria Park for June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre

(Photos credit to The Epochtimes)

(Photos) Hong Kong Parade Protests the June 4 Beijing Tiananmen Killing

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Parade in Hong Kong Protests Beijing Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 (The Epochtimes)

Photos by Google Earth: Pre- and post-quake in qinghai, China

Google Blog –

Pre and post-earthquake images of Qinghai, China

Shocking Photos: Fish Left in the Cracked Dry Mud During the Drought in China

The drought in south China’s Yunnan Province has lasted for more than 4 months. According to the weather forecast, there will not be any measurable rain in the coming days.

Following photos show a shocking sight at the Degehaizi Reservoir in Damogu Town of Luliang County, Yunnan Province, south China– fishes stuck in the dried land, with their mouths open wide, dead in their struggling position.

The Degehaizi Reservoir in Damogu Town of Luliang County, once with a capacity of 1.6 million cubic meters of water, is now arid dry. The palm-wide cracks were a stunning sight. Some of the cracks are as much as half a meter deep. Fish can be found stuck in the dried land, with their mouths open wide, dead in their struggling position.

Arid dry Degehaizi Reservoir in Yunnan Province, palm-wide cracks, with mouth-open fish stuck in.

Photo: Forced demolition in China

Armed police supervise a forced demolition in eastern China's Pingdu city, Shandong province. (Rights Protection Net)

(photos) New Yorkers Moved by Shen Yun

Shen Yun Performing Arts has concluded the magnificent classical Chinese dance  and music show at  Radio City Music Hall in Sunday afternoon, Feb. 21, 2010.

Audience at Shen You show, New York, Feb. 2010

Audience at Shen Yun show, New York, Feb. 2010

Audience at Shen Yun show, New york, Feb. 2010

Audience at Shen Yun show, New York, Feb. 2010

(Photos are from the Epochtimes)

Shen Yun Performing Arts’ official website: http://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/

Related:
– Review (video): Shen Yun Performing Arts’ Chinese Dance and Music Show
– Video highlight (2): Shen Yun show 2010
– Video highlight (1): Shen Yun show 2010
– Collection of Shen Yun 2010 Show Promotion Videos (HD)

(Event photos) Audience of Shen Yun Performing Arts’ Chinese Dance and Music Show in Los Angeles

From the Epochtimes-

Audience in Shen Yun show in Los Angeles, 2010

Audience in Shen Yun Show in Los Angeles, 2010

Audience in Shen Yun Show in Los Angeles, 2010

Audience in Shen Yun Show in Los Angeles, 2010

Shen Yun Performing Arts has three dance companies and three orchestras. While one company performs in Los Angeles until Feb. 14, another Shen Yun company will be performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the weekends of Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21. The third company just finished its last performance in St. Louis on Feb. 13 and will be traveling to South Korea for opening night on Feb. 17.

– From the epochtimes

(photos) Audience in Shen Yun Chinese Performing Arts Show, Boston

Jan. 8, 2010, Boston, USA, Shen Yun Performing Arts show global tour

Jan. 8, 2010, Boston, USA, Shen Yun Performing Arts show global tour

Jan. 8, 2010, Boston, USA, Shen Yun Performing Arts show global tour

Jan. 8, 2010, Boston, USA, Shen Yun Performing Arts show global tour

– The Epochtimes

(photo) China: longest total solar eclipse during the 21st century

The solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse during the 21st century, not to be surpassed until June 2132.[1] It lasted a maximum of 6 minutes and 39 seconds off the coast of Southeast Asia,[2] causing tourist interest in eastern China, India and Nepal.[2][3][4] This was the second in the series of three eclipses in a one-month period, being book-ended by two minor penumbral lunar eclipses, first on July 7 and last on August 6.  (wikipedia)

(Photos) NGOs support Falun Gong at Washington D.C Rally

Photos by The Epochtimes, for Rally to end the persecution of Falun Gong, at Washington DC’s National Mall, July 16, 2009. Published on July 17, 2009-

Dr. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn of Freedom House speaking at the rally

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, speaking at the rally

Faith McDonad, Director of Religious Liberty Programs/Institute on Religion and Democracy, speaking at the rally

Patricia Burkhardt of Church Women United, speaking at the rally

Michael Horowitz of Hudson Institute, speaking at the rally

Ms. Erin Weston of Jubilee Campaign USA, speaking at the rally

Rev. Clark Lobenstine, Executive Director of The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, speaking at the rally

Patrick Mohoney, director of Christian Defense Coalition, speaking at the rally

Suzanne Scholte, President of Defense Forum Foundation, speaking at the rally

Jim Geheran, Director of Initiatives for China, speaking at the rally

Genghe, wife of detained prominent Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng, speaking at the rally

Tang Boqiao, Chairman of China Peace, speaking at the rally

(photos) US Congress members support Falun Gong at Washington D.C. Rally

Photos by The Epochtimes, July 17, 2009-

Rally to end the persecution of Falun Gong, Washington D.C, July 16, 2009 (By the Epochtimes)

Congress woman Ms. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Christopher Smith speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Dana Rohrabacher speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Roscoe Bartlett speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congress woman Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. William Clay speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Gus Bilirakis speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Congressman Mr. Anh Joseph Cao speaking at the rally (by the Epochtimes)

Pictures of the Day, July 17 – Falun Gong mark the 10th anniversary of China’s ban

Pictures of the Day, The Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2009-

Hundreds of Falun Gong parishioners meditated through body movements on Washington’s National Mall Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of China’s ban on the practice.

More photos from The Wall Street Journal’s Pictures of the Day

China: 13-storey apartment building collapse in Shanghai, Kiled one worker

a toppled 13-storey apartment building that buried one worker in Shanghai June 27, 2009

Report from Reuters

Tens of thousands of Chinese fight the police in Shishou City, Central China

By Malcolm Moore, The Telegraph, UK, June 22nd, 2009 –

It was a dramatic weekend in the relatively small city of Shishou in Hubei province.

Tens of thousands of rioters torched a hotel and overturned police cars, accusing the authorities of trying to cover up the murder of a 24-year-old man as a suicide.

police cars overturned in Shishou City (from QQ)

The deceased, Tu Yuangao, was the chef of the Yong Long hotel. According to the cops, he committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the building and left a note.

However, witnesses said there was no blood on the scene and Tu’s body was already cold just after it hit the ground. His parents were surprised that he left a suicide note, since he was allegedly illiterate.

There are plenty of rumours flying around – that two other employees at the hotel had died in the same way, that the boss of the hotel is related to the mayor of Shishou, that the hotel was a centre for the local drug business and Yu was killed for threatening to expose what was going on. There’s also a rumour that three further bodies have been found at the hotel.

There are more details and photos here (EastWestNorthSouth).

It’s a strange story, and it gets stranger. A huge mob, of anywhere between a few thousand to 70,000 people, depending on which report you read, quickly gathered outside the building to protect the body. Tu’s parents refused to let his corpse be taken away, claiming that it held vital evidence of the crime, and instead placed it inside the hotel on ice.

The crowd beat back waves of policemen. On Saturday, someone lit a fire inside the hotel, possibly to destroy the body, but it was saved.

Tu’s cousin apparently then armed himself with two barrels of gasoline and threatened to blow himself up if the body was taken.

The police restored order yesterday, imposed a curfew and took the corpse to a funeral parlour. There is still a lot of anger, however, and the website of the local government has been defaced by hackers.

What’s extraordinary is the speed in which the riot blew up, and the venom directed against the local authorities. Whatever was behind Tu’s death, there’s clearly something rotten in Shishou.

After months of calm, there have recently been a spate of riots being reported in the Chinese media, or on the internet.

Is this because media restrictions have been lifted, allowing news of riots to spread, or has there been a genuine increase in social tension in the countryside?

It is impossible to tell. China no longer publishes the figures for how many riots take place each year, but most people put the figure at around 80,000 and the vast majority go totally unnoticed.

The fact that there have been a dozen riots reported in the last couple of months may not demonstrate anything out of the ordinary. There is no theme that connects the recent protests – some are about property, some are work disputes, some are because of corruption.

But then again, a huge number of migrant workers are still out of work. Their factories have not recovered from the economic crisis. In the countryside, the harvest is finished and people’s savings may be running low. Perhaps the tinderbox is drier than usual.

UPDATE:  Overnight between Sunday and Monday over a thousand students rioted at Nanjing Industrial Technical School, smashing windows, television sets, their teacher’s cars and an on-campus supermarket.

A policeman was attacked, but the crowd was eventually subdued by hundreds of anti-riot police, according to blogs written by participants.

The students were enraged after being told that they would only graduate with a technical degree (the equivalent of high-school diploma) rather than the associate degree (just underneath a normal bachelor’s degree) they were promised at enrollment.

– The Telegraph

China: Veteran Dies After Mililtary Hospital Refuses Treatment, Thousands Protest

By Zhang Liming, Radio Free Asia, Via The Epochtimes, May 16, 2009 –

Thousands of people joined the protest of the Mililtary Hospital in Chongqing

The Liberation Army No. 324 Hospital in Chongqing city, Sichuan, was accused of not treating a local resident because of  a payment issue , which resulted in the death of a 23-year-old veteran. The veteran participated in the rescue work after the Wenchuan Earthquake last year. The veteran’s family protested outside of the hospital on May 13 holding his picture and slogans. Thousands of people joined the protest in the afternoon of May 13.  The crowds caused traffic chaos around the hospital.

A Chongqing resident named Li said that the protesters were not happy

Thousands of people protest the Mililtary Hospital

with the way the hospital treated the victim. The hospital refused to help the victim because he did not have any cash at the time. The victim died as a result. The crowds did not leave until 8 p.m. after armed riot police arrived. It was claimed that some protesters were injured during the conflict with the police.

Li said that many Liberation Army Hospitals have opened to the public and are not different from other general hospitals. Veterans also need to pay to see a doctor. According to Li, many hospitals charge before they perform emergency service.

The protest, according to the Hong Kong based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy, attracted over ten thousand people at one point. The crowd attempted to break into the hospital. The riot police confiscated the picture and slogans from the family. During the conflict, at least ten protesters were injured. The police took away the victim’s family members and their whereabouts were unknown at the time of this report……. (More from The Epochtimes)

International reporter in China: Democracy slaughtered in Tiananmen Square in 1989

Jon Swain in Beijing, via Timesonline, UK –

I WITNESSED the sickening reality of murderous repression last Friday morning and checked my watch. It was 11.42am, five days after the People’s Liberation Army launched its devastating assault on Tiananmen Square.

Then, the soldiers stabbed and slashed at students and onlookers with their bayonets, shot them with their pistols and rifles before tanks mangled their bodies in an act of barbarity that will be remembered as one of the darkest days in China’s history.

More than ever last Friday morning, Beijing was a city of anguish and fear. Troops and secret police were out in force to arrest anyone suspected of involvement in the pro-democracy movement.

CCTV, the state television network that just a week before had been broadcasting honest news about the pro-democracy demonstrations, was again fettered, giving telephone numbers for people to denounce and rat on “counter-revolutionaries”. In a grim exercise in propaganda it showed pictures of people being led away to confess their crimes.

With the hardliners of the Communist party under Deng Xiaoping, China’s senior leader, relentlessly gathering power this was, above all, a moment to remain inconspicuous.

For one young man whose world had collapsed on bloody Sunday in Tiananmen Square, the struggle against oppression went on despite the reign of terror. He fearlessly rode his bicycle out of a side street on the east side of the square, waving a red student protest banner in a lone act of defiance against the crackdown.

He was only in his twenties, dressed in slacks and a white shirt. As he emerged onto the main Boulevard of Eternal Peace, two armed policemen seized him and tore the banner from his hand.

There was no struggle and no time to cry for democracy or liberty. With sickening thuds, truncheon blows rained down on the young man in full view of a gathering crowd. He was dragged to an army tent beneath the high red walls of the Forbidden City. From there came a single shot.

A few in the crowd shouted angrily. Abrupt orders to disperse, backed up by a menacing wave of rifles, stilled the dissent.

By such an event one knows that China has reverted to a police state, its ideal of more democracy crushed. The People’s Liberation Army is supposed to love the people, but since the massacre a week ago its soldiers, with rare exception, have been behaving like a foreign army of occupation.

After the slaughter, western diplomats say the army now arouses as much dread and hatred as the Gestapo did in occupied Europe. At a bus stop in the centre of the city on Friday a man said: “This is a fascist state. If we had guns we would overthrow it now.”

The trigger-happy soldiers, who had gunned down people with abandon throughout the week, had by Saturday occupied positions across Beijing. “They have a knife at the city’s very throat,” said an attendant at one leading hotel. “I was in Tiananmen on Sunday morning and my best friend was killed.”

Estimates of western intelligence officials range from 3,000 to 7,000 dead and 10,000 wounded. It seems bizarre, but the first event that led to the bloodbath was a traffic accident. Until that moment, despite the imposition of martial law, both sides had shown remarkable restraint.

Then a police vehicle crashed into cyclists, killing at least one. As word of the accident spread, it generated fresh anger and revitalised the flagging protest movement.

Many atrocities were committed by troops that night. A western military attaché told how a young mother in the Avenue of Eternal Peace had pleaded with the troops to shoot her but spare the baby in her arms. A soldier bayoneted her to death.

One had only to stroll through a residential area of Beijing yesterday to gauge the revulsion for the regime. A statue to youth and vitality was garlanded with wreaths in memory of residents who had been cut down by the army. They included a six-year-old girl and a member of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament.

Pinned to a wreath was a simple statement: “June 4, the darkest day in the history of the motherland.”

Jon Swain was international reporter of the year in 1989

– Timesonline: From The Archive: Democracy slaughtered in Tiananmen Square