BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in Beijing are blanketing the
city center with heavy security on the 25th anniversary of the bloody
military suppression of pro-democracy protests centered on Tiananmen
Square.
Police and paramilitary officers patrolled the vast plaza
and surrounding streets on Wednesday, stopping vehicles seeking to enter
the area and demanding identification from passers-by. Reporters were
told to leave the area following the usual dawn flag-raising ceremony.
Dozens
of activists, dissidents and other critics have already been detained
by police, held under house arrest or sent out of the city.
China
allows no public discussion of the events of June 3-4, 1989, when
soldiers accompanied by tanks and armored personnel carriers fought
their way into the heart of the city, killing hundreds of unarmed
protesters and onlookers.