Journos barred from Tiananmen
2009-06-04 07:23
Beijing - China allowed thousands of tourists onto Tiananmen Square on Thursday, the 20th anniversary of the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, but foreign journalists were denied access to the area.
Foreign and Chinese tourists entered the square - the scene of massive demonstrations in 1989 - amid heightened security, with checkpoints set up at all entrances to the giant plaza, the symbol of political power in China.
Police officers meticulously checked bags, pockets and identity documents, and cited unspecified regulations as justification for barring foreign reporters and photographers from the area.
An AFP TV journalist positioned outside the square was ordered by police to delete footage from his camera.
The traditional flag-raising ceremony took place at dawn on Thursday, watched by a large crowd of spectators. But one American woman trying to take in the sights was forced to do so from a distance.
"I can't believe they wouldn't let me on the square just because I didn't have a passport with me," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
Some of the thousands of Chinese visitors said they were largely unaware of the June 1989 crackdown, in which hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed.
"It's a history issue. I don't know much about history," said one 20-year-old man from southern Guangdong province.
But one 31-year-old postal worker, who asked not to be named, recalled the Tiananman protests but said they belonged to a different time and place.
"Twenty years ago, people were very poor, so their thinking was very different," he told AFP, asking not to be named.
"But now, people are richer so they have a completely different way of thinking."
- SAPA