China Bans Foreign Media and Journalists from Tiananmen Square

by Rob Walker | June 3, 2009 at 05:07 am

608 views | 35 Recommendations | 9 comments

Foreign journalists have been banned from Tiananmen Square on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 1989 pro-democratic protests.

Earlier this week, authorities blocked social networking sites like Twitter and Flickr and confined dissidents to their homes.

On Wednesday the government extended the internet block to include more blogs, journalists and popular Chinese social networks like FanFou and VeryCD.

Dozens of police guarded entrances to Tiananmen Square, demanding identification from anyone in the area and turning away anyone whose passports said they were journalists.

Dozens of uniformed and plainclothes police guarded entrances to Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing that was the epicenter of the student-led protests. Officers demanded identification and turned away those whose passports said they were journalists.
The sweeping measures have been imposed even though there were few signs of efforts to mark the protests within mainland China, where the government squelches all discussion of them.

See NowPublic's featured coverage of Tiananmen Square: 20th Anniversary | Special News Coverage

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Paschen

at 07:09 on June 3rd, 2009

I am a little surprised they are doing this again, Last Year they lifted the ban after first imposing it. Maybe because this year it has been 20 years.

Barbara McPherson

at 11:46 on June 3rd, 2009

I saw some TV coverage earlier. They had plainclothes cops with big umbrellas blocking the cameras. They must be awfully afraid of an uprising.

Roy C

at 11:55 on June 3rd, 2009

And afraid of losing face.

Tiananmen+20 (not verified)

at 20:17 on June 3rd, 2009

Where were you when the tanks rolled in? Like many in recent generations who remember where they were when JFK was shot, many more mark tragic events on a global scale as turning points in their lives.

When such events occur, many people are older, some are in the prime of their lives, while others are just children. Some memories are forced from our thoughts, deliberately forgotten and left out of the history books. It is left to those whose lives are affected by these events to tell their stories.

Where were you on June 4, 1989?

Please send stories (less than 300 words) and photos to info@tiananmenplus20.com

Paschen

at 00:11 on June 4th, 2009

That is a good question Tiananmen+20.

I just came back from Berlin where I took part in a rally in March of 89 to end the reign of the DDR or in English the DRG where the Wall was eventually opened on 9 November 1989.

Those events where in part Globally motivated and inspired by the demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China (PRC) beginning on April 14. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world. Wish we did follow closely.

As the crack down happened I was debating in London against the reunification of Germany and making some enemies in that summit, since I believed that East Germany had to grow confidence first and not just being swallowed by West Germany wish did eventually happen.

The London Free press did a long article about that meeting at the time as well as the FAZ and BZ. I did want the Positive Socialist values to prevail and integrate Democratic values and well as some of the more positive Capitalist values before any talk of reunification would even start.

The crack down on the demonstration in Tianamen square did in part lead to a hasty reunification and the storm on the Berlin wall because the people did not want to live the same faith then those lived by the Chinese protester.

edlee83

at 22:42 on June 3rd, 2009

The June 4th rally in Hong Kong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud44ct0VrPQ

param1ta

at 23:21 on June 3rd, 2009

This picture was taken a week before the anniversary. Everything looked normal there. Lots of tourists taking pictures because it was a national holiday that weekend.

param1ta has contributed a photo to this story.

beijing writer (not verified)

at 18:05 on June 4th, 2009

it's an exaggeration to say that foreign media were banned. maybe the police turned away some journalists (I assume the ones carrying professional video gear and otherwise broadcasting their journalist status), but I got through, as did two other journalists I met inside, and lots of tourists. they didn't consistently ask to see passports, as they did during the olympics. the hundreds of plainclothes and uniformed police had a much greater effect on the situation at tiananmen than the security checks at the entrance.

also, despite the internet censorship in china, there's still lots of discussion online about june 4.