05/29/2004, 00.00
China
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Heavy control over students and dissidents ahead of June 4

Beijing (AsiaNews/AFP) - Mainland police have set up a taskforce to clamp down on students and political dissidents in the run-up to the 15th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre, sources said yesterday.

"The universities are under strict control and there are several kinds of restrictions and regulations dealing with the anniversary," a Beijing academic said.

"For the universities, there is a special organ run by the State Security Ministry. They are responsible for a wide range of monitoring in the university district."

The 1989 massacre in the streets of Beijing has remained a highly sensitive topic, with students on the capital's campuses strongly discouraged from discussing the issue.

"The students don't dare to speak about this because they know they will get in trouble. They can discuss these things in an abstract way, but specific discussion will only lead to trouble," the academic said.

While police are monitoring Beijing campuses, they have also placed a group of known dissidents under house arrest or strict surveillance.

The 70-year-old leader of the Tiananmen Mothers, Ding Zilin , whose son was killed in the 1989 massacre, has been put under surveillance and told not to accept visitors in the lead-up to the anniversary.

Ms Ding's 15-year effort demanding the government give a full account of the massacre and find out who was responsible for ordering the military to fire on unarmed civilians has led to her nomination for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Other people classified as dissidents, like Huang Jinping , whose husband was shot and killed in the crackdown, are also facing similar police harassment.

Leading dissidents and social critics like Bao Tong , Liu Xiaobo , Hu Jia and Jiang Qisheng are all under police surveillance.

Their visits and meetings with others have been recorded and their phones tapped since the National People's Congress met in March.

"I don't think it is a very good idea to come and visit me right now," Mr Liu said. "It's probably better to wait until after June 4."

The police harassment has been condemned by the US and human rights groups, which have criticised as ineffective constitutional amendments adopted in March that aim at safeguarding human rights.

 

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