China’s crackdown, whose most prominent victim so far is the artist Ai Weiwei, followed calls on the Internet for a “jasmine revolution,” similar to the protests that toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt. These anonymous calls urge those seeking political reform to simply stroll in busy commercial areas of Beijing, Shanghai and other cities on Sunday afternoons.
The foreign media have reported on the lack of overt demonstrations on these occasions. A stroll down the Wangfujing shopping area of Beijing on Sunday showed no signs of any protests, but police were out in force.
Security officials are evidently making use of these occasions to identify potential troublemakers. It’s been disclosed, for instance, that a 21-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in a labour camp for participating in “an illegal assembly and demonstration” in Wangfujing on Feb. 20. The man, Wei Qiang, had taken photographs of crowds outside McDonald’s and posted them on the Internet. He said he’d refused to leave despite police admonitions to disperse.
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