From The Economist:
Flanked by plainclothes policemen, a former top Chinese official, now a leading dissident, greets a foreign journalist outside his apartment building. The police are welcoming too. After noting down the visitor’s identity, they allow him to proceed to the dissident’s flat to interview him. Only a few months ago, journalists were strictly barred. China’s curtain of repression is not lifting. But it is twitching.
This is a sensitive time of year in China. June 4th is the anniversary of the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Most years since then, dissidents have tried to use the occasion to stage protests. Four days later falls the 50th anniversary of the “anti-rightist movement“, a sweeping campaign launched by Mao Zedong to crush dissent. As usual, the state-controlled press is under orders to ignore these dates. Party leaders do not want to revive memories of past repression. [Full Text]
