China detains protest organisers
Officials in China rounded up Internet users who had reposted a call for protests and charged them with subversion as the authoritarian government continued its campaign to crush any Middle East-style democracy movement, activists said on Wednesday.
Though only a handful of people responded to the call to demonstrate in 13 cities across China this past weekend and were met by a show of force from authorities, the unidentified organisers issued a renewed appeal to gather peacefully in parks or near monuments at 2 pm on Sundays.
For the protest-shy, it said people could participate by simply taking an “afternoon stroll” at the appointed time and place.
Because of China’s pervasive Internet censorship, few people were likely to know about the campaign.
