Eva Cheng
Beijing has gone to great lengths recently to intimidate anti-Japanese groups and activists to prevent further mass protests against Japan, such as those that occurred in April. The spark for the protests was Tokyo's new attempts to whitewash its World War II war crimes.
Contrary to earlier calls among some activists, no protest actions occurred on May Day nor May 4, the 86th anniversary of a national wave of student protests against Japan's 1919 attempt to takeover a slice of China's north-east.
According to the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao on May 1, many mobile phone users in Beijing received a SMS from the Beijing police authority on the eve of May Day, warning them not to attend any "illegal" protests, instead urging them to express their patriotism in a "rational" way.
The paper further reported that a number of websites that had helped mobilise for anti-Japan protests had been closed down, adding that a protest organiser in Shanghai was arrested at 1.25am on April 26.
It was also reported that on both May Day and May 4 in Beijing, many police, some in anti-riot gear, and their vehicles lined the streets, at or near sensitive locations like Tiananmen Square, the Japanese embassy and a stretch of downtown Beijing where many Japanese shops are located. On May 4, Tiananmen Square was partially closed to the public, making space for officially sanctioned activities. Heavy police presence was also reported around the Japanese embassy in Shanghai.
Quoting a Xinhua News Agency report, the May 3 Ming Pao reported that the students and teaching staff of various universities in major Chinese cities have been "mobilised" by the authorities to call on their fellow students and co-workers to be "rational" in dealing with ongoing issues related to Japan. They have also been called on to have faith in the central authorities policy in dealing with Japan, rather than engaging in protest actions.
The May 4 Ming Pao quoted a student of a university in Beijing saying that students were threatened with having their enrolment terminated if they attended May 4 protests. The report also explained that any students who intended not attending classes that day had to seek permission beforehand and clearly state a reason.
Other protests may face similar repression. June 4 is the anniversary of the massacre of pro-democracy students in 1989. On April 30, Shi Tao, a senior journalist of the Contemporary Business News in Changsha, Hunan province, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "revelaing state secrets" for publishing on the internet a government document assessing people's sentiment shortly before last year's anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. Shi argued that a report that assessed the people's mood is no state secret, and that he had a moral responsibility to distribute it.
From Green Left Weekly, May 11, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.