China campaigners plan new rallies after clampdown

28 February 2011 - 07H16

Policemen order a group of people that gathered on a street to move on in Shanghai. Organisers of an online campaign to pressure China's government on Monday condemned the government's tough security response to their call for weekly rallies nationwide and announced new action on March 6.

A woman surfs the Internet at a web cafe in Beijing. Organisers of an online campaign to pressure China's government on Monday condemned Beijing's tough security response to their call for weekly rallies nationwide and announced new action on March 6.

Chinese police surround a group of foreign journalists in Beijing, as security is ramped up in major cities across the nation to prevent people from taking part in "Jasmine rallies"

Policemen are shouted at after advising a group of people to move on who had gathererd in a street in Shanghai. Online protest appeals have urged citizens to gather for subtle "strolling" demonstrations each Sunday in cities across China to highlight public anger with the government.

AFP - Organisers of an online campaign to pressure China's government on Monday condemned Beijing's tough security response to their call for weekly rallies nationwide and announced new action on March 6.

The anonymous campaigners behind the so-called "Jasmine rallies" -- a reference to the "Jasmine revolution" in Tunisia that sparked unrest across the Arab world -- said their movement had support in dozens of cities.

The new statement -- posted on Facebook, Twitter and other foreign social networking sites officially blocked in China -- came one day after security personnel turned out in force to thwart gatherings in Beijing and Shanghai.

"According to the feedback we received, on Feb 27, 2011, this movement spread to over 100 cities, largely exceeding our initial expectations of 27 cities," it said, calling for people to "walk" for change again on March 6.

"We send our salutations to all Chinese citizens supporting and participating in this noble movement!"

Online protest appeals have urged citizens to gather for subtle "strolling" demonstrations each Sunday in cities across China to highlight public anger with the government.

Hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police smothered Beijing's designated rally site on the Wangfujing shopping street Sunday, aggressively pushing away foreign reporters with cameras and briefly detaining several.

Similar scenes took place at the Shanghai protest site near the city's People's Square.

Bloomberg News said one of its correspondents in Beijing was kicked and punched by at least five men in plainclothes -- apparently security personnel -- who also took his video camera. The journalist required medical treatment.

Those behind the call for Chinese "Jasmine rallies" have not urged participants to take any overt protest action, but merely to turn out in force.

Chinese authorities have reacted nervously, rounding up more than 100 known dissidents and rights advocates while blocking references to the rallies on websites and search engines, rights groups and activists have said.

"We issue our strongest condemnation of the Chinese government; the government arrests innocent people and obstructs global information flow," said the statement from the organisers.

"We believe these deeds cannot stop the development of the Chinese Jasmine Revolution."

Ahead of Sunday's events, Premier Wen Jiabao promised action on top public concerns including soaring inflation, runaway economic growth, and official corruption in an online chat with Internet users.

China has a history of inflation-triggered public unrest, and Wen vowed the government would ramp up supplies of affordable housing, punish property speculators, and ensure output of grains and other key goods.

"Rapid price rises have affected the lives of the people and even social stability," the premier said.

The protest appeal -- seen on overseas Chinese-language websites but blocked by censors in China -- demanded government transparency and accountability to the people to prevent frequent abuses.

Following attacks on the Boxun website -- where the calls for "Jasmine rallies" first appeared -- organisers have set up new rally information sites on other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Blog, they said.

Such sites are normally blocked in China, but are accessible for those with software able to circumvent China's Internet censorship system, known as the "Great Firewall".

US embassy spokesman Richard Buangan issued a statement calling on Beijing to protect foreign reporters working in China, and to "respect internationally recognised fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression".