China's leaders have countered any hint of protest today on the 15th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square uprising.
Police cordons, vans and plainclothes officers are in the square, and officers were seen shoving two men into the backs of vans and taking aside three photographers for questioning.
Candlelight vigil to mark anniversary of Tiananmen Square crack-down
Hundreds were killed on the night of June 3rd-4th, 1989, when People's Liberation Army soldiers backed by tanks shot their way down the main Changan Boulevard, blocked by Beijing residents, and wrested control of the square from student demonstrators.
The prosperity brought by three decades of economic reform has dimmed political discontent, although some participants are still serving long jail terms, and analysts say the refusal of the party to set them free is a sign of how nervous China's rulers are about their ability to contain political dissent.
Late yesterday, a man in his fifties staged a short-lived protest, kneeling to pray at the foot of the Monument to the People's Heroes at the centre of the plaza. He was swiftly taken away by police.