Novel ploys keep 'Jasmine' protesters at bay

Novel ploys keep 'Jasmine' protesters at bay Colleen Lee and agencies  Monday, February 28, 2011 Large numbers of police using new tactics like shrill whistles and street- cleaning trucks yesterday dented pro- democracy protests in Beijing and other cities in a bid to prevent the kind of unrest that has shaken the Middle East. It was the second successive Sunday that police have been called out to squelch an online appeal urging people to gather at 2pm in more than 20 cities for subtle "strolling" protests at designated sites. Also, in an apparent bid to defuse a call for the weekly rallies, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to tackle public concerns such as inflation, runaway growth and corruption. Yesterday, lines of police checked passers-by and warned journalists away in downtown Beijing and Shanghai after a US-based Chinese website spread calls for Chinese people to emulate the "Jasmine Revolution" sweeping the Middle East and stage gatherings in support of democratic change. Journalists who were led away included an ATV cameraman and a reporter as well as a TVB cameraman. The three Hong Kong journalists in the Wangfujing shopping street in Beijing were allowed to leave after questioning. ATV news reported it believed one of their clips showing the rally site in Wangfujing was deleted by officers. On February 20, a heavy police presence was put in place in many cities for the first so-called "Jasmine rally." In Shanghai yesterday, police bundled away at least seven men, one of whom was taking photos. Reuters TV filmed several policemen forcing a man in a  brown jacket into a Public Security Bureau van, while other police held up an umbrella to block the view. In Beijing, police with attack dogs were joined by uniformed and plainclothes officers who kept shoppers and journalists moving. Sanitation workers wearing armbands proclaiming they were "Public Security Volunteers" used brooms to sweep pedestrians along. It was impossible to tell who were simply shoppers and who had shown up to silently support the call to demonstrate. Security was evident throughout Wangfujing, one of the venues singled out as a protest site by the website Boxun.com. Shoppers strolled along but there were at least 40 public security vehicles at the southern end of the pedestrian-only street. Passage was partly blocked by construction fences that went up late in the week outside a McDonald's restaurant, which the Boxun message designated as a place for the gathering. The restaurant was shut down yesterday afternoon for about an hour. In Hong Kong, about 20 members of the League of Social Democrats held a rowdy protest outside the Central Government Liaison Office yesterday in support of the protests on the mainland.