China's tight security apparatus has gone into overdrive as it braces for the country's World Cup debut on the same day as the 13th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, activists and a rights group said yesterday.
The coincidence has sparked fears of unrest and led police to clamp down on dissidents ahead of today's anniversary of the military's brutal quashing of the 1989 pro-democracy protests.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed when troops and tanks moved in to end six weeks of protests centered around Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
But political analysts believe World Cup fever will likely overshadow any memories of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Police in Guangzhou detained dissident Li Wensheng for seven hours Sunday after rejecting his request to hold a candlelight vigil with about 30 people to remember the victims of the massacre on June 4, 1989, a Hong Kong-based rights group said.
Two other dissidents were held Saturday. Both were Christians from Beijing and one of them was taken away by police along with his wife and two-year-old son, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy and relatives said.
Dissidents in Guangzhou, Bei-jing and other cities, meanwhile, have been warned against leaving their homes during the anniversary, the center and dissidents said.
Dissidents in Hunan, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces said police seem to be on higher alert in the run-up to June 4 this year compared to previous years, the center said.
The anniversary coincides this year with China's first match in the World Cup finals, when millions of Chinese are set to tune in to watch China take on Costa Rica today.
Authorities fear spectators in Seoul might take the opportunity to protest against the 1989 crackdown in a gesture which could be seen by millions of TV viewers, said He Depu, a member of the outlawed China Democracy Party who is also being monitored.
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