Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square this week, Chinese authorities have rounded up dissidents and shipped them out of town. Now, they've even shut down Twitter.
Along with their usual methods of muzzling dissent, the authorities extended their efforts Tuesday to silence social networking sites that might foster discussion of any commemoration of the events of June 3-4, 1989.
The action is a new sign of the government's concern of the potential of such technology in an authoritarian society where information is tightly controlled.
You'll recall the day, June 4, 1989, the Chinese communist government sent in the tanks:
Tank Man — This famous photo, taken on 5 June 1989 by photographer Jeff Widener, depicts an unknown man halting the PLA's advancing tanks near Tiananmen Square. (From the Wikipedia article.)
Hundreds and perhaps thousands of civilians were killed to end the protests for freedom.
China remains a communist dictatorship. There is no political freedom in China.
