Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SHANGHAI249
2009-06-04 09:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Shanghai
Cable title:  

SHANGHAI QUIET ON TIANANMEN ANNIVERSARY

Tags:  PGOV PHUM ECON ELAB SOCI ASEC CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
R 040922Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8010
INFO AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AMCONSUL CHENGDU 
AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 
AMCONSUL HONG KONG 
AMCONSUL SHENYANG 
AIT TAIPEI 1821
NSC WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY SEOUL 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO 
AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 000249 


STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR AND DRL
NSC FOR LOI, KUCHTA-HELBLING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/4/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON ELAB SOCI ASEC CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI QUIET ON TIANANMEN ANNIVERSARY

REF: A. (A) SHANGHAI 245

B. (B) CHENGDU 99

C. (C) GUANGZHOU 338

D. (D) BEIJING 1467

E. (E) BEIJING 1390

CLASSIFIED BY: CHRISTOPHER BEEDE, POL/ECON CHIEF, US CONSULATE
SHANGHAI, DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 000249


STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR AND DRL
NSC FOR LOI, KUCHTA-HELBLING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/4/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON ELAB SOCI ASEC CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI QUIET ON TIANANMEN ANNIVERSARY

REF: A. (A) SHANGHAI 245

B. (B) CHENGDU 99

C. (C) GUANGZHOU 338

D. (D) BEIJING 1467

E. (E) BEIJING 1390

CLASSIFIED BY: CHRISTOPHER BEEDE, POL/ECON CHIEF, US CONSULATE
SHANGHAI, DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


Summary
--------------


1. (C) Shanghai appeared quiet on the 20th anniversary of the
June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown. CongenOffs visiting People's
Square, Pudong, and local universities observed an increased
police presence in several areas, but there were few indications
that the situation was anything but business as usual.
Shanghai's local media was silent about June 4, and Shanghai
bloggers offered few comments. There were several reports that
dissidents in Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang Province were
detained prior to June 4. End Summary.


Gauging Shanghai's Mood on June 4
--------------


2. (C) CongenOffs visited numerous sites considered to be
possible locations for disturbances on the 20th anniversary of
the Tiananmen pro-democracy crackdown. CongenOffs focused
particularly on Shanghai's People's Square (Renmin Guangchang),
which previously had been identified by reform-minded contacts
as the primary area of concern for security forces because it is
both a gathering place and the site of official municipal
government buildings, including City Hall (Ref A). They also
visited Fudan and East China Normal Universities, the Bund, and
the Pudong New Area. PolOff also met on June 4 with
Hangzhou-based lawyer and Charter 08 signatory Zhuang Daohe, who
was visiting Shanghai.


Shanghai's Downtown: Business as Usual
--------------


3. (C) Pedestrian traffic was heavy and business appeared brisk
on Nanjing Road in the heart of Shanghai's Jingan business
district on June 4. CongenOffs observed only business as usual
on the Nanjing Walking Street and the Bund. Wujiang Road, an
"eating street" near Nanjing Road was crowded with pedestrians
during the morning and the lunch hour.



Police Presence Heavy at People's Square
--------------


4. Walking east on Nanjing Road at midday, PolOff noted a
significant shift in mood when approaching People's Square,
which includes City Hall. Plainclothes police presence was
noticeable with numerous pairs of Chinese men -- appearing
obviously out of place at a venue normally frequented by
tourists visiting the art museum, urban planning hall, or
municipal museum -- positioned throughout the square,
particularly at subway exits. On the road in front of City
Hall, there were at least 20 marked police vehicles and another
20 unmarked vehicles placed within a block of the municipal
government offices -- a dramatic increase from the 4-5 police
vehicles normally positioned there. In addition to the
vehicles, there appeared to be a corresponding presence of both
uniformed and plainclothes police.


5. Congenoffs visiting People's Square throughout the day
observed that there appeared to be more Chinese police than
Chinese tourists in the area. At one point, large buses parked
on People's Avenue in front of City Hall were filled with police
officers. Roving plainclothes officers with radios checked-in
periodically with those stationed at subway exits. There
appeared to be fewer tourists at People's Square than normal,
but foreign tourists still appeared in large numbers.


Police Preparations in Pudong
--------------


6. (C) Police officers also appeared prepared for trouble in the
Lujiazui financial district in Pudong New Area. Officers with
dogs patrolled the area around the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
There also were temporary barriers pre-positioned at Century
Park in the event of a protest. There was no visible police
presence at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo site, which CongenOff
observed to be continuing with normal construction.


No Activity at Local Universities
--------------


7. (C) There was no apparent protest activity at Fudan or East
China Normal Universities, and CongenOffs did not observe a
large number of students wearing white or carrying out some
other sort of silent protest. There was no sense from students
that there was anything unusual about the day. A student at the
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (near Fudan) told
CongenOff that most classes had scheduled exams on June 4,
meaning that many students were in classrooms taking tests or
studying. There was an extra police presence at Fudan with a
number of police cars parked next to the campus.


Shanghai Media Silent, Bloggers Work Around Censors
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Shanghai media was silent on the Tiananmen anniversary
with no mentions of the anniversary either in local newspapers
or online on June 4. Some prominent Shanghai bloggers worked
around censors, posting photos or comments about June 4 without
directly referencing the anniversary. Several bloggers referred
to the anniversary as May 35 (May 31 plus 4 days). Yuan Yulai,
a liberal attorney, complained in a blog that all of the
postings at one website with the number "20" (years) had been
blocked. Yuan complained in his blog that it was ridiculous to
have to refer to "20" as "30-10."


9. (C) Zhu Dake, a professor at Tongji University, posted
pictures entitled "Mother's Sacrifice." Xu Jingya, a famous
poet, posted a poem on sina.com entitled "Can't Say" with
references to June 4. Zhang Peihong, a young Shanghai-based
defense attorney, put a picture of many white candles but with
no words on his blog at tianya.cn in the morning, but the
posting had been taken down by the afternoon. He Weifang, a
liberal law professor, posted a blog entitled "Memory" that
mourned the death of a friend who died 20 years ago.


Dissidents Detained in Shanghai and Zhejiang
--------------


10. (C) PolOff confirmed that several dissidents in Shanghai and
Zhejiang Province were detained prior to June 4 and prevented
from leaving their homes on the Tiananmen anniversary. Mao
Hengfeng, a Shanghai dissident, reported to PolOff on June 3
that she had been under 24-hour surveillance and prevented from
leaving her home by three police officers and two public
security officials since the previous day. Mao characterized
her situation as "illegal house arrest." She added that she had
been warned by public security officials several times since May
24 to not travel to Beijing during the Tiananmen anniversary
period, and police blocked her attempt to depart Shanghai via
train on the evening of June 2.


11. (C) In Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, provincial officials
detained Wu Gaoxing, a former Tiananmen prisoner who last week
co-signed an open letter to the government complaining about
economic discrimination against dissidents. Wu's detention,
first reported by U.S.-based group Human Rights in China and
later mentioned in a New York Times article, was confirmed by
Hangzhou-based lawyer and Charter 08 signatory Zhuang Daohe, who
told PolOff on June 4 that Wu currently is under house arrest in
Taizhou.


12. (C) Zhu Yufu, a member of the China Democracy Party (CDP),
also was detained earlier in the week in Hangzhou, Zhejiang's
provincial capital, Zhuang said. Zhu had planned to travel to
Shanghai on June 4, Zhuang told PolOff, but he was prevented
from doing so by police.


13. (C) Zhuang said he had himself experienced harassment,
stating that public security agents had interviewed him on the
train from Hangzhou to Shanghai, and the only reason he was not
forced to return to Hangzhou was that he had business to take
care of in Shanghai's Qingpu District Court where he was the
lawyer in a commercial case on June 3.


SCHUCHAT