Umbrellas in Tiananmen - June 4, 2009

When I was young, I thought it odd that my mother would put up an umbrella on a sunny day. Well, it appears that Chinese security personnel also think its a good idea. Particularly on June 4, 2009 - the 20th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square incident.

Update: somewhere between 63,000 (police estimate) and 150,000 (organiser estimate) hold a commemorative rally on June 4 at Victoria Park in Hong Kong. Surprisingly little international media coverage of this rally.

Twitter blocked in China before June 4

There are a range of news stories about (here and here and here) about how the Chinese authorities have blocked access to social media sites including Twitter, You Tube, Flickr and MSN Hotmail prior to the 20th anniversary of the Tiannemen Square crackdown on June 4, 2009. This story won't be blocked, as my understanding is that Blogger is always blocked in China.