Chinese police stay on alert for anti-government rallies

BEIJING  For the third Sunday in a row, Chinese police swamped a downtown Beijing shopping street listed as one of several rally locations by organizers calling for "stroll by" afternoon protests against China's communist government.

Like last Sunday, it was not known whether any people strolling on the street had answered the call for a silent protest, and it appeared that fewer security forces were on the scene.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities tightened restrictions on reporting by foreign journalists to prevent coverage of the protests.

The vice director of Beijing's Foreign Affairs Office, Li Honghai, said Sunday that reporters must now apply for government permission to gather news within central Beijing.

In Shanghai, police detained at least 17 foreign reporters at the protest site, People's Square, because they did not have prior permission to be there.

Several lawyers who handle human rights cases have disappeared since the protest calls began. Some activists have been detained and charged with subversion, which can result in long jail terms.

The calls to protest in 41 Chinese cities have been led by anonymous postings on the U.S.-based website boxun.com, which urge Chinese to gather in "Jasmine Rallies" inspired by uprisings in the Arab world.

Beijing on Sunday denounced the Internet appeals, which call for free elections.

"All clear-minded people will know that these people have chosen the wrong place and have the wrong idea," Beijing spokeswoman Wang Hui said.

China's Internet censors have blocked all references to "Jasmine Rallies."

A McDonald's restaurant on the Wangfujing shopping street was among 55 spots suggested by the online organizers for people to gather. The site is near Tiananmen Square, where student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 ended in a massacre of protesters.

Students in Wangfujing doubt that students today would take such a risk.

"There are disadvantages to a one-party system, and I would like to be able to choose our leaders, but stability is the most important thing," said Lu Yadong, 25, a building design student in Dalian, eastern China.

Joseph Cheng, a China politics expert at the City University of Hong Kong, said there have been many protests by Chinese who have a gripe against local authorities. But he said he did not believe they would answer the call for a nationwide protest against Communist Party rule.

"The Chinese people are afraid of change, afraid of chaos, and not interested in confronting the Chinese authorities," Cheng said. "The price of engaging in confrontation with the central leadership is very high, and very few are willing to pay that price."

Contributing: The Associated Press