Beijing put extra cops and paramilitary troops on the streets to man checkpoints around Tiananmen Square on 25th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy student protesters.  The increased security comes on top of heightened restrictions on political activists, artists – including an Australian.

Artists and former activist Guo Jian is an Australian citizen, he was detained Sunday night by police after the Financial Times newspaper ran a profile on him.  It’s believed Guo will be held through 15 June – long after the anniversary is over. Dozens of other activists and intellectuals have been taken into detention, forced out of Beijing, or confined to their homes.

“June 4 has come again and the plainclothes officers are here to protect us,” snarked Jiangsu province-based environmental activist Wu Lihong in a text message.  “I can’t leave the house to travel or lecture.”

The 1989 slaughter in Tiananmen Square – in which People’s Liberation Army troops killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters who were demanding reforms and a loosening of the political process in the hard-line Maoist totalitarian state – is an annual sore spot for the Beijing government.  But this year’s clampdown on activists and journalists is harsher than usual.  Even foreign journalists have been warned they face charges and jail time if they report on sensitive issues.