Beijing - Sporadic protests by followers of the outlawed Falun Gong religious movement continued in Tiananmen Square hours after police broke up a larger demonstration that disrupted celebrations of China's National Day yesterday.
Small groups of Falun Gong members appeared among the tens of thousands who gathered in the centre of the capital to mark the 51st anniversary of the victory of the revolution.
Police took only seconds to clear them, shoving the protesters - mostly middle-aged women - into vans. More than 350 were detained during the day, most during the large morning protest that ended with police briefly closing half of Tiananmen, an embarrassing act in the square where Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949.
The protest was one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience by the group since the government banned it 14 months ago.