If police intervene

The Demonstration Law provides for a police presence at authorized rallies and demonstrations. Plainclothes officers also patrol such events, and videotaping of participants and onlookers for later identification is common. When PSB officials disapprove of an event, they usually try to ensure that it stays as local and generates as little publicity as possible. If only a few people are involved, the participants may suddenly find themselves surrounded by plainclothes officers and shielded from public view.

If you are a journalist observing such an event or incident, an officer may order you to leave, to wait, or to accompany him. Whether you follow directions is up to you and depends upon how far you are willing to push for the right to report on the demonstration. But do not shout, struggle, or offer physical resistance if police or security officers attempt to remove you from the scene. If you are taken away, try to bring a non-Chinese colleague and immediately notify, or have someone else notify, your consular authorities. If other foreign journalists observe the incident, it is even more likely that the PSB might confiscate film and tape.