'A regrettable tragedy that could have been avoided,' he later said of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre

“Today”. “Tomorrow”. “That year”. “That day”. “Special day”. “Massacre”. “Big Yellow Duck”.

The families of protesters killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing have written an open letter strongly criticising the new leadership of Xi Jinping for failing to introduce political reforms.

One child good, two ... a nightmare

If local unrest swells into national protest, will they choose liberalisation or repression

In only the second peaceful transition since the Communist Party took power, the 59-year-old becomes China's Premier for the next 10 years

China's authoritarianism has many faces, but rarely does it appear in the friendly, grandmotherly guise it has taken over the past week, as thousands of older women have shown up on the streets of the capital, their vigilant eyes eager to ferret out the smallest signs of trouble.

Vow comes on eve of crucial meeting to select country’s leaders for the next decade

Chinese authorities yesterday marked the 23rd anniversary of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square by blocking online search terms that reference the 1989 incident. But despite their best efforts, the Communist censors found themselves outwitted by the market forces that drive the Shanghai stock exchange.

The father of a young protester who was killed during the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square has hanged himself after more than 20 years of seeking justice for his son, a human rights group said yesterday.

So that's all right, then. The British Government has asked China to carry out a full investigation, free from political interference, into the death of the British businessman, Neil Heywood. The Chinese have pledged a thorough and transparent inquiry. Everyone is happy, but nobody should be fooled.

I wouldn't be surprised if Monica Mason, the director of the Royal Ballet, was feeling pretty furious the last couple of days. Her young star, Sergei Polunin, walked away from the company two days ago without a word. There had been no particular sign, apparently, that he was unhappy or thinking of leaving; there were no negotiations that had broken down.

A Chinese court jailed a veteran dissident who organised a pro-democracy activist network for 10 years today for inciting subversion, his wife said.