BEIJING, April 24 (AFP) -
Police tightened security on Tiananmen Square in Beijing Tuesday to prevent protests by the outlawed Falungong spiritual group on the eve of a key anniversary.
Plainclothes police and uniformed soldiers were out in force on the square in the city centre scanning for potential protests ahead of Wednesday's anniversary.
Police were seen ordering one woman into a police van after questioning her and two others were also seen being detained. Groups of peasant-like women -- who fit the typical image of Falungong protestors -- were stopped and asked to show their identification.
Soldiers also patrolled the streets near the square, which has been the scene of numerous large demonstrations by Falungong members since the group was banned as an "evil cult" in July 1999.
A fire engine was also stationed on the edge of the square after four people China says were Falungong practitioners set themselves on fire on the main esplanade in January.
Two years ago on April 25, 10,000 Falungong practitioners surrounded the Chinese leadership's Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing to protest against the arrests of some members.
The event stunned the government, which banned the group three months later. The government now considers Falungong the biggest threat to social stability since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations and has carried out a relentless two-year crackdown to crush the group.
It is common for Falungong followers to turn up en masse in the square on key anniversaries, with police detaining more than 1,000 protestors on New Year's Day.
However, fewer Falungong members have protested on Tiananmen Square since the self-immolations, which left two people dead.
Frank Lu, director of the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, said the self-immolations, which were repeatedly shown on state television, had frightened some practitioners.
"In the past, an average of 100 people were arrested each day at the square or elsewhere in Beijing ... Now fewer people go out to the square," he said.
A harsher police crackdown has also contributed, he said.
Lu said the government has now ordered anyone who protests on the square to be sent to a labor camp.
Kan Hung-cheung, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for the group, said many Falungong members were now using different tactics to protest dissatisfaction with the ban.
Practitioners are stuffing leaflets into mailboxes at housing compounds and putting up posters at night to get their message across, he said.
"Our goal is to let as many people as possible know the truth about Falungong, not to have so many people arrested," Kan said.
Since the ban, 10,000 Falungong members have been sent to re-education through labor camps, 600 to prison terms of up to 18 years and many more remain in temporary detention, Lu said.