The sun shone above the thousands of people thronging the Gate of Heavenly Peace at Tiananmen Square in Beijing last Friday, celebrating the weeklong National Day vacation marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. Then, a flash of dystopia in the apparent utopia: Shouting broke out near one of the stone lions by the gate, as uniformed and plainclothes police officers and security agents seized a middle-aged man. They twisted his arms high behind his back in a double arm lock, forcing him to bend. Read more
