China's plainclothes officers a force against dissent

The tough guys wore smiley face stickers, but they weren't there to spread good cheer. Scenes of pushing, shouting and shoving outside a Beijing courthouse this week were orchestrated by plainclothes security officers identified by a sticker familiar around the world - the yellow decal identified since the 1970s with the slogan "Have a Nice Day." Their attempts to intimidate journalists, foreign diplomats and a small cohort of human rights advocates outside the trial of a well-known activist lawyer are all-too familiar to China's beleaguered dissident community. Read more