Demolition of Peking University message boards sparks outrage

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

BEIJING (AFP) — Message boards that once symbolised free speech and thought at China's prestigious Peking University have been demolished, sparking outrage among some students, state media reported Friday.

The notice boards on the triangular square known as Sanjiaodi, where students once posted short essays, poems and other messages, were removed as part of a "clean-up" campaign ahead of the university's 110th anniversary, Xinhua news agency said.

Before the brutal military crushing of the ill-fated 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, the area was the centre of student activism and was covered with "big character posters" denouncing the ruling communist regime.

"These notice boards had not served as places for the exchange of thoughts and ideas since the late...