The gates outside the Zhuhai sports complex in China were closed. Inside, the stadium was in darkness, as were the grounds around it. Only security gu

When horror hits China, the first instinct is shut it down

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2024-11-13 00:00:07

The gates outside the Zhuhai sports complex in China were closed. Inside, the stadium was in darkness, as were the grounds around it.

Only security guards appeared to be moving around behind the fence when the BBC arrived, and they had been ordered to keep an eye out for reporters.

One approached us asking: "Are you journalists?" When I asked why he wanted to know, he replied: "Oh just to understand the situation."

Outside the gates people passed by to catch sight of the aftermath. But among them was a group of around a dozen people more interested in us.

Often, when sensitive stories like this unfold in China, local Communist Party officials organise groups of cadres to pretend to be outraged locals who have been given the role of targeting foreign reporters and preventing any coverage.

After former Premier Li Keqiang died last year, crowds of these loyalists were sent to the street outside his old family home. Any journalist that arrived was surrounded and shouted at, pushed and abused.

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