Cops Turn China Protesters Into Propaganda

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney posed for pictures during his interrogation in Beijing—half of it, anyway. Over 7 hours, police ran a classic good cop/bad cop routine on Mahoney, who had unfurled a “Jesus Christ is King” banner in Tiananmen Square, he tells the Washington Post. "They wanted to document our treatment," says Mahoney.

Under China’s image-conscious plan for dealing with protesters, official protest zones sit empty. Meanwhile, activists who land in police custody find photographers capturing their seemingly pleasant experience, which often includes a trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken. “They were very conscious of appearances,” said another protester. “There were no obvious signs of brutality.” (More China stories.)