Police Break Up Protest By Parents of China Earthquake Victims

Chinese police broke up a demonstration today by angry parents protesting about the deaths of their children in poorly constructed schools during last month's earthquake.

About 100 parents, many holding pictures of their dead children, were forced away from a court in Dujiangyan in the Sichuan province.

"Why?" some of them shouted. "Tell us something," they said as black-suited police wearing riot helmets manhandled them.

The parents had been kneeling in front of the court chanting: "We want to sue."

The break-up of the demonstration follows a report that the Chinese authorities have ordered journalists to tone down critical stories about the construction of so-called "tofu" school buildings.

In attempt to head off criticism, the authorities ordered an inquiry into why 7,000 classrooms were destroyed in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake. Officials said anyone found guilty of shoddy construction would be severely punished.

In some areas, schools were the only buildings to collapse, fueling suspicions there had been corruption and corners were cut in construction.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that a notice has been sent to media outlets ordering them to temper their criticism of the construction of public buildings.

The order came after a critical report in the Southern Weekend magazine, detailing allegations of corruption and shoddy construction.

Its reporter in Mianzhu said. "The parents of the dead school children cannot comprehend why not a single building around the classroom building had collapsed."

Journalists were dragged away from today's protest, which was being held to coincide with a visit to Dujiangyan by Li Changchun, the country's fifth-ranked ruler.

Zao Ming, an official from the foreign affairs office of the local government, said: "This is not a good place to do interviews. In a disaster like this, there will be a lot of opinions. The government will solve their problems."

More than 270 students died when one high school collapsed in Juyuan, near Dujiangyan.

The Southern Metropolis News quoted a rescuer as saying that rubble from the school showed no steel reinforcement had been used, only iron wire.

The confirmed death toll from China's worst disaster in three decades rose today to 69,107 with more than 18,000 people missing. The quake has left 5 million people homeless.