China has blocked access to the frequently visited websites Flickr and Twitter, as well as to several search engines and blogs.

It has taken the measure in the run up to the twenty-year anniversary of the events on Tiananmen Square in 1989. On Thursday, it will be twenty years precisely since the Chinese authorities brought a violent end to the student protest in the square.

The journalistic organisation Reporters Without Borders has condemned the blocking of the websites and said that China has “opted for censorship at any price rather than accept a debate about this event." In March, the Chinese authorities blocked access to YouTube without giving any reason for their action.