CHINA pulled off a brilliant piece of political theatre yesterday when it packed the Mall with thousands of pro-Beijing supporters in an attempt to silence hundreds of noisy demonstrators protesting against the arrival of President Hu.

With the British hosts looking on in bemusement, the ceremonial pomp of the state visit — honour guard, cavalry escort and a 21-gun salute — was eclipsed by the cheers and jeers of flag-waving crowds. At times the atmosphere resembled a football match as fans were segregated by the police outside Buckingham Palace.

“I got up at half past three this morning so I could be in place on time,” said Zhang Yuan Hui, an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia and one of hundreds of Chinese students drafted in from across the country for the occasion. “We came because we wanted to see the President and encourage relations between China and Britain.”

Although a dozen students interviewed all insisted that they had come spontaneously to support their leader, Chinese officials, complete with red armbands and leather jackets, appeared to be directing the operation as though they were back in Tiananmen Square preparing a May Day rally. They organised transport, handed out British and Chinese national flags and large identical banners welcoming Mr Hu to London in English and Chinese.

“I am a private businessman from Essex,” one of the organisers said. “I am just here to express my delight at our President’s visit.”

The jubilant welcome was almost certainly arranged because the British authorities had made it clear that there would be no repetition of the incidents during the last Chinese state visit six years ago. During the visit by Jiang Zemin, Mr Hu’s predecessor, anti-Beijing protesters were prevented from demonstrating by heavy-handed police tactics.

This time the demonstrators were camped out on the north side of the Mall in a colourful and noisy display of dissent. Tibetan flags competed with banners denouncing the Chinese leadership. Prominent in the crowd were supporters of an independent Tibet, members of Falun Gong, the banned religious sect, Taiwanese nationalists, campaigners for Muslim minorities in western China and pro-democracy activists.

“In Tibet, any expression of their identity, national religion, even photos of the Dalai Lama is not allowed, not to mention the expression of belief or the aspiration of independence, so we are trying to voice things that are not able to be voiced in Tibet,” Yael Weisz-Rind, the campaign manager for Free Tibet, said.

Shu Li, the head of the British branch of the Federation for a Democratic China, said that she was exercising a right that ordinary Chinese did not enjoy. “We are are determined to make sure he will see us and he will hear us,” she said. “China’s human rights record has not improved at all. If anything it is getting worse.”

But it was not clear whether Mr Hu even caught sight of his detractors. The Chinese leader was seated to the left of the Queen in their horse-drawn carriage. He studiously looked out of his window and waved at the adoring pro-Beijing crowds, carefully ignoring the protests on the other side of the Mall.

Today protesters have vowed to shadow Mr Hu when he delivers a speech at the House of Commons and then has lunch with Tony Blair at No 10. Officials said that human rights would be among the topics discussed but the Prime Minister has made it clear that Britain’s growing multibillion-pound trade with China and Beijing’s increasing political clout will dominate the talks.

Christian groups called on the Prime Minister yesterday to raise the case of Pastor Cai Zhuohua, a Protestant minister, who was sentenced to three years in jail yesterday for printing Bibles. His wife, Xiao Yunfei, and her brother were sentenced to two and 1½ years respectively at a court in Beijing.

Yesterday the US State Department named China as a country it considers a serious violator of religious freedom.

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