Even one of the think-tankers who had been jailed for his role in the unrest, Cao Siyuan, was back running a consultancy and publishing bold demands for political reform albeit under varying degrees of surveillance by the secret police.

ECONOMIST: China

Two months ago, the supreme leader graciously pardoned Abdollah Nouri, a former interior minister who had been Mr Khatami's keenest pro-reform adviser until the Special Clerical Court had jailed him for publishing anti-Islamic articles and promoting friendly relations with America.

ECONOMIST: The trials of everyday life