From the Chinese Central TV program, we can see that the camera follows the police to the site where the fire began and even zooms in and out to catch just the right details of the drama as it unfolds. Normally, the surveillance camera in Tiananmen Square covers a fixed area. But on this particular day, the camera follows the police to the scene and zooms in to focus on the incident. It seems as if this camera was set up specifically to tape the self-immolation.

The Chinese media claimed that it was CNN journalists who recorded the close-up shots. CNN's chief news executive, Eason Jordan, was quoted in the Washington Post as saying that "the footage used in the Chinese television reports could not have come from CNN videotape because the CNN cameraman was arrested almost immediately after the incident began." CNN did not have a chance to shoot any footage.

When we look again at the tape from Chinese Central TV, we can see a man carrying a camera bag at the scene. He seems to be shooting the whole incident from close by. Who is he? Why didn't the police stop him the way they stopped the CCN reporters?

Why would the government lie about the source of the videotape? Why wouldn't they reveal the source of the close-ups, even if they were taken by a police officer who just happened to be there on that day?

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