Beijing police were on high alert Thursday after Chinese correspondents and other foreign reporters, bearing placards that read  'Je Suis Charlie', staged a large gathering at a Beijing bookstore to show support for the 12 media people who died in Wednesday's deadly attack on a French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

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Reports said the police donned civilian clothes and blended with the crowd to monitor the correspondents' every move during the gathering of more than 100 foreign and Chinese reporters, afraid that the Chinese people would use the same sensitive issues such as press freedom and freedom of expression with China later on.

The gathering happened amid the heightened anxiety of the Chinese government over the possible influence of western political ideas in the mainland.

In recent months, China has jailed and detained right-wing activists and lawyers, investigated foreign non-profit organizations and warned, through its state media, about 'foreign forces' that are behind the destabilization of China.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, however, clarified that the gathering was a show of support and sympathy to the victims' families and an expression of outrage over the murder of the 12 correspondents and cartoonists.

"I assume the authorities were nervous about something they might have perceived as pro-freedom of speech in a gathering that could've had implications for China," FCCC President Peter Ford said.

Ford clarified that the meeting was exclusively organized to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the Charlie Hebdo magazine and expressed outrage at the killing of people whose opinions ran counter to the attackers' beliefs.

The FCCC President said he saw half a dozen plainclothes policemen inside the bookstore and one even videotaped the whole gathering and their activities.

Ford said their group was one of several media groups worldwide that have released photos on social media holding placards that read 'I am Charlie', or Je Suis Charlie in French, and several languages.

Although the Chinese police heavily scrutinized the groups' movements, the groups were, nevertheless, allowed to take photos inside the bookstore and go ahead with their plans.

A Beijing-based correspondent for a German paper said Chinese police may have been on high alert following Shanghai's New Year's stampede that killed 40 people and injuring 50 others.

Reports said China ranked 175 out of 180  countries in a press freedom index compiled by a press freedom watchdog, falling two notches lower compared to 2013.

The FCCC said several of their colleagues in China, together with their staff, have noted a rise in threats and violence since 2008 during the Beijing Olympics.

TagsCharlie Hebdo, Paris, #JeSuisCharlie, #JeSuisAhmed, Foreign Correspondents Club of China