A picture at home
LEVEL 1 - 1 OF 2 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The Daily Telegraph plc;
The Daily Telegraph
June 15, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 479 words
HEADLINE: Police state style
BYLINE: By Our Paris Staff
BODY:
Mme Edwige Avice, France's junior foreign affairs minister, said yesterday
the Chinese were using "all the instruments of an implacable police state".
International: Sister betrays Chinese student on wanted list CHINESE POLICE have
captured two of the 21 leaders of unofficial student unions wanted on charges of
inciting "counter revolution", state-controlled television announced yesterday,
writes Graham Hutchings in Peking. One appears to have been turned over to the
authorities by members of his own family - a development encouraged in the
extended propaganda campaign directed at all those wanted for
The Daily Telegraph plc, June 15, 1989
"counter-revolutionary crimes". Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was
captured in Xian, and Xiong Yan, 25, a law student, was seized on a train in
north east China. Announcing the arrests, the television newsreader said: "Just
after Tuesday's broadcast of the arrest warrants on television, Zhou's sister
and her husband, working in the Xian Air Force Institute, talked it over, then
went to tell the authorities all they knew." Five policemen then went to
Sanqiao, near Xian, and arrested Zhou. He admitted that he was a student leader.
Names, details and photographs of the 21 have been shown repeatedly on
television, broadcast on state radio, and published in leading newspapers. They
occupied nearly half a page in yesterday's People's Daily. The authorities claim
that the 21 on the wanted list are leaders of the Peking University's autonomous
Students' Federation. The federation helped organise pro-democracy
demonstrations until they were crushed by troops on June 4. The official media
continues to report scores of arrests throughout the country as the authorities
crack down on leaders of unofficial organisations. Thirty-one people have been
arrested in Changsha in south China, 15 in Kunming in the south west, and nine
in Lanzhou in the north west, the People's Daily said yesterday. All those
arrested had either instigated the strikes, committed thefts or acts of
violence, interrupted communications, or harmed social order, the paper said. It
also provided a chilling explanation of the unrest in China's cities, using
language rarely heard since the disastrous Cultural Revolution of the mid-1960s.
"The unrest shows that the class struggle continues to exist to a certain
The Daily Telegraph plc, June 15, 1989
extent in our country, and that a very small minority of reactionaries who hate
the Communist party have never abandoned their goals," the paper said. Such
people "occupy important positions, and had support from overseas
reactionaries". Their social basis was made up of "ex-prisoners who had not been
sufficiently reformed, remnants of the Gang of Four, and the very dregs of
society". The article said such people were trying to stir up trouble, overthrow
Marxism and encourage anarchy. "In the face of their attack, we have to strike
back".
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 1 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1996 The Straits Times Press Limited
The Straits Times (Singapore)
June 4, 1996
SECTION: Comment/Analysis; Pg. 27
LENGTH: 2787 words
HEADLINE: Where Tiananmen's most wanted dissidents are
BYLINE: Jiang An
BODY:
... doctorate in law from Columbia University.
He plans to work in an international investment bank in Los Angeles.
Xiong Yan: He was arrested in 1989, released from prison in 1991, and fled
to the US in 1992. He became a Christian and was studying ...
LEVEL 1 - 2 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1995 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
January 15, 1995
SECTION: NEWS; Forum; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 1027 words
HEADLINE: They won't make me go
BYLINE: Dissident WANG DAN vows never to leave China unless he wins guarantees
he will be allowed to return, following the recent revelation of a secret
blacklist of exiles.
BODY:
... channels, are in the second category: they will be refused re-entry to
China. My former colleague in Beijing University, Xiong Yan, is listed in the
last category: to be dealt with "according to circumstances of the situation".
LEVEL 1 - 3 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1995 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
January 8, 1995
SECTION: CHI; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 2934 words
HEADLINE: Concern grows over secret ban ;
Rights chief puts exiles on agenda
BYLINE: By SIMON BECK in Washington and our Political Desk
BODY:
... US for medical treatment in 1992. Returned to China in August 1993 but
was deported to Hong Kong.
Xiong Yan, 31. Former student leader. Arrested in Beijing and served two
years in jail before leaving China ...
LEVEL 1 - 4 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1995 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 7, 1995, Saturday
SECTION: Part 3 Asia - Pacific; CHINA; FE/2195/G
LENGTH: 1046 words
HEADLINE: DISSIDENTS;
Blacklist of 49 democracy activists barred from entering China
BODY:
... Han Lianchao; 5. Cao Changqing; 6. Liu Yongchuan; 7. Liu Binyan; 8. Han
Dongfang; 9. Xiong Yan; 10.. Zhao
Pinlu; and 11. Cheng Kai. Of these, Han
Dongfang, Xiong Yan, anda href="zhaopl.html"> Zhao Pinlu
were placed on the wanted list after the
4th June incident. The difference is that, while Han was later arrested and ...
LEVEL 1 - 5 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1993 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
September 18, 1993, Saturday
SECTION: Part 3 Asia - Pacific; CHINA; INTERNAL AFFAIRS; FE/1797/G;
LENGTH: 343 words
HEADLINE: Defence minister urges army to become anticorruption model
BODY:
'Jiefangjun Bao' in Chinese 6 Sep 93 p 12
Text of report by special correspondents Xiong Yan (3574 3601) and Yang Yi
(2799 0001): "While inspecting Wuhan garrison, General Chi Haotian urges army to
...
LEVEL 1 - 6 OF 69 STORIES
Public Papers of the Presidents
May 28, 1993
CITE: 29 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 984
LENGTH: 2741 words
HEADLINE: Report to the Congress on Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status for China
... 133 prisoners on a list presented them earlier in June of that year.
Since then, the Chinese have released additional political prisoners, including
Xu Wenli, Han Dongfang, Wang Youcai, Luo Haixing, Xiong Yan, Yang Wei, Wang
Zhixin, Zhang Weiguo, Wang Dan, Wang Xizhe, Gao Shan, Bao Zunnxin, and a number
of Catholic clergy and lesser known activists. We continue to press for a ...
LEVEL 1 - 7 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1993 Inter Press Service
Inter Press Service
March 8, 1993, Monday
LENGTH: 743 words
HEADLINE: CHINA: SOFTENED STANCE ON RIGHTS, BUT DISSIDENTS STILL IN JAIL
BYLINE: by Rajiv Chandra
DATELINE: BEIJING, Mar. 8
BODY:
The wife of another activist, Xiong Yan, was later freed. Qian has been
granted a passport and is waiting to join her husband, in exile in the United
States. But ...
LEVEL 1 - 8 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1993 The Christian Science Publishing Society
The Christian Science Monitor
March 4, 1993, Thursday
SECTION: THE WORLD; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 859 words
HEADLINE: Prison Letters Reveal Plight of Chinese Dissidents
BYLINE: Sheila Tefft, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... Tongxian detention center on the Beijing outskirts for three months but
later freed. The wife of 1989 activist Xiong Yan, now in exile in the US, Ms.
Qian has been given a passport and is waiting to join her husband.
But Qi, ...
LEVEL 1 - 9 OF 69 STORIES
1993 U.S. Dept. of State
Department of State Dispatch
March 1993
SECTION: Vol. 03 No. 00
LENGTH: 15640 words
HEADLINE: CHINA Human Rights Practices, 1992:
BODY:
... known dissidents like Hou Xiaotian, Yu Haocheng, and Li Honglin have been
unable to obtain permission to travel abroad. Activist Xiong Yan was only
able to leave the country by traveling without official authorization. Other
prominent figures like labor leader ...
LEVEL 1 - 10 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
October 31, 1992, Saturday, 2 STAR Edition
SECTION: A; World briefs; Pg. 28
LENGTH: 345 words
HEADLINE: World briefs
BYLINE: Houston Chronicle News Services
BODY:
... rights group in Beijing. Shen was
released Oct. 24 and deported.
Qian, 26, said she wanted to be reunited with her husband,
Xiong Yan, who lives in the Boston area. Xiong was on a list of 21
dissidents sought by Chinese authorities ...
LEVEL 1 - 11 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 U.P.I.
October 30, 1992, Friday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 433 words
HEADLINE: China releases another student activist
BYLINE: BY NICK DRIVER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... on Oct. 24 and expelled, returning to the United States.
Qian, the wife of another former Tiananmen Square student leader, Xiong
Yan, also living in exile in the United States, said the third activist, Qi,
remained in custody.
United Press International October 30, 1992, Friday, BC cycle
''Qi Dafang is ...
LEVEL 1 - 12 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 Central News Agency
Central News Agency
October 28, 1992, Wednesday
LENGTH: 280 words
HEADLINE: DISSIDENTS NOT YET RELEASED BY PEKING
DATELINE: Hong Kong, Oct 28
BODY:
... first time a few weeks ago after Shen has been in exile in the United
States.
Qian is married to Xiong Yan, a student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy
movement.
However, it is understood she was not involved in the student movement ...
LEVEL 1 - 13 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
October 28, 1992
SECTION: News; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 907 words
HEADLINE: No evidence of dissident releases
BYLINE: From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing and agencies
BODY:
... ago after Mr Shen returned from three years in exile in the United
States.
Qian is married to Mr Xiong Yan, a student leader in the 1989
pro-democracy movement.
However, it is understood she was not directly involved in the student ...
LEVEL 1 - 14 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 News World Communications, Inc.
The Washington Times
October 28, 1992, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: Part A; WORLD; Pg. A9
LENGTH: 490 words
HEADLINE: Beijing reneges on prisoner release
BYLINE: Liu Qingyan; THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BODY:
... part of a deal freeing dissident leader Shen Tong.
"The Chinese government has acted very indecently in this case," said
Xiong Yan, 28, a researcher in Boston.
"They violated even their own law by releasing Shen Tong, the supposed
'principal ...
LEVEL 1 - 15 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
September 7, 1992
SECTION: News; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 934 words
HEADLINE: Authorities silent on fate of activist
BYLINE: From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing and FIONA CHAN
BODY:
... few weeks ago after Shen returned from three years in exile in the United
States.
Qian is married to Xiong Yan, listed as one of Beijing's most wanted
suspects in what it terms the 1989 "counter-revolutionary rebellion". But it is
...
LEVEL 1 - 16 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
September 3, 1992, Thursday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 4; Column 2; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 544 words
HEADLINE: DISSIDENT'S U.S. FRIEND IS EXPELLED BY CHINESE;
IDEOLOGY: THE HARVARD SCHOLAR IS SENT TO HONG KONG. FORMER STUDENT LEADER SHEN
TONG IS APPARENTLY STILL IN CUSTODY.
BYLINE: By DAVID HOLLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... who was imprisoned for 20 months for his role in the 1989 protests, and
Qian is the wife of exiled student leader Xiong Yan, who now is in the United
States.
Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1992
Shen's mother, Li Yixian, 51, said that she visited police offices Tuesday
...
Copyright 1992 Orange County Register
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
September 3, 1992 Thursday EVENING EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A21
LENGTH: 467 words
HEADLINE: China accuses pro-democracy activist of engaging in 'illegal
activities'
BYLINE: From Register news services
DATELINE: BEIJING, CHINA
BODY:
... expelled.
Arrested with Shen were Qi Dafang, who also was active in the
protests, and Qian Liyun, the wife of another student leader, Xiong
Yan.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER September 3, 1992 Thursday
On Wednesday, China expelled Terrill, a China expert based in
Boston who had advised Shen.
Reuters and The ...
Copyright 1992 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
September 2, 1992, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
NAME: Shen Tong
SECTION: Section A; Page 8; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 718 words
HEADLINE: China Arrests a Student Leader Back From Exile in the U.S.
BYLINE: By SHERYL WuDUNN, Special to The New York Times
DATELINE: BEIJING, Sept. 1
BODY:
... traveled with Mr. Shen and worked closely with the Democracy for China
Fund. Miss Qian, the wife of another student leader, Xiong Yan, was apparently
also helping Mr. Shen.
The New York Times, September 2, 1992
The materials confiscated could presumably be used to incriminate other
Chinese whom Mr. Shen met during his ...
LEVEL 1 - 19 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 South China Morning Post Ltd.
South China Morning Post
September 2, 1992
SECTION: News; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 2187 words
HEADLINE: US, France seek Shen Tong's release
BYLINE: From GEOFFREY CROTHALL in Beijing, MICHAEL CHUGANI in Washington and
DANIEL KWAN
BODY:
... Chinese citizens identified as Qi Dafang and Qian Liyun.
Qian is the wife of one of China's most wanted dissidents, Mr Xiong Yan,
who is now in the US.
Both are said to have been active with Shen in the 1989 student movement,
and Qi reportedly spent ...
LEVEL 1 - 20 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
September 1, 1992, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 4; Column 3; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 676 words
HEADLINE: DISSIDENT DETAINED IN CHINA;
ARREST: THE CASE OF SHEN TONG, RECENTLY ARRIVED FROM EXILE IN THE UNITED STATES,
COULD BECOME AN ISSUE IN THE TWO COUNTRIES' RELATIONS.
BYLINE: By DAVID HOLLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... Qi Dafeng, a student leader and former political prisoner from Tianjin,
and Qian Liyun, the wife of exiled student leader Xiong Yan, were detained by
police at Shen's home at 1 a.m. today, Terrill told reporters this morning. Two
...
LEVEL 1 - 21 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 Central News Agency
Central News Agency
July 15, 1992, Wednesday
LENGTH: 264 words
HEADLINE: Peking launches new crackdown on dissidents
DATELINE: Los Angeles, July 13
BODY:
One leader of the underground Peking organization, Xiong Yan, spent 18
months in prison for his role to help lead the Tiananmen square protests, the
report said.
Xiong, ...
LEVEL 1 - 22 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
July 13, 1992, Monday, 2 STAR Edition
SECTION: A; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 277 words
HEADLINE: China arrests more dissidents;
Government cracks down on pro-democracy movement
BYLINE: DAVID HOLLEY; Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... wave of arrests that
followed the 1989 crackdown on China's pro-democracy movement.
One leader of the underground Beijing organization, Xiong
Yan, spent 18 months in prison for his role helping to lead the
The Houston Chronicle, July 13, 1992
Tiananmen Square protests. Xiong, 28, fled ...
Copyright 1992 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
July 13, 1992, Monday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 4; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 484 words
HEADLINE: 30 CHINESE DISSIDENTS REPORTEDLY ARRESTED
BYLINE: By DAVID HOLLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... wave of arrests that followed the 1989 crackdown on China's pro-democracy
movement.
One leader of the underground Beijing organization, Xiong Yan, spent 18
months in prison for his role helping to lead the Tian An Men Square protests.
Xiong, ...
Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1992
SUBJECT: XIONG YAN; DISSIDENTS -- CHINA; POLITICAL PRISONERS -- CHINA
LEVEL 1 - 24 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 U.P.I.
July 13, 1992, Monday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 609 words
HEADLINE: Chinese secret police roll up underground group
BYLINE: BY NICK DRIVER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... come from sources in Beijing familiar with the group and from a former
student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Xiong Yan, who helped
found the new group but fled the country in June.
The sources said Sunday the underground group ...
LEVEL 1 - 25 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1992 U.P.I.
July 12, 1992, Sunday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 611 words
HEADLINE: Chinese secret police roll up underground group
BYLINE: BY NICK DRIVER
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
... come from sources in Beijing familiar with the group and from a former
student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Xiong Yan, who helped
found the new group but fled the country in June.
The sources said the underground group consists of ...
United Press International July 12, 1992, Sunday, BC cycle
protests, Xiong Yan, who helped found the new group but fled the country in
June.
The sources said the underground group consists of liberal students and
intellectuals, including some who participated in the 1989 democracy movement.
Its actual membership is unknown.
The group has held meetings and published forward-looking essays to promote
political and economic reform. It is among a number of loosely organized, highly
secretive dissident cells that still function in China.
The secret police sweep began in late May, with more than 30 people known to
have been arrested, the sources said. A few have been released but there are
unconfirmed reports many others have also been detained.
The dragnet has hit at least five major universities in Beijing, including
Beijing University, People's University and the Beijing Language Institute.
In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he is now living, Xiong
said he helped found the group early this year to pressure the communist
government for political reform.
United Press International July 12, 1992, Sunday, BC cycle
A former Beijing University law student, Xiong, 28, was on a list of 21
''most wanted'' student leaders following the 1989 suppression of the democracy
protests. He spent 18 months in prison.
He left Beijing in early May and dropped out of sight in June, making his
way secretly to the United States, where he is awaiting political asylum. He
declined to discuss his escape, but other sources said he fled after getting
wind of imminent arrests.
''The Communist Party is very intelligent and sneaky,'' Xiong said. ''They
won't admit that they have captured anyone, because there is no law to back them
up.''
Among those arrested were former student activists Chen Wei and Wang Guoqi,
each in custody for the fourth time since 1989.
Liao Jia-an and Wang Shengli, two People's University graduate students
affiliated with the publishing of ''Trends of History,'' a book of reformist
essays published but blocked by authorities, were arrested last month.
The two also edited a now-banned campus magazine called ''Dajia,'' or
''Everyone,'' which published adventurous liberal political commentary. Both
United Press International July 12, 1992, Sunday, BC cycle
publications were technically legal.
Others reported in custody are Hu Shenglun, a lecturer at Beijing Language
Institute, Kang Yuchun, a doctor, and Wang Peizhong, a Beijing University
graduate student.
Xiong said state security officials knew of his close relations with some of
those arrested, but denied any had been picked up because he fled. He expressed
concern about his wife, who remains in Beijing.
''I hope that with the help of friends, she can come over here one day,''
said Xiong. ''In Los Angeles, my body is free, but my mind and my heart are
not.''
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GEOGRAPHIC: CHINA;
Copyright 1992 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 1992, Monday, Home Edition
NAME: XIONG YAN
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1; Column 2; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 792 words
HEADLINE: CHINESE DISSIDENT HOLDS FAST TO IDEALS;
PROTEST: DESPITE BEATINGS AND IMPRISONMENT, STUDENT LEADER SEEKING ASYLUM IN
U.S. REMAINS COMMITTED TO CHINA'S PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT.
BYLINE: By PENELOPE McMILLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
BODY:
Xiong Yan and his friends, once daring, brash and full of hope, thought
they could change China and led thousands of students into Beijing's Tian An Men
Square.
Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1992
Now, three years after the government's bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy
student movement he helped lead and 18 months in prison, Xiong has not changed.
"I got more committed," he said.
But his life has changed. The intense and idealistic former Beijing
University law student is living in Alhambra, days after seeking political
asylum in the United States.
Xiong, 28, was one of a group of student leaders who for a few heady weeks
led a brazen call for freedom of speech, assembly and more openness on the part
of the Chinese government, when they occupied the symbolic heart of Beijing,
Tian An Men Square.
To the outside world, Xiong was best known for an impassioned statement to
Premier Li Peng, who at that time agreed to a dialogue with the students, which
was televised. "Regardless of whether the government recognizes the student
movement, Chinese history will," Xiong told the premier.
It was Li who issued the order for martial law that resulted in the massacre
of hundreds, perhaps thousands of citizens as the army shot its way into Beijing
a month later, on June 4, 1989.
Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1992
Xiong was among 21 students whose names appeared on a wanted list shortly
after the June 4 crackdown and he was the first to be arrested.
Speaking through an interpreter Saturday, the short, thin and bespectacled
Xiong said his experiences -- including being captured and beaten by soldiers,
an 18-month incarceration without a trial, illness caused by prison conditions
and now an uncertain future -- have not weakened his ideals.
He even sees a positive lesson from the Los Angeles unrest because they have
led to debates over social problems. "As long as people can express themselves,
it's not like people in China," Xiong said. "Even though there's injustice
there, they cannot express it at all."
Recounting the events leading up to the crackdown, Xiong said he had not been
involved in any pro-democracy movement before he went to pursue graduate studies
in Beijing in late 1986. He grew up in Hunan, where his mother is a doctor and
his father is an auto mechanic. He was a Communist Party member.
Political controls had loosened in that period, Xiong said, allowing more
open dialogue, and his feelings began to change. He and other students felt they
could not ignore social problems stemming from economic development.
Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1992
"There was corruption, government officials getting involved in business
deals, inflation and unequal distribution of wealth," Xiong said.
The days in the square began May 13, 1989, with a hunger strike, which Xiong
organized. He recalled living in a bus that had been turned into a student
"command post" at the square, and venturing out to make speeches, asking workers
for support.
When the crackdown occurred, Xiong was in the streets. "I saw a parade of
soldiers on trucks and tanks, shooting," he said. He helped carry a stranger who
had been shot in the chest to a hospital and saw that the facility was soon
overwhelmed by the wounded.
Dismayed, Xiong grabbed a phone to call a government ministry, a television
station and the Communist Party offices, believing they were not aware that
people were being killed. The government operator "took a message," the
television station advised him to report the story himself and "send it in," and
the party official hung up on him.
That night, citizens who recognized him in the street hid Xiong from
authorities. Two days later, he fled Beijing by train, heading for northwest
China. Nine days later, he was arrested.
Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1992
Soldiers beat him and took him to a prison where he remained until January,
1991. Confined alone or with up to six cellmates at various times, he got little
to eat and was allowed only half an hour outside each week, he said. He was
beaten twice, he said, once for "no reason," and once for tapping on a cell
wall. Mostly, he said, he read books sent by his family, including works by
German philosophers and the American economist Paul A. Samuelson.
After his release, Xiong rejoined his wife, who works as a typist, in
Beijing. Ill from prison conditions, he could barely walk for months. The
government refused to issue him an identity card, which made it impossible to
legally live anywhere, get a job or buy food. A virtual outcast in his homeland,
he left last May with the help of friends.
Xiong said he wants to continue his studies but is unsure how he will support
himself. "I miss my wife," he said, and does not know when he will see her
again.
His goal for now, he said, is "to be a bridge between the overseas democratic
forces and the movement in China."
GRAPHIC: Photo, Xiong Yan, who was beaten and imprisoned after the Tian An Men
Square crackdown, lives in Alhambra. ROSEMARY KAUL / Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1992
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 1992 The British Broadcasting Corporation BBC
Summary of World Broadcasts
June 23, 1992, Tuesday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; OTHER REPORTS; FE/1414/B2/
1;
LENGTH: 283 words
HEADLINE: Dissident student leaves China by ''underground railway''
SOURCE: 'Ming Pao' Hong Kong in Chinese 16 Jun 92
Text
BODY:
Xiong Yan [3574 8746] , one of the student leaders of the 1989
pro-democracy movement, escaped from China recently and has been granted
political asylum in a western country.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 23, 1992
Xiong Yan was one of the 21 student leaders wanted by the Beijing public
security department following the 4th June incident. He was arrested by public
security officers when he fled to Inner Mongolia on 14th June 1989. After a year
and a half in detention, he was exempted from prosecution and released in late
January last year.
Reports said that after his release in Beijing, Xiong Yan went back to his
hometown in Ningxia and after wandering for more than a year, he was able to
escape from the country though some ''underground railway''. He will probably
continue his studies in North America.
Xiong Yan, 28, was a graduate student in law at Beijing University and
hails from Hunan Province. On 13th June 1989, he tried to escape arrest by
boarding a train heading for Inner Mongolia's Baotou from Yinchuan City of
Ningxia Province. But the Ningxia public security bureau had already notified
its counterpart in Inner Mongolia. When Xiong Yan's train arrived at Fengzhen
station in Inner Mongolia, seven public security personnel boarded the train to
arrest him and then escorted him to Beijing. On 26th January last year, Beijing
authorities announced that Xiong Yan was to be exempted from prosecution and
released. From the time of his arrest to the time of his release, Xiong Yan
was under detention for one and a half years.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 23, 1992
It has been more than three years since the ''4th June Incident'' broke out
in 1989. Among the 21 students leaders on the wanted list, eight have already
fled China.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 28 OF 69 STORIES
1992 U.S. Dept. of State
Department of State Dispatch
JUNE 8, 1992
LENGTH: 2765 words
HEADLINE: US Extends Most-Favored-Nation Status to China
White House Statement, Letter to Congress, Report to Congress
BODY:
White House Statement
Statement by White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater, Washington, DC,
June 2, 1992.
The President informed the Congress today that he plans to extend China's
most-favored-nation (MFN) status for another year. In making this important
decision, the President stressed that it is wrong to isolate China if we hope to
influence China.
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
Section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 explicitly links eligibility for MFN to
the important human rights issue of free emigration. Continuation of the
current Jackson-Vanik waiver (and, thus, MFN trade status) will substantially
promote freedom of emigration from China, as it has since 1979. China continues
to permit the departure of citizens who qualify for a US immigrant visa.
Although we have seen positive, if limited, developments in our human rights
dialogue, the President has made clear to the Chinese that their respect for
internationally recognized human rights is insufficient. We are deeply
disappointed in China's limited actions with regard to internationally
recognized human rights and cannot describe our relations as fully normal until
the Chinese Government effectively addresses these concerns. We want to elicit
a faster pace and a broader scope for human rights improvements in China.
Withdrawal of MFN would achieve neither of these objectives.
Short of fully normal relations, maintaining a constructive policy of
engagement with China has served US interests. In our bilateral relationship,
we have used the tools available to achieve the foreign policy goals shared by
the Administration and the Congress. This has been true of our targeted use of
301 and Special 301 trade investigations and our vigorous enforcement of the law
against prison labor imports and textile fraud. Our non-proliferation dialogue
also has been successful: China has acknowledged international
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
non-proliferation standards by acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and declaring adherence to Missile Technology Control Regime guidelines. We are
monitoring these commitments closely.
We have generated positive results without withdrawing MFN from China.
Withdrawal of MFN would inflict severe costs on American business people,
investors, and consumers. It would mean lost jobs and failed businesses in the
United States and a multi-billion dollar surcharge on American consumers'
imports. Our direct engagement with the Chinese is, on the whole, a successful
policy. We intend to maintain it in order vigorously to protect American
interests while we promote positive change in China.
Letter to Congress
Letter from President Bush released by the White House, Office of the Press
Secretary, Washington, DC, June 2, 1992.
To the Congress of the United States:
I hereby transmit a document referred to in section 402 (d) (1) of the Trade
Act of 1974, as amended, 19 U.S.C. 2432 (d) (1) ("the Act"), with respect to the
continuation of a waiver of application of subsections (a) and (b) of section
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
402 of the Act to the People's Republic of China. The document includes my
reasons for determining that continuation of the waiver currently in effect for
the People's Republic of China will substantially promote the objectives of
section 402, and my determination to that effect.
Documents concerning the extension of the authority to waive subsections (a)
and (b) of section 402 of the Act, including a determination
with
respect to other countries and the reasons therefore, are transmitted
separately.
George Bush
Report to Congress
Released by the White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC,
June 2, 1992.
Pursuant to subsection 402(d) (1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (hereinafter "the
Act"), having determined that further extension of the waiver authority
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
granted by subsection 402(c) of the Act for twelve months will substantially
promote the objectives of section 402, I have today determined that continuation
of the waiver currently applicable to China will also substantially promote the
objectives of section 402 of the Act. My determination is attached and is
incorporated herein.
Freedom of Emigration Determination. China's relatively free emigration
policies have continued during the past twelve months. In FY 1991, 18,051 U.S.
immigrant visas were issued in China, a 7.8 percent increase over the previous
year. The U.S. numerical limitation for immigrants from China was fully met.
Early figures indicate that the Immigration Act of 1990 will lead to an
additional 15-20 percent increase in immigrant visas issued in China this fiscal
year. The principal restraint on increased emigration continues to be the
capacity and willingness of other nations to absorb Chinese immigrants, not
Chinese policy. I have concluded that continuing the MFN waiver will preserve
the gains already achieved on freedom of emigration and encourage further
progress.
Chinese Foreign Travel Policies. China continues to adhere to a relatively
open foreign travel policy. According to Chinese officials, issuance of
passports for private travel increased more than threefold between 1986 and
1990. US diplomatic posts in China issued 77,615 nonimmigrant visas in FY
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
1991, a 28 percent increase from the previous year. In FY 1991, 39,465 visas
were issued worldwide to students and tourists from China, a 17 percent increase
over FY 1990 and a 114 percent increase over FY 1988.
Chinese officials report that several thousand students returned from
overseas for visits after June 1989 and have been allowed to depart again under
expedited procedures. We cannot verify these figures, but we are not aware of
any case in which Chinese living in the U.S. who returned to China for visits
after June 1989 were prevented from leaving again.
Foreign travel by Chinese-government sponsored businessmen rebounded sharply
in FY 1991, reflecting an easing of economic austerity measures imposed in 1988.
The number of officially-sponsored students declined slightly because of PRC
authorities' concern about extended delays in the students' return to China. In
February 1990, China issued a new directive requiring most recent college
graduates and fourth-year undergraduates educated at state expense to work for
five years before applying for privately-funded overseas study. The directive
most likely has forced some students to defer their plans for overseas study,
but student visa applications and issuances have increased at all China posts
except Beijing. In Beijing, issuances declined slightly from the previous
year's record level, but remained above 1989, the year before the directive was
promulgated.
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
Human Rights Issues. Our serious and continuing concerns about Chinese
abuses of human rights are detailed in the State Department's annual human
rights report. That report makes clear that China's human rights practices
remain repressive, falling far short of internationally-accepted norms; freedoms
of speech, assembly, association, and religion are sharply restricted.
We have raised and continue to raise these serious concerns with China. The
President and Secretary Baker told the Chinese that concern for human rights is
a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. The President has stressed to Premier Li
Peng that China's record on human rights remains in need of significant
improvement. More than half of Secretary Baker's discussions during his visit
to Beijing in November 1991 were devoted to human rights. We press our concerns
about abuses in the area of political and religious freedom at every
opportunity.
China has responded to our inquiries with information on prisoners of human
rights concern. We do not consider these responses wholly satisfactory and have
requested additional information, but the Chinese responses contain useful
information about the status of many political and religious dissidents. We
have stressed the need for further responsiveness on Beijing's part. The
Chinese also recently provided additional details on the whereabouts of
prominent dissidents from the Tiananmen demonstrations and the 1979 Democracy
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
Wall movement.
In May, Under Secretary Kanter told senior Chinese officials that progress
in human rights is essential if we are to improve bilateral relations. The
Chinese reiterated to Under Secretary Kanter their earlier pledge to Secretary
Baker that China would provide exit permits to all those who had no criminal
charges pending. Those who have left China or received exit permission over the
past year include the spouses of prominent dissidents at Princeton University,
journalist Dai Qing, intellectual Li Zehou, labor leader Han Dongfang, and
Democracy Wall activist Liu Qing. Others continue to face difficulties in
obtaining exit permission. We are pressing Beijing to allow their departure.
We share with Congress the goal of release of all those held solely for the
peaceful expression of their political and religious views. We continue to
share data on the human rights situation with both the Congress and concerned
non-governmental organizations. In November 1991, the Chinese confirmed to
Secretary Baker the release of 133 prisoners on our June 1991 list. Since then,
the Chinese have announced the release of additional political prisoners,
including, Han Dongfang, Wang Youcai, Luo Haixing, Xiong Yan, Yang Wei, Bao
Zunxin, Wang Zhixin, and Zhang Weiguo and a number of Catholic clergy and
activists. We are seeking a general amnesty and permission for the
international humanitarian organizations to have access to Chinese prisons.
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
Short of these goals, we have urged amelioration of the conditions of those in
Chinese prisons. As a result, treatment and medical care for Wang Juntao and
Chen Ziming has improved.
China has acknowledged the West's unyielding principle that domestic human
rights policies are a legitimate topic of international discussion. China
hosted human rights delegations from France, Australia, and Japan, and sent
several delegations to the U.S. and Europe to study Western human rights
practices. Beijing issued a "white paper" maintaining that basic human rights
are observed in China and arguing that a country's human rights record should be
viewed in light of its own history and culture. We have publicly rejected this
contention, but are pleased to engage China in discussion of appropriate human
rights standards throughout the country, including in Tibet where beatings and
detentions of Buddhist monks and nuns by the security forces were reported. We
have voiced our hopes for the release of those incarcerated in Tibet for
nonviolent expression of political views, both bilaterally and at the UN Human
Rights Commission in Geneva. China has admitted US and other foreign observers
to Tibet and to the main Lhasa prison.
Non-Proliferation Issues. China's support for global nonproliferation
initiatives increased significantly in the last year. China acceded to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and adhered to Missile Technology Control
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
Regime (MTCR) guidelines and parameters. We are monitoring closely to ensure
that China follows through with full implementation of these important
commitments. Beijing endorsed the imposition of safeguards on the Ain Oussera
nuclear reactor it sold to Algeria, and has explicitly pledged not to export M-9
and M-11 missiles (which are captured by MTCR [Missile Technology Control
Regime] guidelines). China is also participating in the Middle East Arms
Control negotiations and discussions in Geneva aimed at establishing a Chemical
Weapons Convention.
Impact of MFN on Other US Interests--Bilateral Trade. The granting of MFN
tariff status provided a framework for major expansion of our economic and
commercial relations with China. Continuation of non-discriminatory tariff
status is fundamental if we are to maintain trade relations with China. In
1991, bilateral trade topped $25 billion, with Chinese exports of $19 billion
and U.S. exports of $6.3 billion. China was our fastest growing export market
in Asia in 1991 as U.S. exports to China rose by 30 percent, after a 16 percent
decline in 1990. In turn, the United States remains China's largest export
market, absorbing about a quarter of its total exports.
If MFN were withdrawn, we anticipate that China would reciprocate by
applying its own higher non-MFN tariffs to U.S. products and erecting other
trade barriers. U.S. companies, disadvantaged by higher tariff rates, would
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
lose business to their competitors from Japan and Europe, who would quickly move
to replace U.S. exports of aircraft and aerospace equipment, grain, industrial
machinery, steel products, chemicals, fertilizers and computers. Americans
employed by these industries would lose their jobs. U.S. joint ventures would
pay higher duties on imported components from the United States, and their
exports to the U.S. would be subject to non-MFN tariffs, jeopardizing continued
operations. Without MFN, United States consumers would pay higher prices for
Chinese-made products, including appliances, toys, apparel and footwear.
Withdrawal of MFN would also undercut our current market access 301
investigation as well as implementation of the hard-won agreement on protection
of intellectual property rights produced by our Special 301 investigation.
We have advanced our bilateral agenda without resorting to the blunt
instrument of MFN withdrawal. The Administration's vigorous use of available
policy tools included criminal indictments for Chinese textile transshipments
and quota charges in excess of $100 million. As proof of the Administration's
intent to deal severely with charges that China is exporting goods produced by
prison labor, we have obtained one criminal conviction and a score of detention
orders have blocked entry into the United States of suspected prison products.
Although we have made significant progress toward our objective of resolving
favorably issues relating to Taiwan's accession to the GATT, China's
intransigence has prevented conclusion of ongoing negotiations. We remain
U.S. Department of State, JUNE 8, 1992
firmly committed to Taiwan's accession.
Economic Reform in the PRC. Maintaining MFN is essential to promote reform
in China. No one has found a way to import our goods without importing our
ideas. The opening of China and expansion of bilateral commercial relations
made possible by MFN has contributed significantly to improved living standards,
the introduction of progressive economic thinking, and further integration of
China into the world community. Withdrawing MFN would most hurt the dynamic
coastal provinces in China which are the heartland of market-oriented economic
reform. It would further isolate those in China who look to the United States
for support in their effort to liberalize Chinese society.
MFN withdrawal would also have a substantial negative effect on Hong Kong's
free enterprise economy, where more than 900 U.S. firms have invested roughly $7
billion. Hong Kong's economy depends heavily on U.S.-China trade and the health
of export industries in South China. The economic disruption caused by MFN
withdrawal would undermine confidence in Hong Kong's future in the critical
period leading up to its reversion to PRC sovereignty in 1997.
Regional and Multilateral Cooperation. As a permanent member of the U.N.
Security Council, China's cooperation on multilateral efforts concerning Iraq
and Libya was indispensable. The Chinese support efforts to find a
comprehensive political solution in Cambodia, facilitated entry of North and
South Korea into the United Nations, and oppose North Korea's effort to develop
nuclear weapons.
In summary, maintaining non-discriminatory trade status gives China an
incentive to stay engaged on issues of vital concern to the United States.
Without MFN--and conditioning its renewal is simply withdrawal with a time
delay--we cannot pursue effectively our interests with respect to these critical
areas of concern. Moreover, if MFN were withdrawn, the brunt of the economic
costs would be borne not by policymakers in Beijing, but by American
businessmen, American consumers, and the people of Hong Kong and progressive
areas of China. China's opening to the outside world has accelerated growth in
the non-state sector of the PRC economy and has deepened China's links to the
global economy. For this process to continue, China's most-favored-nation
status in the United States is essential.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 7, 1993
LEVEL 1 - 29 OF 69 STORIES
1992 U.S. Dept. of State
1991 Human Rights Report
February, 1992
SECTION: 1991 Human Rights Report
LENGTH: 14115 words
HEADLINE: CHINA
BODY:
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a one-party state adhering to
Marxist-Leninist principles, in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), backed
by the military and security forces, monopolizes decisionmaking authority. A
closed inner circle of a few senior leaders holds the right of ultimate power.
Some of these party elders hold positions within the Politburo, the Central
Military Commission, and other organs. Others hold no formal positions of
authority but still wield decisive influence by virtue of their seniority in the
Communist movement.
The party maintains control through its widespread apparatus and traditional
societal pressure as well as through a nationwide security network which
includes the People's Liberation Army; the Ministry of State Security; the
Ministry of Public Security; the People's Armed Police; and the state judicial,
procuratorial, and penal systems. The security forces have been responsible for
human rights abuses including torture and arbitrary arrest and detention.
More than a decade of impressive economic growth and the spread of market
forces have resulted in a reduction of the center's span of economic control.
Although China's per capita income--estimated at roughly $300--is one of the
world's lowest, wide disparities exist, with the living standards of some
coastal residents approaching those found in more developed countries. China's
leaders, with their overwhelming emphasis on stability, continued to be
concerned about excessive growth rates and inflationary pressures but also
continued to be willing to move toward greater reliance on markets to determine
prices and allocation of resources.
China's human rights practices remained repressive, falling far short of
internationally accepted norms. After some loosening of repression during the
first half of 1991, heightened alarm following the failed Soviet coup attempt in
August resulted in another effort by Beijing to strengthen central control,
reinforce ideological propaganda, and repress dissent, coupled with efforts to
bolster political stability by intensifying economic reform. Serious human
rights abuses persisted. The early 1991 trials of several dozen persons
detained in the 1989 crackdown were characterized by hasty verdicts, the
defendants' inadequate access to legal counsel, and the Government's refusal to
allow independent observers to attend the trials. Several were sentenced to
lengthy terms merely for expressing views critical of the ruling regime.
Despite statements that these proceedings were "basically completed," the
Government acknowledged in mid-1991 that 21 democracy movement cases had still
not been brought to trial. Some of these persons were being tried as the year
ended, but no verdicts had been announced.
Other serious human rights abuses continued, including persistent abuses in
Tibet, documented cases of torture and mistreatment of those accused of crimes,
and the repression of Catholics and Protestants who refused to affiliate with
officially sponsored religious organizations and were charged with conducting
"illegal" religious services, proselytizing, or maintaining illegal liaison with
foreign groups. Although Chinese media emphasized implementation of a new law
allowing citizens to sue officials for abuse of authority or malfeasance,
enforcement remained problematic and there was little progress on political and
legal reforms offering real protection for individual rights. Severe
restrictions on freedom of assembly, expression, and the press were maintained.
Independent reports generated international concern about Chinese prison labor
practices.
On the more positive side, the Government released some detainees and in
late 1990 began a limited dialog on human rights with its foreign critics which
led to a number of serious exchanges with government and parliamentary
delegations. The Chinese were exposed to a greater range of views on human
rights practices, and modest progress was made in resolving a small number of
human rights cases. Beijing issued a comprehensive white paper in November
which laid out in considerable detail its self-congratulatory views on Chinese
human rights. Beijing nevertheless continued to reject the applicability under
"special Chinese conditions" of many widely accepted international human rights
concepts, arguing that economic development should be the main measure of
China's human rights progress.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no documented instances of extrajudicial killings in the PRC in
1991.
b. Disappearance
There were no reported cases of disappearance in 1991. There has not yet
been an overall public accounting by the Government of the fate of those
detained during and after the suppression of the 1989 demonstrations (See
Section 1.d.).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Despite legal safeguards, the use of torture and degrading treatment of
persons detained and imprisoned has persisted. There were credible reports in
1991 of police having illegally detained and tortured suspects, particularly
those held outside formal detention centers in "shelter and investigation
centers." The Government has not yet made public its 1991 statistics regarding
investigation of such abuses, but in April the Chief Procurator indicated that
in 1990, 472 cases of confession by torture were filed for investigation and
prosecution. These figures cannot be confirmed. Punishment of abusers has
rarely been reported, although severe punishments have been imposed in at least
a few cases.
The August hunger strikes of Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming focussed
international attention on the poor prison conditions and medical care endured
by many prisoners. After the international community expressed strong concern
about these cases, government officials confirmed that Wang and Chen had been
held in solitary confinement in cells originally designed to punish prisoners
who had violated prison regulations, and admitted that both prisoners had health
problems. Wang was eventually hospitalized and Chen removed from solitary
confinement, but the Government refused to allow impartial observers to visit
the prisoners. Released prisoners and detainees, however, have reported abuses.
Democracy activist brothers Li Lin and Li Zhi (see Section 2.d.) told of having
been tortured during their imprisonment in Hunan province. Other former
prisoners and detainees have indicated that ordinary workers and unemployed
youths suffer even worse treatment than well-known prisoners like Wang, Chen,
and the Li brothers, with more frequent instances of torture and degrading
treatment. Workers are also more likely to be sentenced to prison, reeducation
through labor, or execution than are students and intellectuals. According to
one credible report, six political prisoners in Liaoning Province, including
student leaders Liu Gang and Zhang Ming, attempted to launch hunger strikes
during Secretary Baker's November visit to China to protest the harsh prison
conditions they faced. According to the report, Liu's arm was broken by prison
officials trying to force-feed him. This report could not be independently
confirmed.
Conditions in all types of Chinese penal institutions are harsh and
frequently degrading. The emphasis on obtaining confessions leads to widespread
abuses, particularly in detention centers. Former detainees have reported the
use of cattle prods, electrodes, prolonged periods of solitary confinement and
incommunicado detention, beatings, shackles, and other forms of abuse against
detained women and men. Both before and after trial, prisoners are subject to
severe pressure to confess their "errors." Despite official media and other
reports that indicate that coerced confessions have led to erroneous
convictions, the fact that a confession was coerced does not in itself prevent
or invalidate a conviction. According to judicial officials, however,
confessions without corroborating evidence are an insufficient basis for
conviction.
There have been frequent credible reports from Tibetan refugees of torture
and mistreatment in penal institutions in Tibet. In February officials
confirmed that Lhakpa Tsering, a young Tibetan who had been imprisoned in Lhasa
(Drapchi) prison, had died on December 15, 1990. The Government denied reports
that his death resulted from torture, asserting that he died from a ruptured
appendix. Chinese officials have not, however, responded to outside requests
that they release autopsy findings. Tibetan authorities have reportedly
returned Sonam Wangdu to Drapchi prison in spite of his continued, serious
health problems. His family has been denied permission to visit and assist
him. Sonam is serving a life sentence for his involvement in a 1988 riot which
led to the death of a policeman.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
China's Criminal Procedure Law proscribes arbitrary arrest or detention and
limits the amount of time a person can be held in custody without being charged.
According to the law, interrogation should take place within 24 hours of
detention, and the detainee's family and work unit should be informed of the
circumstances of the detention within 48 hours. Articles 43 and 50 of the
Criminal Procedure Law, however, permit the police to delay notifying the family
and work unit "in circumstances where notification would hinder the
investigation."
A formal arrest under the Criminal Procedure Law of a suspect detained by
the Public Security Bureau should be approved by the procuratorate within 10
days of the original detention. Public security authorities, however, often
detain people for long periods of time under various informal mechanisms not
covered by the criminal procedure law. These include regulations, some
unpublished, on "taking in for shelter and investigation" and "supervised
residence" as well as other methods not requiring procuratorial approval. These
administrative forms of detention were purportedly abolished by a 1980 State
Council document, but are still used. In April the Government indicated that
3,509 cases of unlawful detention were filed for investigation and prosecution
in 1990. These figures cannot be confirmed. The Government has not indicated
if or how those responsible for such cases have been punished.
A well-documented estimate of the total number of arbitrary arrests and
detentions in 1991 is not possible. There are credible estimates, however, that
hundreds of thousands of people, such as vagrants, the unemployed, and migrants,
have been arbitrarily detained. In addition, dozens of persons involved in
small demonstrations throughout the year have been detained. For example,
according to credible reports, authorities in Beijing in late December detained
several persons overnight after they tried to organize a peaceful memorial
ceremony commemorating the death of 1989 democracy activist Wen Jie. In March
the Government provided new information on detentions in Tibet in 1989,
confirming that 400 people were detained by Tibetan public security and judicial
organs between March and November of that year. More than 300 were later
released and about 60 were brought to trial, according to these figures, which
cannot be independently confirmed.
Several hundred persons detained for activities related to the 1989
demonstrations were held in "detention during investigation" or "administrative
detention" status. These persons were not formally arrested or charged with
any crime, although authorities began in late 1990 and 1991 to press charges
against at least some of these detainees. Chinese authorities have begun to
respond to international inquiries about those detained since June 1989,
although the responses have not yet provided complete information. During the
November visit of U.S. Secretary of State Baker, the Chinese provided a response
by individual name to a list of political prisoners that the United States had
earlier given them and agreed to continue a dialog on human rights with the
United States.
Repeated requests for information on Zhu Mei (or Sha Zhumei), reported to
have been arrested in 1987 and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment on
"counterrevolutionary" charges for religious activities, have been met by
denials from Shanghai municipal authorities that such a person is imprisoned in
that city. Officials have also declined to provide information on many Tibetans
detained since 1989 or on many members of unofficial Catholic and Protestant
churches who have been detained for months before being charged or released,
according to credible reports.
"Crimes of counterrevolution" are dealt with under articles 90-104 of the
Criminal Law. Counterrevolutionary offenses, which range from treason and
espionage to spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda, are defined by the
Government in light of its four basic principles: upholding
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong thought, the people's democratic dictatorship, the
Socialist system, and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
These principles are interpreted by the Government as circumscribing the
various rights provided for in the Constitution. As a result, despite
constitutional guarantees of free expression, people who have tried to exercise
this right have in some cases been charged with counterrevolution under Articles
90-104 of the Criminal Law. These articles have also been used to punish
persons who organized demonstrations, disrupted traffic, disclosed official
information to foreigners, or formed associations outside state control. Those
detained for committing "crimes of counterrevolution" are in theory treated the
same as those detained for other crimes, and their cases are supposed to be
handled in accordance with the criminal procedure law. In practice, the law's
provisions limiting length of detention and requiring family notification are
often ignored in "counterrevolutionary" cases.
Sentences imposed by criminal courts may be served in prisons or in reform
through labor camps. Many labor reform camps are in remote areas such as
Xinjiang or Qinghai. Some former inmates have been denied permission to return
to their homes. (See Section 6.c.)
The Government provided in 1991 a more complete accounting of the number of
persons detained in Beijing in connection with the 1989 democracy movement.
According to these figures, 1,804 were originally detained, of whom 970 have
been released, 715 convicted on nonpolitical charges, and 72 convicted on
political charges through the end of 1990. At year's end some 21 cases remained
in pretrial detention. These figures seem generally credible but cannot be
independently verified. They apparently exclude those detained in other parts
of China, those held only briefly for questioning in 1989, and at least 1,000
participants in the 1989 demonstrations assigned without trial to reeducation
through labor camps. Additional statistics released by the Justice Ministry in
July indicated that at least 37 people detained for taking part in the 1989
democracy movement had been tried, served their sentences, and released. This
figure cannot be confirmed.
The 1990 report mentioned Bao Tong, Gao Shan, Li Minqi, Liu Gang, Peng Rong,
Wang Zhixin, Xiong Yan, Yang Wei, Zhai Weimin, and Zhang Weiguo as among the
prominent political detainees not formally arrested or charged by the end of
1990. In 1991 Xiong Yan, Yang Wei, Wang Zhixin, and Zhang Weiguo were
released. (Section 2.a. discusses Zhang's subsequent detention.) Liu Gang was
sentenced to 6 years in prison. Li Minqi, as well as journalist Wu Xuecan, was
brought to trial in December, but at year's end the outcome of these trials was
not known. The cases of Peng Rong and Zhai Weimin were described by the
Government in November as "under investigation." The status of Bao Tong and Gao
Shan remained unclear. Labor activist Han Dongfang was given medical parole
from prison. Following Secretary Baker's visit in November, charges against him
were dropped. Hong Kong resident Luo Haixing, imprisoned in March for
attempting to aid fleeing democracy movement activists, was given medical parole
and allowed to return to Hong Kong.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Officials insist that China's judiciary is independent but acknowledge that
it is subject to the policy guidance of the CCP. In addition, there are
credible reports that party and government leaders predetermine verdicts and
sentences in some sensitive cases.
According to the Constitution, the court system is equal in authority to the
State Council and the Central Military Commission, the two most important
government institutions. All three organs are nominally under the supervision
of the National People's Congress. The Supreme People's Court stands at the
apex of the court system, followed in descending order by the Higher People's
Court (province), the Intermediate People's Court (prefecture), and the Basic
People's Court (county). Separate and special military, maritime, and railway
courts function directly under the Supreme People's Court. The judiciary,
however, falls under the policy control of the party's Political and Legal
Commission, headed by Politburo Standing Committee member Qiao Shi.
During the 1980's the Government moved haltingly toward the establishment of
a more autonomous and less arbitrary legal system. There were efforts to
clarify which offenses are criminally indictable by defining more precisely or
even eliminating broad, general laws, including the legal provisions for "crimes
of counterrevolution." Programs were set up to provide professional training for
judges through overseas training courses to acquaint them with foreign legal
procedures. As a result of the 1989 crackdown, however, the tightening of
political and ideological controls seriously undermined these reforms, closed
off debate on the relative merits of "rule by man" and "rule by law," and set
back China's modest efforts to build a modern and more autonomous judicial
system. Official directives to the courts to produce quick judgments during the
anticrime campaign begun in 1990 further undermined the integrity of the court
system. A Justice Ministry official acknowledged in September to a European
Parliament delegation that trials in China were conducted too rapidly. He blamed
a shortage of lawyers, of which there are an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 in
China. An Australian human rights delegation that visited Shanghai in July
found that of the 16,000 criminal cases filed in that city in 1990 fewer than
half of the accused had a defense lawyer and only 30 were acquitted. Defense
lawyers, like other Chinese, generally depend on their work units for
employment, housing, and many other aspects of their lives. As a result, they
are often reluctant to be seen as overzealous in defending individuals accused
of political offenses.
Due process rights are stipulated under the Constitution but often ignored
in practice. The Criminal Procedure Law requires that all trials be held "in
public," except those involving state secrets, juveniles, and "personal
secrets," but details of cases involving "counterrevolutionary" charges have
frequently been kept secret, even from relatives of the defendants, under this
provision. Even when trials are nominally open, in many cases the only "public"
allowed to attend are officially selected "representatives of the people" and
immediate relatives of the accused. Numerous requests by independent foreign
observers to attend 1991 trials of democracy activists were all turned aside.
The Government asserted that foreign observers were not permitted to attend
trials unless the alleged crime directly involved a foreigner or a Chinese
related to a foreigner.
The law states that a defendant may be held in custody for a maximum of 2
months during investigation, although a 1-month extension may be requested from
the next higher procuratorate. The procuratorate then has up to 1-1/2 months to
decide whether or not to prosecute the case. An additional month is permitted
if "supplementary investigation" is needed. Any delay beyond 5-1/2 months
theoretically requires approval of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, but amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law in 1984 allowed
for further extensions of these periods without higher level approval, including
possible indefinite extensions while a suspect is under "mental" examination.
In politically sensitive cases, the period of pretrial detention has often been
much longer than 5-1/2 months; many of the democracy activists tried in early
1991 had been detained over 18 months, and some, who still await trial, have
been detained for 30 months. The procuratorate sends to trial those persons it
determines are guilty on the basis of the police investigations, supplemented if
necessary by its own inquiries. The pretrial process, during which the question
of guilt or innocence is essentially decided, does not give the defense adequate
time and opportunity to prepare its case. Defense lawyers may be retained only
7 days before the trial. In some cases even this period has been shortened
under regulations issued in 1983 to accelerate the adjudication of certain
serious criminal cases.
Persons appearing before the court are not presumed innocent; trials are
generally, in effect, sentencing hearings. Conviction rates average over 99
percent. Defense lawyers may be retained privately, but most are appointed by
the court. They virtually never contest their clients' guilt; rather, their
function is generally confined to requesting clemency. There is an appeal
process, but initial decisions are rarely overturned. Defendants are expected
to "show the right attitude" by confessing their crimes, and those who fail to
confess are typically sentenced more harshly.
Three sets of trials involving the 1989 democracy movement took place in
early 1991. The first set of trials, which began on January 5, resulted in the
sentencing of seven dissidents from 2 to 4 years' imprisonment and the release
of two dissidents. The second set of trials, which began on January 26, decided
71 cases. Among those sentenced to prison were student leaders Wang Youcai
(sentenced to 4 years but since released), Wang Dan (4 years), and Guo Haifeng
(4 years), activist Ren Wanding (7 years), and intellectual Bao Zunxin (5
years). Intellectual Liu Xiaobo and 65 others were released. The third set of
trials began on February 12 and involved four cases. Law professor Chen
Xiaoping was released. Student leader Liu Gang was sentenced to 6 years.
Intellectuals Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao were given 13 years each for allegedly
masterminding the demonstrations. In April the President of the Supreme
People's Court announced that the trials of cases related to the June 1989
demonstrations had been "basically completed." In November, however, the
Government released the names of 21 persons involved in the 1989 demonstrations
who remained in pretrial detention. At year's end, another series of trials
began, though no verdicts have been announced.
The Government characterized the trials as public and fair, resulting in
lenient sentences. It has steadfastly defended its right to try and sentence
any who transgress Chinese law, rejecting the contention that
"counterrevolutionary crime" is an inappropriate, vaguely defined article which
allows punishment for peaceful dissent. Moreover, the speed of the verdicts,
the limited opportunity afforded defendants to prepare a defense, and the
inability of independent observers to attend the trials raise serious concerns
as to justice, fairness, and due process.
In addition, a number of political prisoners jailed in previous cycles of
repression, notably 1979 Democracy Wall activist Wei Jingsheng, remain in
prison. Press reports claimed that Wei's health had deteriorated during
prolonged solitary confinement, but authorities asserted Wei was in good health
and received family visits. A July press report quoted Vice Minister of Justice
Jin Jian as having said that Wei remained in solitary confinement but had been
transferred from Qinghai province to Hebei province. These reports on Wei's
status cannot be independently confirmed.
In the northeast, five workers from Changchun (Jilin) received sentences
ranging from 2 to 20 years in prison for their participation in June 1989
demonstrations. All were convicted under Articles 98 and/or 102 of the Chinese
Criminal Code. The verdict was reached in a lower court in November 1990, but
the result of a superior court review was not released until April 1991. In
Tibet authorities continued to impose harsh sentences for political activities.
Hotel bookkeeper Tseten Norgye was sentenced in February to about 4 years (exact
sentence unknown) in prison for counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement
and distributing leaflets on Tibetan independence, according to credible
reports. Officials in Tibet said in July that since 1987 there had been 50
convictions for counterrevolutionary activity in Tibet and that all of those
convicted were still in prison.
In 1990 China, citing a sharp increase in the crime rate (though one still
low by Western standards), launched an anticrime campaign that continued into
1991. The CCP leadership ordered public security, procuratorate, and court
officials to speed the process of investigation, trial, and sentencing, raising
serious due process concerns. Chinese officials refuse to provide comprehensive
statistics on death sentences or executions, but according to figures compiled
from press reports, from January to July 1991 at least 449 people were executed,
with an additional 176 sentenced to death. The actual numbers may be much
higher. One Western source with access to Chinese criminologists estimated the
total number of executions in China in 1991 might have been as high as 5,000 or
6,000. This report could not be independently confirmed. All death sentences
are reviewed by a higher court, but such reviews are often very rapid, with some
completed within a few days after initial sentencing.
Under a set of regulations governing reeducation through labor originally
issued in 1957 and revised in 1979, government authorities can assign persons
accused of minor public order offenses (e.g., disturbing the peace, fabricating
rumors, hindering government officials from performing their official duties) to
reeducation through labor camps without judicial review. This allows security
authorities to deal with political and other offenders without need for recourse
to even the nominal procedures and protections offered by the formal criminal
process. Reeducation through labor sanctions were used to circumvent the formal
criminal process in the cases of some 1979 Democracy Wall activists and appear
to have been used in the same way to deal with some persons involved in the
spring 1989 demonstrations.
In 1990 Chinese officials stated that 869,934 Chinese citizens had been
assigned to these camps since 1980, with about 80,000 assigned each year and
160,000 undergoing reeducation through labor at that time. Justice Ministry
officials reiterated the 160,000 figure in July 1991. It is not possible to
verify these official statistics; other estimates of the number of inmates are
considerably higher. Terms of assignment run from a normal minimum of 1 year to
a maximum of 3, although the labor reeducation committee may subsequently extend
an inmate's sentence for a maximum of 1 year if his "reform attitude" is not
good.
The number of persons in Chinese penal institutions who would be considered
political prisoners by international standards is impossible to estimate
accurately. While Government officials deny that the PRC has any "political"
prisoners, they have stated that there are just over 1.1 million inmates in
Chinese prisons and reform camps, and that 0.5 percent of these were convicted
of "counterrevolutionary crimes," for a total of roughly 5,500
"counterrevolutionary" convicts. This figure includes a substantial number
convicted of crimes such as "espionage" that are internationally recognized
criminal offenses; the secrecy surrounding espionage cases prevents foreign
observers from determining the validity of such charges. On the other hand, the
figure excludes the remaining 1989 detainees, at least 1,000 in labor
reeducation camps, and an undetermined number sentenced nominally for various
criminal offenses including religious activities (such as receiving funds from
abroad without authorization or changing such funds on the black market).
Estimates by some foreign researchers of the number of political prisoners are
much higher but cannot be confirmed.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence.
Personal and family life in China is extensively monitored and regulated by
the authorities. Most persons depend on their work unit for employment,
housing, ration coupons, permission to marry or have a child, and other
aspects of ordinary life. The work unit, along with the neighborhood watch
committee, monitors activities and attitudes. Since the 1989 demonstrations,
Chinese authorities have strengthened the surveillance functions of neighborhood
watch committees, requiring them to work more closely with the police. Search
warrants are required by law before security forces may search premises, but
this provision is often ignored. Daily life is monitored in a variety of ways.
Some telephone conversations are recorded, and mail is frequently opened and
censored, in spite of the provision in the 1982 Constitution that "freedom and
privacy of correspondence of citizens...are protected by law." One purpose of
this Government surveillance is to regulate and limit contact between PRC
citizens and foreigners, who are generally required to live in segregated and
monitored compounds or dormitories.
The compounds in which foreign diplomats, journalists, and business people
live are under close physical surveillance, have conspicuously placed television
cameras in elevators, and are presumed to be universally electronically
monitored. Chinese wishing to visit foreigners are deterred by this pervasive
system of monitoring. Since the 1989 crackdown, the Government has intensified
its efforts to restrict contact between Chinese citizens and foreigners.
China's population has roughly doubled in the past 40 years, seriously
complicating the country's economic development. In the early 1980's the
Government set a goal of limiting the population to 1.2 billion by the year
2000. To meet this target, it adopted a comprehensive and highly intrusive
family policy for Han Chinese in urban areas. Numerous exceptions are allowed
for Han in rural areas. Ethnic minorities are either exempted or subject to
less stringent population controls. In September 1991, Foreign Minister Qian
Qichen said the population of China had reached 1.15 billion; the State Family
Planning Commission indicated in October that China's revised target for the
year 2000 is now 1.294 billion. Individual and family decisions about bearing
children are regulated by the State, with economic rewards for those who
cooperate with it, and sanctions against those who deviate from official
guidelines. The Government sets an annual nationwide goal for the number of
authorized births, apportioned down to the local level and, ultimately, to each
work unit. Fujian province, for example, has implemented the national family
planning policy through a system of contracts setting population growth targets
which extend from the provincial Governor through provincial leaders and work
units to individual workers. Work units exercise pressure to control births,
and fines may be imposed to penalize those who violate the terms of the
contract. Birth statistics reflected the widespread ineffectiveness of these
measures in limiting couples to only one child. In 1990, 21 percent of all
births were at least a family's third child, 32 percent were second children,
and 47 percent of births in Fujian were first children. In urban areas, couples
are encouraged to delay marriage until well after the legal minimum age of 22
for men and 20 for women, and to defer childbirth until at least their mid-20's.
For most urban couples, obtaining permission to have a second child is very
difficult, although the policy is sometimes evaded.
China's population control policy relies on education, propaganda, and
economic incentives, as well as more coercive measures including psychological
pressure and severe economic penalties. Rewards for couples who adhere to the
policy include monthly stipends and preferential medical, food, and educational
benefits. Disciplinary measures against those who violate the policy include
stiff fines, withholding of social services, demotion, and other administrative
punishments. Local family planning officials are also subject to penalties for
"excess births" in their units. In Shanghai, in addition to 145 publicized
cases of couples being fined for having an unauthorized child, there were 3
publicized cases in 1991 in which the offenders (2 women and a couple) were not
only fined but also fired from their jobs.
Chinese family planning officials have become increasingly concerned about
the ability of itinerant workers, whose numbers are estimated to range from
70-100 million persons, to circumvent family planning regulations. More than 50
percent of these persons are in their prime child-bearing years. Accordingly,
in November the State Council passed new regulations aimed at bringing this
population more directly into family planning programs.
Although the Government officially opposes physical compulsion to submit to
abortion or sterilization, the practice has continued to occur as officials
strive to meet population targets. Chinese officials acknowledge privately that
there are still instances of forced abortions and sterilizations in remote,
rural areas, although the number of such cases is well below levels of the early
1980's. While recognizing that abuses occur, officials maintain that China does
not condone forced abortion or sterilization and that abuses by local officials
are punished. They admit, however, that punishment is rare and have yet to
provide documentation of any punishments. In part, they explain, there is a
bureaucratic disinclination to punish those doing the difficult, socially
unpopular, but economically necessary task of enforcing national population
policy.
According to officials in East China, local family planning workers are
penalized not only for "excess births," but also for "excess abortions." Family
planning workers receive negative performance evaluations for "excessively high"
abortion rates. Officials have not publicly defined the term "excessively
high."
Enforcement of the family planning policy is inconsistent, varying widely
from place to place and year to year. The 1990 census data indicate that the
average number of children per family (2.3) and the population growth rate
(1.5 percent) remain significantly higher than would be produced by
comprehensive national enforcement of official policy. In many areas, couples
apparently are able to have several children without incurring any penalty,
while in other areas enforcement has been more stringent. Local officials have
great discretion in how, and how strictly, the policy is implemented. Because
penalties for "excess births" can be levied against local officials and the
mothers' work units, many people are personally affected, providing an
additional potential source of pressure.
Female infanticide has persisted in some impoverished rural areas.
Insistence that local units meet population goals has contributed to the
persistence of this traditional practice, generally by parents who hope to have
more sons without incurring official punishment. The Government strongly
opposes infanticide and has prosecuted offenders; it has been able to reduce but
not eradicate the practice. In order to discourage the abortion of female
fetuses, the Government has issued regulations prohibiting medical personnel
from using ultrasound equipment to determine the sex of a fetus or from
disclosing the sex of a fetus as determined by testing conducted for medical
reasons, according to information Chinese officials provided in July to an
Australian human rights delegation. In recent years, regulations with eugenics
provisions have been implemented in at least five provinces, beginning with
Gansu. These regulations seek to prevent people with severe mental handicaps
from having children and include provisions for mandatory sterilization before
permission to marry is granted and compulsory abortion in the event of
pregnancy. National family planning officials reportedly have discouraged the
enactment and enforcement of such eugenics laws, though the central Government
has not overridden these provincial laws.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Freedom of speech and self-expression are severely restricted. Limited
tolerance of some criticism of government policies and officials had generally
increased through the 1980's, but after June 1989 this trend was abruptly
reversed. The party has reasserted complete control over the press; the media's
role of transmitting the views of the people to the leadership has been limited
and carefully regulated. Citizens are not permitted to criticize senior leaders
or to express opinions contrary to the "four cardinal principles," which provide
for a Socialist state under the Communist Party's exclusive control. Persons
who violate these guidelines are punished.
Television and radio broadcasting has remained under strict party and
government control and been used to propagate an orthodox ideological line.
Programming has been heavily laced with party propaganda. As part of its
control of citizens' access to information, the Government has continued to jam
many Chinese language broadcasts of the Voice of America (VOA) and British
Broadcasting Corporation. The leadership has attacked VOA, claiming it is part
of a Western conspiracy to subvert China. Despite the effort to jam VOA, the
effectiveness of the jamming varies considerably by region, with audible signals
reaching most parts of China. Cable News Network satellite transmissions to
international hotels were banned in Beijing during the 1991 anniversary of the
Tiananmen repression. Many foreign journalists have reported episodes of
surveillance and harassment.
The party has ordered the domestic press to support the party line and not
question the "four cardinal principles." A Communist Party Central Committee
document called for renewed prepublication censorship of all major state-run
media, according to credible reports. A number of Chinese journalists have been
detained and the ranks and leadership of many newspapers and journals purged.
Tightened distribution has enabled authorities to control foreign language
material more effectively. The September 23 issue of Newsweek, which contained
investigative reports on prison labor, was not distributed to the few newsstands
(mostly located in international hotels) that sell foreign magazines and
newspapers.
The Government has attempted to curb publications advocating "bourgeois
liberalization" (Western social, political, and cultural ideas). Numerous
publications have been closed, heavy-handed ideological controls reimposed, and
ideologically suspect journalists replaced. The Government has banned
publications by authors considered politically unacceptable such as Liu Binyan,
Su Xiaokang, Su Shaozhi, Bao Tong, Liu Xiaobo, Yan Jiaqi, and Fang Lizhi and his
wife Li Shuxian.
The party has continued to impose tight controls on colleges, universities,
and research institutes. The entering freshmen classes at Beijing University
and Shanghai's Fudan University were again sent to military camps for a year of
training and ideological indoctrination. Numerous textbooks and scholarly works
have been either censored or prohibited by the State Education Commission. At
all levels, the quantity of political study has increased.
The heavy ideological control of academic institutions and the censorship of
the media have forced many Chinese journalists and scholars to exercise great
caution. Some researchers engaged in work regarded as sensitive were prohibited
from accepting graduate students. Many scholars, including some of China's most
prominent, have declined opportunities to publish or present papers on subjects
that could be construed as sensitive. More vigorous public debate on some
subjects, such as economic policy, has been tolerated.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of peaceful assembly and association is severely restricted in
practice. The Constitution has provisions for the right "of assembly, of
association, of procession, and of demonstration," but such activities may not
infringe "upon the interests of the state." A "law governing assemblies,
parades, and demonstrations" was implemented in 1990. Like the Constitution, it
provides for the right to assemble and demonstrate but stipulates that parades
and demonstrations may not "infringe on the interests of the state, society, and
collectives or the legitimate freedoms and rights of other citizens." This
provision would proscribe any protests against Communist Party rule, socialism,
or the leadership and can be used to ban protests that disrupt traffic,
interfere with business, occupy public places, or that could be interpreted as
"infringing" on the freedoms of other citizens.
Procedures for obtaining a parade permit discourage and effectively prevent
the exercise of the right of assembly insofar as that right might challenge the
perceived interests of the State. The Government said that some demonstrations
had been authorized, claiming that 13 applications for demonstrations in 1990
were approved in Sichuan Province alone. Officials provided no additional
details on these demonstrations, which attracted minimal press attention. At
any rate, such demonstrations must by law have been perceived by the State as
consistent with its interests. The law does not apply to "traditional cultural,
recreational, or sports activities" and "normal religious activities," but local
authorities retain the power to determine what are legitimate "traditional" or
"normal" religious activities.
Professional and other mass associations are for the most part organized and
controlled by the Communist Party. Regulations issued in 1990 require all
organizations to be officially registered and approved. Ostensibly aimed at
secret societies and criminal gangs, the regulations also prevent the formation
of unauthorized political, religious, or labor organizations, such as the
student and worker groups that emerged briefly before and during the 1989
democracy movement. They have also been used to disband groups, such as
unregistered "house churches" (religious congregations which gather in private
residences), deemed potentially subversive. Security forces maintain a close
watch on groups formed outside the party establishment, particularly
unauthorized religious groups. Associations recognized by the State are
permitted to maintain relations with recognized international bodies, but these
contacts are carefully monitored and limited.
The Government monitors and discourages contacts between dissidents and
foreigners. In Shanghai, after dissidents Wang Ruowang and Zhang Weiguo were
released from detention, they were subsequently accused of unauthorized
contact with foreigners (particularly the foreign media), detained, and
questioned several times for brief periods. During a visit in November by U.S.
Secretary of State James Baker, two prominent dissidents, Dai Qing and Hou
Xiaotian, were detained to prevent any contact with the Secretary's party. Dai
Qing was forcibly removed from a hotel, sent out of Beijing, and held until
after the Secretary's visit was over. Hou Xiaotian was briefly detained near
Beijing. No charges were filed against either Dai or Hou, and Chinese
authorities denied that they had been arrested. Dai was later allowed to leave
the country.
c. Freedom of Religion
Religious freedom in China is subject to restrictions of varying severity.
While the Constitution affirms toleration of religious beliefs, the Government
places restrictions on religious practice outside officially recognized and
government-controlled religious organizations. Religious proselytizing is
restricted to officially registered and sanctioned places of worship, although
some discreet proselytizing and distributing of religious texts seems to be
tolerated. The management and control of religion is the responsibility of
religious affairs bureaus across China, staffed primarily by party members.
Buddhists are by far the largest body of religious believers in China. The
Government estimates that there are 100 million Chinese Buddhists, most of
whom belong to the dominant Han ethnic group. Other Buddhists belong to
Tibetan, Mongolian, and other ethnic groups. Han Buddhist leaders generally
cooperate with the Government and have experienced few reported difficulties.
In Tibet, however, where Buddhism and Tibetan nationalism are closely
intertwined, relations between Buddhists and secular authorities have been
tense. Daoism, widely practiced in southern coastal provinces, is officially
respected as an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but some of its
practices conflicting with Government strictures against superstition and waste
of arable land have been sharply criticized.
China permits Moslem citizens to make the hajj to Mecca, but limited state
financing effectively constrains the number of hajjis. Nongovernment sources
indicated that about 1,500 Chinese made the hajj in 1991, roughly the same
number as in 1990. Officially sanctioned religious organizations are permitted
to maintain international contacts as long as these do not entail foreign
control, but proselytizing by foreign groups is forbidden. The Three-Self
Patriotic Movement, the official Protestant church, and its Buddhist and Moslem
counterparts have established extensive networks of international support.
While the Catholic Patriotic Association has no official ties to the Roman
Catholic Church, its leaders frequently visit Catholic and other religious
leaders abroad. The Association ordains its own bishops and priests, generally
follows pre-Vatican II practices, and rejects papal authority. Sources in
Rome publicly indicated, however, that 20 to 30 of the more than 60 Catholic
Patriotic Association bishops had been recognized by the Vatican.
The Government, after forcefully suppressing all religious observances
during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, began in the late 1970's to restore or
replace confiscated churches, temples, mosques, and monasteries. The official
religious organizations administer more than a dozen Catholic and Protestant
seminaries, nine institutes to train imams and Islamic scholars, and institutes
to train Buddhist monks. Students who attend these institutes must demonstrate
"political reliability," and all graduates must pass an examination of
theological and political knowledge to qualify for the clergy. The Government
supervises the publication of religious material for distribution to ensure
religious and political conformity.
Only those Christian churches affiliated with either the Catholic Patriotic
Association or the Three-Self Patriotic Movement may operate openly, but active
unofficial religious movements pose an alternative to the state-regulated
churches and temples. The unofficial Catholic Church claims a membership far
larger than the 3.6 million registered with the official church, though actual
figures are unknown. It has its own bishops and priests and conducts its own
services. A large number of Protestants worship privately in "house churches"
that are independent of government control. There is a dynamic house church
movement in many cities and, like their unofficial Catholic counterparts, house
churches often attract more followers than the official Three-Self Patriotic
Movement churches.
The Government generally tolerates the existence of unofficial Catholic and
Protestant churches as long as they remain small and discreet. In some parts of
south and east China, official and underground churches seem to coexist and even
cooperate. In other parts of the country, however, authorities have
sporadically continued efforts to rein in activities of the unapproved Catholic
and Protestant movements, raiding and closing a number of unregistered churches.
The Government suspects many leaders of unofficial churches of harboring
criminal or dissident intentions and has imprisoned scores of them in recent
years. There have been numerous credible reports in recent years of raids on
house churches and detentions of members, particularly in southern and coastal
provinces and in Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Henan provinces. While China
remains a nominally secular society, the active expression of religious belief
has continued to grow.
Growth in expression of belief has been accompanied by continued Government
pressure on believers. In February the Communist Party reportedly issued a
secret document reflecting heightened official suspicion of religious activities
and urging greater vigilance by the party in controlling such activity.
Shanghai Catholic Bishop Fan Zhongliang was arrested in mid-June in Zhejiang
Province, where he had reportedly attempted to contact underground Chinese
Catholic leaders. He was returned to Shanghai where he remained in detention
until mid-August, when he was released pending further investigation. According
to Catholic sources, many other bishops, priests and lay people remained in
detention or reeducation. Bishop Joseph Fan Xueyan, with the exception of a
period from 1979 through 1981, has been imprisoned or under house arrest since
1958. The Government said in November that Bishop Fan had been released.
According to credible reports at least 23 Catholics were detained in Hebei in
December 1990, including Bishops Simon An Shi'en, Peter Chen Jianzhang, Cosmas
Shi Enxiang and Song Weili. One bishop from the group, Paul Shi Chunjie,
reportedly died in November. Another, John Han Dingxian, was described by the
Government in November as "under investigation." A third bishop from the group,
Paul Liu Shuhe, was reportedly sent for reeducation through labor. Bishop
Casimir Wang Milu continued to serve a 10-year reform through labor sentence.
Cangzhou Bishop Paul Li Zhenrong and several other people reportedly were
arrested on December 11 in Tianjin.
Protestants faced the same sort of pressure. Members of the Guangzhou house
church of Pastor Samuel Lamb (Lin Xiangao) continued to be harassed by local
authorities, but the church remained open. According to Protestant sources,
many Protestants remained in detention or reeducation for their religious
activities. These included Reverend Sun Ludian, Reverend Song Yude, and
Reverend Xu Guoxing. Many Tibetan Buddhists and Xinjiang Moslems have continued
to oppose Chinese rule, and Chinese authorities have taken a harsh attitude
toward both. The Government tightly controls and monitors Tibetan Buddhism and
does not tolerate religious manifestations that advocate Tibetan independence.
It has recognized the Dalai Lama as a major religious figure but condemns his
political activities and his leadership of a "government in exile." A 1990 law
sharply limits religious freedom for Tibetan Buddhists. It provides for
government regulation of many religious activities, from burning incense to
holding ceremonies.
The practice of religion in Tibet is also hampered by the limits the
Government imposes on religious education and by the small size of the religious
community compared to traditional norms. Access to religious sites, however,
does not appear to be a major problem, and large amounts of money are being
devoted to reconstruction of the main sacred sites including the Potala Palace
in Lhasa. In areas with large Moslem populations, particularly Xinjiang,
Qinghai, and Ningxia, there continues to be concern regarding the sharp
restrictions on the building of mosques and the religious education of youths
under age 18 mandated by the 1988 religion law. Following the 1990 unrest in
Xinjiang, the authorities issued additional regulations further restricting
religious activities and teaching.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and
Repatriation
The Government uses an identification card system to control and restrict
residence patterns within the country. Citizens are required to carry their
cards at all times when out of doors (many apparently ignore this rule) and to
present them to authorities on demand. Individuals are registered as residents
of a particular jurisdiction and assigned to a specific work unit. Change of
residence or workplace is very difficult and, in most cases, is possible only
with government permission and agreement by the work unit. The Government has
placed travel restrictions on several released detainees and religious figures.
Authorities try to limit unauthorized migration to urban areas, but they
estimate there are at least a million unregistered persons each in Shanghai,
Guangzhou, and Beijing. Authoritative Chinese estimates of the itinerant
population for the entire country range from 70 to 100 million. Official
tolerance of this itinerant population has varied with the economic need for a
supplemental work force in the big cities.
Foreign travel is controlled, although Chinese citizens have, and many
exercise, the right to emigrate upon the Government's review of their
circumstances. Tiananmen hunger striker Gao Xin was released and allowed to
leave China for the United States in March. Former University of Arizona
student Yang Wei, several other dissidents, and the families of some dissidents
residing in the United States were also allowed to leave China in 1991.
Secretary of State Baker was assured in November in Beijing that any person
against whom no criminal proceedings were pending would be allowed to leave
China after completing the usual formalities. At year's end, intellectuals Dai
Qing and Li Zehou had received their passports; Dai left China for the United
States in mid-December, and Li was planning to leave in early January. Other
dissidents and religious figures, however, were still encountering problems in
acquiring PRC travel documentation.
The State Education Commission has stated on a number of occasions that a
proper political attitude is a major criterion in selecting people to go abroad
for government-sponsored study. The State Education Commission has also made
efforts to restrict administratively the number of privately sponsored students
going abroad. Regulations implemented in 1990 require those college and
university graduates who received free postsecondary education to repay the cost
of their education to the state by working for 5 years or more before being
eligible for passports to go abroad to study. For those who have overseas
Chinese relatives or have not yet graduated, the regulations provide a sliding
scale of tuition reimbursement exempting them from the work requirement.
Students who must pay the full amount are reportedly charged about $500 for
each year of study. Implementation of these regulations has varied from place
to place, and many students still managed to obtain passports. Persons subject
to the regulations on study abroad appear to have had little trouble obtaining
passports to visit Chinese relatives overseas.
The Government has relaxed some restrictions on internal travel by
foreigners. Tibet and Xinjiang have allowed tourists and some diplomats to
visit, although with significant restrictions. Senior officials have stated
that students and scholars returning from overseas have not been and will not be
punished for participation in prodemocracy activities while abroad. It is not
clear whether this guarantee applies to leaders of student dissident
organizations. Officials have indicated that if such persons wanted to return
to China they would have to express "repentance," disassociate themselves from
"reactionary" organizations, and refrain from "subversive" activities once they
returned.
The Government indicated in September that since 1989 between 6,000 and
7,000 students had returned to China from the United States on holiday. Another
several thousand had returned to work. None had been punished or refused
permission to go abroad again. None of the approximately 150 students
interviewed by the U.S. American Consulate General in Shanghai reported
experiencing any difficulties with the Chinese Government when they returned
on holiday from the United States to China in 1991.
Although no instance of government harassment has been reported with regard
to returning students, nonstudent democracy activist brothers Li Lin and Li Zhi
were arrested, tortured, and held for 5 months when they returned in February to
their native Hunan province. They had fled to Hong Kong after participating in
the June 1989 democracy movement but returned to China after the central
Government announced that it was safe for dissidents who had broken their ties
to counter- revolutionary organizations to come home. Upon return, they were
arrested by local authorities, but following appeals by former President Jimmy
Carter and Hong Kong-based American businessman John Kamm, a compromise between
central and local authorities was apparently struck whereby they were convicted
merely of illegally crossing the Chinese border, then released and allowed to
return to Hong Kong.
The Li brothers' case is the only known instance of activists having been
arrested after returning to China from abroad. There have, however, been
reports since 1989 of harassment of Chinese students overseas, although the
number of such reports dropped off in 1991. Chinese officials indicated in
September that they intended to "be helpful" with regard to overseas students'
passport problems. Privately funded students could have their passports
extended as long as they had an academic reason to remain overseas. Publicly
funded students could change their passport status to private by making a
financial settlement with the work unit that had financed their studies. It is
too early to assess the implementation of this policy.
The Government accepts repatriation of citizens who have departed China
without authorization, in most cases apparently without punishing them. For
example, some 3,000 Fujianese "boat people" who left China without authorization
and entered Japan illegally were repatriated in 1990 and 1991. Although China
accepted more than 280,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Han Chinese, from Vietnam and
Laos between 1978 and 1982, in recent years it has adopted a stricter policy of
no new admissions. China has cooperated with Hong Kong to reduce the flow of
Vietnamese refugees into the colony. Although China has signed the
Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated at the International Conference on
Indochinese Refugees held in Geneva in June 1989, it is unclear whether China
considers itself a participating state. Credible reports suggest the PRC has
repatriated persons of other nationalities seeking refugee status.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change
Their Government
Citizens cannot peacefully and legally change their government. Chinese
citizens can neither freely choose nor change the laws and officials that
govern them. China is ruled by the Communist Party, the paramount source of
political authority, on Marxist-Leninist principles. Within the party, a closed
inner circle of a few senior leaders exercises ultimate power over the nation.
Some hold key positions within the six-member Standing Committee of the
Politburo, the Central Military Commission, or other organs. Others are
nominally retired but continue to exercise great political influence despite
holding no formal positions in party or government. Although at age 87 he is
less actively engaged in day-to-day issues, Deng Xiaoping remains first among
equals in this latter group. These senior party leaders broadly determine
policy, which is then implemented by the Government.
According to the 1982 Constitution, the National People's Congress (NPC) is
the highest organ of state power. It nominally selects the President and Vice
President, decides on the choice of the Premier, and elects the Chairman of the
Central Military Commission. During the 1980's, the NPC had begun to exercise
increasing independence and influence. Debates had become much more open, and
several important Government proposals were sent back for revisions. After
1989, however, the NPC reverted to its more traditional role of docilely
ratifying decisions already made by the senior leadership. There is no longer
any real debate in the NPC public sessions, though debate in closed-door
committee sessions on certain issues is still reportedly fairly vigorous.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental
Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
There are no organizations within China which monitor or comment on human
rights conditions. The Government has made it clear that it will not tolerate
the existence of such groups. In Shanghai, Fu Shenqi, Gu Bin, and Yang Zhou
were detained in the spring for "violating Chinese law" and held by public
security authorities pending investigation of their alleged involvement in the
establishment of a human rights society and newsletter.
Despite the Chinese Government's adherence to the United Nations Charter,
which mandates respect for and promotion of human rights, Chinese officials do
not accept the principle that human rights are universal. The State Council
Information Office's unprecedented November "white paper" on human rights argued
that each nation has its own concept of human rights, grounded in its political,
economic, and social system and its historical, religious, and cultural
background. Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said in his September address to the
U.N. General Assembly that the human rights forums of the United Nations had
been used by certain countries to wage "cold war." Although officials no longer
dismiss all discussion of human rights as interference in the country's internal
affairs, they remain reluctant to accept criticism of China's human rights
situation by other nations or international organizations. They reject reports
by Amnesty International, Asia Watch, and other international human rights
monitoring groups on torture and other human rights violations. The Chinese
Foreign Ministry publicly criticized the Department of State's 1990 report on
human rights practices in China, charging that the report had "cited false
rumors to distort and attack China" and was therefore "entirely unacceptable."
Chinese officials have stepped up their criticism of human rights problems in
other countries while arguing, paradoxically, that foreigners had no right to
criticize human rights abuses in China.
In 1991 Chinese officials initiated efforts to promote academic study and
discussion of Chinese concepts of human rights. Articles in the official press
argued that "Marxist human rights" emphasizing collective economic entitlements
were superior to "capitalist human rights" stressing individual civil and
political liberties. The Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences (CASS) held a symposium in June on theories of human rights. A CASS
delegation visited North America in September and October to study international
concepts of human rights. In November the Government published, and publicized
widely, a report on human rights in China which acknowledged the need for
improvements, but otherwise presented a one-sided and highly complimentary view
of individual rights in China, attempting to establish a dichotomy between
economic development and personal and political liberties. The publication of
the report and other human rights activities appear to have originated in a
desire to improve China's image abroad and strengthen the Government's ability
to respond to criticism of its human rights record. Whatever the motivation,
this process of study and dialog has exposed more Chinese to alternate concepts
of human rights.
Chinese authorities continued to broaden their dialog with the United States
and other governments on certain human rights issues, including judicial and
penal systems, amnesties, accounting for prisoners, emigration policy, and
family planning. Beijing also received several U.S. Congressional delegations
with a particular concern for Chinese human rights problems. An Australian
human rights delegation visited China in July. A European Parliament delegation
with an emphasis on human rights made a September visit. Both the Australian
and European delegations visited Tibet. Other prominent visitors, including a
high-level U.S. delegation led by the Secretary of State, also focused on human
rights issues with Chinese leaders. All of these delegations found restrictions
imposed by the Government which severely limited their contacts and travel.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social
Status
While laws exist to protect minorities and women, in practice discrimination
based on ethnicity, sex, and religion persists in housing, jobs, education,
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
and other aspects of life.
The economic progress of minorities is viewed by the Government as one of
its significant achievements. Minorities benefit from a policy of "privileged
treatment" in marriage, family planning, university admission, and employment,
as well as disproportionate infrastructure investment in some minority areas.
In practice, however, discrimination based on ethnic origin persists. The
concept of a largely homogeneous Chinese people pervades the general thinking of
the Han ethnic majority. The 55 designated ethnic minorities constitute just
over 8 percent of the PRC's population. Most minority groups reside in areas
they have traditionally inhabited, with standards of living often well below the
national average. Government economic development policies have had some
success in raising living standards but have at the same time disrupted
traditional patterns of living.
The Communist Party's avowed policy of increasing minority representation in
the Government and the CCP has resulted in members of minority groups accounting
for 15 percent of the deputies in the NPC. Among the 19 chairmen and vice
chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, 6, or 32 percent, are of minority
nationality. Such statistics, however, obscure the reality that ethnic
minorities are effectively shut out of all but a few positions of real political
and decisionmaking power. Some minorities resent Han officials holding key
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
positions in minority autonomous regions. Ethnic minorities in Tibet, Xinjiang,
and elsewhere have demonstrated against Han Chinese authority, and the
underlying causes of unrest continue to fester. While martial law in Lhasa,
Tibet's capital, was lifted in 1990, foreign visitors to Tibet in 1991 observed
that there was still a pervasive armed police and military presence there.
Reports reaching the West in 1991 suggested the existence of smoldering ethnic
tension in Inner Mongolia. Central authorities have made it clear that they
will not tolerate opposition to Beijing's rule in minority regions.
The Government has tried in some instances to adopt policies responsive to
minority sensitivities, but in doing so has encountered the dilemma of how to
respect minority cultures without damaging minority interests. In Tibet and
Xinjiang, for example, there are two-track school systems using standard Chinese
and minority languages. Students can choose which system to attend. One side
effect of this policy to protect and maintain minority cultures has been a
reinforcement of a highly segregated society. Under this separate education
system, those graduating from minority schools are at a disadvantage in
competing for jobs in government and business, which require good spoken
Chinese. These graduates must take remedial language instruction before
attending universities and colleges.
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
The 1982 Constitution states that "women in the People's Republic of China
enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of life," and promises, among other
things, equal pay for equal work. In fact, women experience many inequalities.
Most women employed in industry work in lower skilled and lower paid jobs, women
hold relatively few positions of significant influence within the party or
government structure, and there was no notable improvement in women's rights or
working conditions in 1991. Women have often been the unintended victims of
reforms designed to streamline enterprises and give workers greater job
mobility. Many employers prefer to hire men to avoid the expense of maternity
leave and child care. Reports by women of discrimination, unfair dismissal,
demotion, or wage cuts when they needed maternity leave have continued.
The gap in the education levels of men and women has narrowed; women now
make up over one-third of both high school and university students. Men
continue, however, to constitute the majority of the educated, particularly the
highly educated, and a disproportionate number of government-funded scholarships
for overseas study go to men.
The Government strongly condemns and is working hard to curb traditional
abhorrent practices against women such as the abduction and selling of women for
wives or prostitution, abuse of female children, violence against women, and
female infanticide. In September the NPC's Standing Committee, in an effort
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
to curb such practices, adopted laws on protection of minors, curbing of
prostitution, and punishment of abductors of women and children. Many
discriminatory practices are rooted in traditional rural attitudes and values.
Rural parents tend to view girls as liabilities because they are less productive
income earners and leave home without providing assistance for their parents'
retirement; boys are more highly valued as prospective income earners and as
future caretakers for elderly parents. A number of provinces have sought to
reduce the perceived higher economic value of boys in providing old age support
by establishing more retirement homes and improving the quality of those homes
already in existence.
Finally, there is discrimination in China on the basis of religion.
Communist Party officials state that party membership and religious belief are
incompatible. This places a serious limitation on religious believers, since
party membership is required for almost all high positions in government and
commerce. While there are some religious believers in the party, especially in
minority autonomous regions, few hold important leadership positions. Most
government officials responsible for religious affairs work are not religious
believers.
Section 6 Worker Rights
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
a. The Right of Association
The PRC's 1982 Constitution provides for "freedom of association," but the
guarantee is heavily qualified by references to the interest of the State and
the leadership of the CCP. Though trade union officials recognize that workers'
interests may not always coincide with those of the party, they claim their role
encompasses both passing CCP demands and propaganda down to the workers and
channeling workers' demands upward to the enterprises, the party, and the
Government.
While union membership is voluntary for individual employees, enterprises
are generally required to have a union. Workers in Chinese-foreign joint
ventures are guaranteed the right to form unions, which then must affiliate with
the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), and joint venture managers
report significant union activity and the need to bargain with these unions over
wages and benefits. Union officials indicate that about 20 percent of joint
ventures have unions, and attribute the lack of unions in other joint ventures
to the newness of the firms. However, officials report that union membership is
much larger among large joint ventures, which include the majority of U.S.
company participation. They state that they are actively organizing unions in
those joint ventures that do not have them, and report little opposition from
foreign owners.
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
The right to strike, which had been included in China's 1975 and 1978
Constitutions, was removed from the 1982 Constitution. In 1983, however, the
Chairman of the ACFTU stated that, if a trade union and its labor protection
safety officers found that a workplace was too dangerous, the union should
organize the workers to leave the hazardous areas. Thus, Chinese authorities
usually view strikes as justified only when they respond to problems such as a
sudden deterioration in safety conditions. While Ministry of Labor officials
deny that there have been any recent strikes, there were scattered press reports
of strikes and other labor unrest in 1991. Many of these continue to relate to
the issue of benefits for laid-off workers.
The ACFTU, nominally an independent organization, is in fact closely
controlled by the Communist Party. There have been credible reports of
Communist Party harassment through union channels of workers with close working
relationships with foreigners. Virtually all state sector workers and nearly 90
percent of all urban workers belong to ACFTU chapters. Unemployed workers are
not considered union members.
The Government does not allow independent trade unions, and none operates
openly. In 1983 the ACFTU added a new clause to its Constitution requiring that
any attempt to set up or dissolve a union be endorsed by its membership and
approved by higher bodies in the national trade union structure. While this
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
clause appears to allow for the existence of nonunion worker groups, no such
groups appear to be legally tolerated. The Workers Autonomous Federations that
were formed briefly in the Spring of 1989 were all eliminated by arrests of
their leaders. Worker leader Han Dongfang was released and all charges dropped
in 1991, and the Government told the International Labor Organization (ILO) that
Liu Qiang had also been released, but a number of other worker leaders who
attempted to form independent unions remain in detention. Reports from several
sources, however, indicated that underground worker organizations exist in
China. The Hong Kong press has reported that these organizations were subject
to official harassment.
ACFTU international activities are subject to policy guidance from the CCP.
The ACFTU currently claims to have contacts with trade unions in over 120
countries, without regard to whether the foreign union is affiliated with the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the Communist-dominated World
Federation of Trade Unions, or other organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Under the labor contract system that now covers approximately 10 percent of
China's work force, individual workers may negotiate with management over
contract terms. In practice, only the very few workers with highly technical
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
skills are able to negotiate effectively on salary and fringe benefits issues.
The Government does not permit collective bargaining. Without legal status
as a collective bargaining body, the ACFTU's role has been restricted to a
consultative one in the decisionmaking process over wages and regulations
affecting labor. Most of the terms and conditions of employment continue to be
determined unilaterally by management in most cases. In joint ventures and some
small collectives, workers have greater influence. The ACFTU has shown itself
increasingly concerned about protecting workers' basic living standards and,
occasionally, protesting unsafe working conditions; it has organized petitions
and even sit-ins demanding that laid-off workers' living wages be protected.
Other than in cases where it believes workers' basic welfare is severely
threatened (such as inadequate unemployment benefits), the ACFTU generally acts
simply as a channel for workers' complaints to the management of individual
enterprises and municipal labor bureaus, or as a channel for passing CCP demands
and propaganda to workers.
A 1988 law states that trade unions in private enterprises have the right to
represent employees and to sign collective bargaining agreements with the
enterprises. The significance of this is muted by the fact that the work force
of private enterprises now accounts for less than 1 percent of Chinese urban
workers. Moreover, there have been no reports of instances in which unions in
private enterprises have undertaken collective bargaining over wage, contract or
safety issues. Worker congresses, organized in most Chinese enterprises,
technically have the authority to remove incompetent managers and approve major
decisions affecting the enterprise (notably wage and bonus distribution
systems). Worker congresses generally meet only once a year, however, and
appear to act primarily as rubber stamps on agreements worked out among factory
managers, party secretaries, and union representatives.
In addition, a dispute settlement procedure has been in effect since 1987.
According to the procedure, workers who wish to contest a dismissal or other
unfair practice must first appeal to an arbitration committee within the
factory. If they are not satisfied with the committee's decision they can
appeal to a local arbitration committee, chaired by a local labor bureau
official with representatives from the union and the enterprise. If not
satisfied with this committee's decision, the worker can bring the matter to
court, though in practice, this has rarely, if ever, been done.
Laws governing working conditions in China's Special Economic Zones are not
significantly different from those in the country at large. While the
Government has regulations limiting wages for joint venture employees to 120
percent of state enterprise employees' wages (or 150 percent in highly
profitable ventures), these regulations are not uniformly enforced.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
While China has generally abandoned its traditional use of massive corvee
labor for construction of infrastructure projects and public facilities, workers
are still "mobilized" for public works projects and to augment public security
forces. Imprisonment in China, except for those in detention centers, generally
entails compulsory labor. Almost all those sentenced by the courts to prison or
labor reform camps, including political prisoners, are required to work, usually
for little compensation. In addition, China maintains a network of reeducation
through labor camps (see Section l.e.) with an officially reported inmate
population of 160,000, not sentenced by a court, who also must work.
Under the "staying at prison employment" system, some prisoners are denied
permission to return to their homes after release and instead are forced to
remain and work in the vicinity of the prison. For those assigned to camps far
from their residences, this constitutes a form of internal exile. While the
Ministry of Justice claims that only 200 to 300 former prisoners are currently
held under this system, most outside observers contend that the true number is
far higher, although numbers are impossible to verify. Chinese penal policy
emphasizes "reform first, production second," but labor is an integral part of
the system both for rehabilitation and in order to help support the facilities.
Prisoners in both labor reform and labor reeducation reportedly spend a
maximum of 6 hours per day working and 3 hours per day studying. Most reports
indicate that work conditions in the export-oriented light manufacturing
factories are similar to those in ordinary factories, but conditions on labor
farms and in coal mines are exceedingly harsh and in the mines possibly more
dangerous than in ordinary mines. Various Chinese newspapers have reported that
Chinese prison labor is used for many types of production (examples in
parenthesis): infrastructure (roads), heavy industry (coal, steel), light
manufacturing (clothing, shoes, small machine tools) and agriculture (grain,
tea, sugar cane).
The U.S. Customs Service has issued orders barring a number of products
which were reported to be made by prisoners from entering the United States and
has detained several shipments of such goods. On October 10, 1991, the Chinese
Government published a reiteration of its regulations barring the export of
prison-made goods. It also reported to the U.S. Embassy on the results of
several investigations, including one where a factory manager was relieved of
his administrative duties. At year's end, the U.S. Government was actively
negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Government on
obtaining the necessary information to enforce U.S. law and halt these exports.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Regulations promulgated in 1987 prohibit the employment of school-age minors
who have not completed the compulsory 9 years of education. Statistics on
school attendance indicate that approximately 20 percent of school-age children
in the cities and villages do not attend school, and therefore are likely to be
working. The number may well be higher in poorer and isolated areas, where
child labor in agriculture is assumed to be widespread. In connection with a
crackdown on vices, there were reports in the press and by public security
officials of female minors being sold into prostitution or to factories as
laborers.
In September 1988, the Ministry of Labor issued a circular designed to curb
child labor problems; it reiterated those policies this year. It calls for
severe fines, withdrawal of business licenses, or jail for employers who hire
child laborers under 16 years old. Enforcement appears to have been haphazard.
Provincial officials in Guangdong, where the problem of child labor is
particularly serious, were unable to say how many enterprises have been
prosecuted for child labor violations.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
China does not have a labor code. A draft is apparently circulating, but it
remains unclear whether it will be published or made into law.
There is no minimum wage in China.
The legal maximum workweek excluding overtime is 48 hours, of which 3 to 12
hours are generally spent in political study or "education" on current social
issues.
At factories and construction sites, occupational health and safety are
constant themes of posters and campaigns. Every work unit must designate a
health and safety officer; the International Labor Organization has established
a training program for these officials. Despite this, general health and safety
conditions in the workplace are poor. Both workers and managers often disregard
safety procedures. State procurators deal annually with thousands of negligence
and accident cases involving criminal or civil liability. The absence of a
national labor code makes enforcement of safety regulations by labor bureaus
extremely difficult. Most of the cases mentioned above involve physical
injuries caused by machinery or transport of materials. Chinese epidemiological
officials have only recently become aware of the threat to workers from
chemicals and are currently only beginning to monitor such threats.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Human Rights Reports, February, 1992
LOAD-DATE: March 5, 1992
LEVEL 1 - 31 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1991 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 28, 1991, Monday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; 2. CHINA; FE/0981/B2/ 1;
LENGTH: 762 words
HEADLINE: WANG DAN AND 250 ANTIGOVERNMENT RIOT ''OFFENDERS'' SENTENCED
SOURCE: Xinhua News Agency, Peking, in English 0847 gmt 26 Jan 91
Text of report
in Chinese 1006 gmt
1030 gmt and China Central Television
1100 gmt
The British Broadcasting Corporation, January 28, 1991
BODY:
Wang Dan and 250 other offenders, who were arrested for violating laws during
the anti-government turmoil and rebellion in 1989, have been dealt with
respectively according to different criminal circumstances in Peking recently,
Xinhua learned here today [Peking, 26th January] .
Eighteen of the offenders have been released by public security and
procuratorial organs as they committed only minor crimes and have shown
repentance and performed meritorious services. Eight others, who were accused by
procuratorial organs, have been tried publicly by the Peking municipal
intermediate people's court.
It is learned that 45 more offenders with minor crimes were excused from
arrest. They showed repentance after receiving education during the
investigations of their cases by the public security organs. They have been
given lenient treatment respectively in the past a few months after making
written promises to repent.
The municipal intermediate people's court publicly sentenced Wan Dan and
seven other offenders here today.
Liu Xiaobo, who committed serious crimes but has acknowledged them, showed
repentance and performed some major meritorious services, was exempted from
criminal punishment; Chen Lai and Li Chenghuan, who committed less serious
crimes and showed repentance, were also exempted from criminal punishment.
Yao Junling was given a lesser punishment of two years' imprisonment with a
one-year deprivation of political rights. Wang Dan, who committed serious
crimes, but has shown such repentance as confessing his own crimes and exposing
others, was given a lesser punishment of four years' imprisonment with a
one-year deprivation of political rights; Guo Haifeng, a lesser punishment of
four years in jail with a one-year deprivation of political rights. Bao Zunxin,
who committed serious crimes, but has repented, also got a lesser punishment of
five years' imprisonment with a two-year deprivation of political rights.
However, Ren Wanding, who was found guilty of grave crimes and showed no
repentance, was sentenced to an imprisonment of seven years with a deprivation
of political rights for three years.
The court held separate public hearings of the cases of Wang Dan and the
seven others between 8th and 23rd January . Previously, the city's public
security organs investigated their cases one by one and transferred the cases to
the procuratorial organs for reviewing. The latter then instituted public
prosecutions against the offenders. The public hearings were attended
respectively by more than 300 local residents, including family members of the
accused and teachers and students from local universities and colleges. Lawyers
of the accused conducted defence on their behalf.
The court, after hearings, confirmed that some of the eight defendants,
resorting to various means, wantonly conducted public agitation to subvert the
people's government and the socialist system during the 1989 turmoil and
rebellion, and others made Molotov cocktails to attack the armed forces
enforcing the martial law and helping safeguard public order, and performed
other acts of sabotage. Their actions violated the country's criminal law and
constituted crimes, according to the court decisions.
It is learned that the court handled the cases separately on the principle of
taking facts as the basis and the law as the criterion and of combining
punishment with leniency, and passed sentences according to the concrete
circumstances and endangerment of the crimes and the defendants' attitude
towards their crimes and repentance.
The court also told the accused that they may, if disagreeing with the court
decisions, appeal to the Higher People's Court within 10 days from the next day
after they received the written judgments. The term of fixed imprisonment for
a criminal is to be shortened by days spent in custody before the judgment
begins to be executed.
Eighteen offenders who committed minor offences and showed repentance have
been freed. Eleven of them, including Lu Jiamin, Chen Po, Liu Suli, Xiong Yan,
Ding Xiaoping and Wen Jie, were released according to decisions made by the
Peking municipal procuratoriate branch. The seven others, including Zhou
Yongjun, Chen Wei and Zhang Wei, were freed in accordance with decisions made by
the Peking municipal public security bureau.
[Note This report was also carried on 26th January by Xinhua News Agency (in
Chinese 1006 gmt), Central People's Broadcasting Station, Peking home service
(1030 gmt and China Central Television (1100 gmt)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 32 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1991 The Washington Post
The Washington Post
January 27, 1991, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A14
LENGTH: 946 words
HEADLINE: Chinese Activists Sentenced;
Student Leader Wang Given 4-Year Term
SERIES: Occasional
BYLINE: Lena H. Sun, Washington Post Foreign Service
DATELINE: BEIJING, Jan. 26, 1991
BODY:
Wang Dan, the most prominent student leader of the 1989 democracy movement,
was sentenced to four years in prison today for his role in the protests, while
one of China's veteran dissidents, Ren Wanding, received a seven-year term
because he "showed no repentance," the official New China News Agency reported.
The two were among 26 activists whose cases were settled today in the second
major round of proceedings against students and intellectuals accused of playing
key roles in the demonstrations, which were crushed by the army on June 4, 1989.
Five activists received prison terms, three were convicted but exempted from
criminal punishment, and 18 were released without trial, including one student
leader who was on the government's 21-most-wanted list.
The sentences handed down today by the Beijing Municipal Intermediate
People's Court are considered fairly lenient by Chinese government standards. By
international human rights standards, however, most of the activists, who were
exercising basic rights of free speech and assembly, deserved no criminal
punishment.
Wang, a Beijing University history student, headed the government's
most-wanted list of student leaders. He went on trial Wednesday on charges of
counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement, and the proceedings lasted three
hours, Chinese sources said. His parents were not notified until the morning of
the trial.
Today's official news agency account said Wang "committed serious crimes but
has shown such repentance as confessing his own crimes and exposing others." The
government's claim may have been an attempt to discredit Wang with the country's
pro-democracy forces and eliminate his effectiveness as a leader in future
movements.
Longtime human rights campaigner Ren received the most severe sentence today.
Ren, who began his trial Jan. 8 on the same charges as Wang, "was found guilty
of grave crimes and showed no repentance," the news agency reported. An
accountant in his mid-forties, Ren was a major figure in the democracy movement
of 1978-79, but played only a relatively minor role in the seven weeks of mass
protests that began in the spring of 1989.
Under the Chinese judicial system, which is controlled by the Communist
Party, defendants are under enormous pressure to confess, for which they may
receive leniency, while those who resist are dealt with severely. Furthermore,
according to Chinese sources, many of the defendants were forced to use
government-appointed lawyers, who were barred from pleading not guilty.
In the 19 months since the army killed hundreds of people to crush the
protests, the authorities have concentrated on trying and sentencing workers or
unemployed people involved in the movement.
This second wave of prosecutions, begun three months ago, is considered
politically more sensitive because it is directed at students and intellectuals
whom the government has identified as top leaders of the democracy movement.
These trials represent "the government's symbolic decapitation of the 1989
pro-democracy movement," according to a report by Asia Watch, a New York-based
human rights organization.
The Chinese government, which came under international sanctions for the army
attack on protesters, is apparently pressing the trials now to take advantage of
the world's preoccupation with the Persian Gulf War.
The authorities also have been concerned about domestic political currents,
and the timing of the trials indicates that they believe the situation inside
the country has stabilized, analysts said.
Even though the government today announced the release of many of the accused
and exempted some from "criminal punishment," most of the individuals have been
incarcerated for more than 18 months without formal charges. All of the
sentences handed down today included time already served.
The Washington Post, January 27, 1991
Others who received sentences today include Bao Zunxin, a philosopher in his
fifties who argued against martial law, and Guo Haifeng, a Beijing University
student who knelt on the steps of the Great Hall of the People to submit a
petition to the government. Bao, who also was reported to have "repented" by the
news agency, was sentenced to five years. Guo was convicted of
counterrevolutionary sabotage for attempting to set fire to an armored vehicle,
and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Of the three who were convicted but exempted from punishment, the most
prominent is university lecturer and literary critic Liu Xiaobo. He returned to
China in April 1989 from the United States, where he had been a visiting scholar
at Columbia University. Liu's trial on charges of counterrevolutionary
propaganda and incitement began last week. The news agency said he "committed
serious crimes but has acknowledged them, showed repentance and performed some
major meritorious services."
The agency did not elaborate, but Liu's "meritorious services" probably
refers to the night of the Chinese army attack, when Liu helped persuade student
protesters to peacefully leave Tiananmen Square and negotiated with the army to
allow them to retreat.
The 18 who were released without trial include three university lecturers, Lu
Jiamin, Liu Suli and Chen Po, and two student leaders, Xiong Yan and Zhou
Yongjun.
Several prominent intellectuals who the government claims were the movement's
hard-core organizers are awaiting trial and are likely to receive harsh
sentences.
The official news agency's account said the hearings were public, attended by
more than 300 local residents, with lawyers defending the accused. But admission
to the trials was closely controlled by authorities, and closed to foreign
reporters and diplomats.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 33 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
JANUARY 26, 1991, SATURDAY
LENGTH: 717 words
HEADLINE: another group of offenders involved in anti-government riots sentenced
in beijing
DATELINE: beijing, january 26; ITEM NO: 0126123
BODY:
wang dan and 25 other offenders, who were arrested for violating laws during
the anti-government turmoil and rebellion in 1989, have been dealt with
respectively according to different criminal circumstances in beijing recently,
xinhua learned here today. eighteen of the offenders have been released by
public security and procuratorial organs as they committed only minor crimes and
have shown repentance and performed meritorious services. eight others, who
were accused by procuratorial organs, have been tried publicly by the beijing
municipal intermediate people's court. it is learned that 45 more offenders
with minor crimes were excused from arrest. they showed repentance after
receiving education during the investigations of their cases by the public
security organs. they have been given lenient treatment respectively in the past
a few months after making written promises to repent. the municipal
intermediate people's court publicly sentenced wan dan and seven other offenders
here today. liu xiaobo, who committed serious crimes but has acknowledged them,
showed repentance and performed some major meritorious services, was exempted
from criminal punishment, chen lai and li chenghuan, who committed less serious
crimes and showed repentance, were also exempted from criminal punishment. yao
junling was given a lesser punishment of two years' imprisonment with a one-year
deprivation of political rights, wang dan, who committed serious crimes but has
shown such repentance as confessing his own crimes and exposing others, was
given a lesser punishment of four years' imprisonment with a one-year
deprivation of political rights. guo haifeng, a lesser punishment of four years
in jail with a one-year deprivation of political rights. bao zunxin, who
committed serious crimes but has repented, also got a lesser punishment of five
years' imprisonment with a two-year deprivation of political rights. however,
ren wanding, who was found guilty of grave crimes and showed no repentance, was
sentenced to an imprisonment of seven years with a deprivation of political
rights for three years.
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, JANUARY 26, 1991
the court held separate public hearings of the cases of wang dan and the
seven others between january 8 and 23. previously, the city's public security
organs investigated their cases one by one and transferred the cases to the
procuratorial organs for reviewing. the latter then instituted public
prosecutions against the offenders. the public hearings were attended
respectively by more than 300 local residents including family members of the
accused and teachers and students from local universities and colleges. lawyers
of the accused conducted defense on their behalf. the court, after hearings,
confirmed that some of the eight defendants, resorting to various means,
wantonly conducted public agitation to subvert the people's government and the
socialist system during the 1989 turmoil and rebellion, and others made molotov
cocktails to attack the armed forces enforcing the martial law and helping
safeguard public order and performed other acts of sabotage. their actions
violated the country's criminal law and constituted crimes, according to the
court decisions. it is learned that the court handled the cases separately in
the principle of taking facts as the basis and the law as the criterion and of
combining punishment with leniency, and passed sentences according to the
concrete circumstances and endangerment of the crimes and the defendants'
attitude towards their crimes and repentance. the court also told the accused
that they may, if disagreeing with the court decisions, appeal to the higher
people's court within ten days from the next day after they received the written
judgments. the term of fixed imprisonment for a criminal is to be shortened by
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, JANUARY 26, 1991
days spent in custody before the judgment begins to be executed. eighteen
offenders who committed minor offences and showed repentance have been freed.
eleven of them, including lu jiamin, chen po, liu suli, xiong yan, ding
xiaoping and wen jie, were released according to decisions made by the beijing
municipal procuratoriate branch. the seven others, including zhou yongjun, chen
wei and zhang wei, were freed in accordance with decisions made by the beijing
municipal public security bureau.
LEVEL 1 - 37 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
July 27, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; 2. CHINA; FE/0519/B2/ 1;
LENGTH: 945 words
HEADLINE: ARTICLE ON ROLE OF PEKING UNIVERSITY'S ''DEMOCRATIC SALON'' IN UNREST
SOURCE:
Xinhua in Chinese 0511 gmt 25 Jul 89
Text of report, ''Beijing Ribao'' article exposes the true features of the
'Democracy Salon' at Peking University''
BODY:
Today's [25th July] 'Beijing Ribao' published a signed article exposing the
true features of the ''democracy salon'' organised by Fang Lizhi, Li Shuxian,
Wang Dan and Liu Gang at Peking University.
The article said By organising the ''democracy salon'', these people
attempted to whip up opinion and scrape together followers, thus making
ideological and organisational preparations for stirring up turmoil in order to
overthrow the leadership of the CCP and the socialist system.
The ''democracy salon'' at Peking University opened on 4th May 1988 when the
university celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding. Up to 12th May 1989,
the ''democracy salon'' held a total of 17 sessions, which were presided over by
Wang Dan and company, with Fang Lizhi and Li Shuxian as behind-the-scenes
advisers.
The article pointed out The ''democracy salon'' at Peking University did not
really practice democracy, because it not only invited Fang Lizhi and Li Shuxian
to give lectures, but also invited such leading advocates of bourgeois
liberalisation as Bao Zunxin, Ren Wanding, Dai Qing, Wu Zuguang and Xu
Liangying. These people blatantly preached bourgeois liberalisation at the
forums organised by the ''democracy salon'' and attacked the four cardinal
principles from the political, economic, cultural and other angles.
They wantonly attacked Marxism and said that Marxism ''is a kind of
anti-modernisation theory''. They clamoured that ''to realise democracy, the key
lies in changing China's environment''. They slandered the Chinese leaders by
saying that ''they do not have a sense of human rights at all''. They also
openly voiced grievances for Wei Jingsheng, a condemned counter-revolutionary
criminal, describing Wei as ''a talented and promising young man who should be
protected''. They went all out to advocate freedom of speech, freedom of the
press and freedom of journalism that go against the four cardinal principles,
and declared that they would run their own newspapers and magazines to ''spread
ideas about democracy''. They attacked the party's journalism policy and
wantonly said that ''today's press censorship is worse than that under
Kuomintang rule''. These people gnashed their teeth when mentioning the
elimination of spiritual pollution and the struggle against bourgeois
liberalisation.
All this showed that these people did not really conduct ''academic
discussions'', but just opposed the four cardinal principles; and their real
purpose was to overthrow the leadership of the CCP and the socialist system and
to subvert the people's republic under the guise of ''democracy''.
The article also exposed the activities of the ''democracy salon'' in
preparing for the establishment of an organisation.
In early April this year, in order to turn the ''democracy salon'' into a
legal organisation, Wang Dan asked students to sign a petition. On 3rd April,
Wang Dan put a letter up to the school leadership and the relevant leading
department signed by 56 students at the triangle area of the campus. They asked
the school leadership to support the ''democracy salon'' and provide it with a
venue for meetings They also told some reporters from Hongkong about this in an
attempt to make use of the overseas mass media to exert some pressure on the
school leadership.
On 19th April, the student unrest occurred. That evening, the ''democracy
salon'' held another session to discuss the establishment of an organisation.
The participants elected Wang Dan, Feng Congde, Xiong Yan and four others onto
the ''preparatory panel for the solidarity student union of Peking University'',
in an attempt to replace the legal student union and postgraduate student union
at that university.
Through intensive activities, they eventually formed an organisation. The
organisers and activists of the ''democracy salon'', such as Wang Dan, Liu Gang,
Feng Congde, Yang Tao, Xiong Yan and Guo Haifeng, all became the ringleaders
and backbone of the illegal ''Peking College Students Autonomous Federation''
during the turmoil and the counter-revolutionary rebellion.
The article said The organisers of the ''democracy salon'' acted in collusion
with the leading advocates of bourgeois liberalisation. They took advantage of
the opportunity presented by the death of Comrade Hu Yaobang to instigate,
engineer and create a round of soul-stirring turmoil and a counter-revolutionary
rebellion.
On 12th May, when the student unrest was ''at a low ebb'', they held the 17th
session of the ''democracy salon''. There, Bao Zunxin talked a lot of nonsense.
He said that the demonstration on 27th April would hold an outstanding position
in the history of the PRC, because ''its scale and influence all exceeded the
4th May demonstration in 1919''. He also explicitly pointed out that the 26th
April editorial must be negated. This added fuel to the escalation of the
turmoil.
On the afternoon of 12th May, Wang Dan and two others put up a ''hunger
strike statement'' on the campus of Peking University. Next day, hundreds of
students began their hunger strike. Yan Jiaqi, Bao Zunxin and Su Shaozhi then
staged the farce of the intellectuals' demonstration in the capital to support
the hunger-striking students. This showed that the organisers of the ''democracy
salon'' indeed collaborated perfectly with the leading advocates of bourgeois
liberalisation.
The article pointed out These people are not ''people of learning'' or an
''elite'', they are in fact adventurous henchmen of bourgeois liberalisation.
The ''democracy salon'' was a position that they used to launch attacks on the
party and the socialist system.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 38 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
July 12, 1989, Wednesday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; 2. CHINA; FE/0506/B2/ 1;
LENGTH: 1909 words
HEADLINE: 'RENMIN RIBAO' EXAMINES ACTIVITIES OF ILLEGAL STUDENTS ORGANISATION
SOURCE:
'Renmin Ribao' overseas edition in Chinese 8 Jul 89
Text of article by Yan Shi (0917 1395), originally carried in 4th July's
'Beijing Qingnian Bao' ''Please look at the true colours of the college
federation' ''
BODY:
The full name of the ''college federation'' is the ''Federation of Autonomous
Student Unions in Peking Universities and Colleges''. In the course of the
Peking student unrest which turned into turmoil and then a counter-revolutionary
rebellion, the ''college federation'' played a very important role from
beginning to end. Because of the complicated nature of the struggle, many
kindhearted people do not clearly understand the true colours of the ''college
federation''. With the supression of the counter-revolutionary rebellion and
exposure of the true nature of a handful of people and various forces who
fabricated, manoeuvred and utilised the student unrest, the
counter-revolutionary nature of the ''college federation'' has been gradually
revealed.
First, the background to the establishment of the ''college federation'' and
its organisational system
Since the first half of last year, some people from the colleges began to
conduct organised activities, advocating various bourgeois liberalisation views
among the students. From the end of 1988 they whipped up dissatisfaction with
the government to make trouble on the occasions of the 70th anniversary of the
4th May Movement, the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution and the 40th
anniversary of the founding of the PRC. In February and March this year, they
were more active in organising various salons and seminars, collecting
signatures, and claiming to stage a democratic movement by 4th May with the aim
of instituting a multi-party system in politics and private ownership of the
economy. When Comrade Hu Yaobang died on 15th April they considered it was a
good opportunity to stir up emotions and moved their original plans up.
From May 1988 some people organised weekly ''democratic salons'' and invited
leading advocates of bourgeois liberalisation, such as Prof Fang Lizhi, to
disseminate their propaganda. On 19th April this year the ''Peking College
Student Solidarity Preparation Committee'' was set up to lead the so-called
student movement at the 16th ''Democratic Salon'', presided over by Wang Dan.
The preparatory committee consisted of seven members Ding Xiaoping, Wang Dan,
Yang Tao, Yang Dantao, Xiong Yan, Feng Congde and Chang Jin. The preparatory
comm ittee laid the foundations for the ''Federation of Autonomous Student
Unions in Peking Universities and Colleges''.
As the unrest turned into turmoil they considered the time was ripe for them
to attack the party and the government. Drawing lessons from past student
unrest, they rushed to organise their own system. On 20th April, over 300
students from different institutions held a meeting, presided over by Ding
Xiaoping, and announced the founding of the ''Federation of Autonomous Student
Unions in Peking Universities and Colleges'', which directly organised tens of
thousands of students to participate in the petition activities in Tiananmen
Square on 22nd April. On 23rd April, ''representatives'' of 21 universities and
colleges held a meeting in Yuanmingyuan Park to found the ''Provisional
Committee of Peking Universities and Colleges'', that is, the provisional
college student federation, and elected Zhou Yongjun, a student at the Peking
University of Political Science and Law, as chairman. The members included Wang
Dan, Wuer Kaixi, Mao Shaofang and Zang Kai. On 28th April, the ''provisional
committee'' held a meeting at the University of Political Science and Law and
replaced Zhou Yongjun with Wuer Kaixi as chairman. The name of the provisional
committee was changed to ''The Federation of Autonomous Student Unions in Peking
Universities and Colleges''. This marked the official founding of the
federation.
Since its founding, the federation has had two remarkable features First,
frequent personnel changes and the stability of backbone members and, second,
multiple names and derivative organisations. For example, a ''Dialogue
Delegation'' was founded on 2nd May, a ''Hunger Strike Delegation'' on 13th May
and the ''Tiananmen Square Provisional Headquarters'' on 22nd May,which was
changed to ''The Headquarters To Defend Tiannmen Square'' on 26th May. The main
reasons for these were First, to meet their so-called ''needs of struggle''. The
purpose was to put up smokescreens. Actually, the ringleaders, Wang Dan, Wuer
Kaixi, Chai Ling, Feng Congde, and Guo Haifeng remained active in various
organisations. Second frequent differences of opinion and disputes arose within
the ''college federation'' in a scramble for power and benefit which resulted in
the disintegration of the federation.
Second the true colours of the ''college federation''
From the preparation to its founding, the federation had a very clear
programme. Its fundamental purpose was to overthrow the leadership of the
Communist Party, overturn the socialist system and annul the four cardinal
principles. Their slogans and specific targets changed constantly in the light
of the development of the situation. At the beginning of the turmoil they
attacked party and state leaders and tried to negate the anti-bourgeois
liberalisation movement and the drive to eliminate spiritual pollution, and to
rehabilitate the ringleadsers of the bourgeois liberalisation. In the course of
the dialogue during the turmoil they demanded that the CCP thoroughly negate the
26th April editorial and bless the demonstrations as a ''patriotic movement''.
They also demanded that their ''Federation '' be recognised as a legitimate
organisation. During the turmoil they openly advocated the dismissal of certain
leading personages and agitated for subversion of the government. Their purpose
was, as Wang Dan stated in an article in the US publication 'World Herald' on
17th May, to ''set up a Westernised political system'', a system of private
ownership of the economy, and a multi-party system in politics
The ''college federation'' was also the direct organiser of the turmoil and
counter-revolutionary rebellion. It took a direct part in creating the turmoil
from its very establishment. It organised the illegal petition in Tiananmen
Square on 22nd April, the city-wide student strike on 24th April and the
demonstrations on 4th May and succeeding days. In particular, it organised a
hunger strike during Gorbachev's state visit to China on 13th May, in an attempt
to impose pressure on the party and the government by using the students' lives
as pawns. On 19th May, the ''college federation'' began to spread rumours after
learning from behind-the-scenes sources that martial law would be declared in
the capital city. The federation said that the troops would enter Peking to
suppress the students. It announced the code numbers of the martial law
enforcement units and their march routes and incited the students and civilians
to block army vehicles and surround the troops. On 25th May the federation held
a meeting at which it worked out two sets of plans and decided to assault the
government fiercely. It also sent five propaganda teams to various parts of the
country to wage unified action. On 2nd June the federation organised an
exhibition of ''trophies'' in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes to
show the military equipment it had illegally looted. At the same time, it
broadcast details of how to make and use Molotov cocktails. The ''college
federation'' also held a joint meeting with the ''Peking Autonomous Workers
Union'' to draw up plans for beating, smashing, looting and burning to be
carried out throughout the country. They were also prepared to set up an
assassination group and had thus become the direct organisers of turmoil.
The ''college federation'' is a traitorous organisation that has collaborated
and formed close ties with foreign reactionary forces, directly accepting their
financial support. According to its own estimates, it needed at least 100,000
yuan daily to continue the activities in the square. Local donations were far
from enough to cover this huge cost. A deputy director of the federation
asserted that they had collected a total of 10m yuan, including 3m yuan in cash.
Overseas funds came from the USA, France and Hongkong. Some people also rented
rooms in the Peking Hotel to provide funds for the students in the square. When
the federation ringleaders finally fled, each had tens of thousands of yuan. The
''college federation'' obtained passports through foreign forces for 40
ringleaders of the organisation to be used when fleeing the country in case the
situation turned disadvantageous to them. They provided foreign press media with
classified state material and information and are trying to fool and incite the
people in China through the foreign media.
The ''college federation'' shouted the slogans of democracy and freedom but,
as a matter of fact, they were a gang of political hooligans. The logic was this
''When rumours are repeated several hundred times they will become truth.'' They
fabricated rumours to stir up the emotions of the students and other people in
an attempt to keep the turmoil going. After Comrade Hu Yanbang's death, the
federation asserted that he was poisoned to death. The purpose was to incite a
studentdemonstration. Subsequently, they fabricated rumours that a ''female
student from the Peking Teachers' University had been killed by a police car''
and that a ''massacre occurred in front of Xinhuamen Gate on 20th April''. Some
students who did not know the facts were deceived and took to the streets on
21st April. On 22nd April the federation fabricated the rumour that Premier Li
Peng had promised, but then refused, to meet the students, thus aggravating the
students' resentment against the government.
On 13th May it instigated the students to go on hunger strike by spreading a
rumour that the government had refused to hold a dialogue with the students. It
asserted that the hunger strike would last for 30 hours only but, as a matter of
fact, once students joined the hunger strike, they were not allowed to withdraw,
while the organisers of the hunger strike engaged in extravagant eating and
drinking. On 20th May and the days thereafter, they spread the rumour that the
martial law enforcement troops would take repressive measures against the
students and also called on the students to defend the square, thus setting the
students against the government. When a traffic accident claimed the lives of
three civilians on the night of 2nd June, the federation said that three
pro-democracy fighters were killed by a military truck and used this as a
pretext to trigger off a counter-revolutionary rebellion. On 4th June they
fabricated a rumour that the ''troops had carried out a bloody massacre in
Tiananmen Square and that several thousand people were killed'', in an attempt
to instigate the masses to oppose the government. Thus the student movement
developed into a riot and eventually turned into a counter-revolutionary
rebellion because the ''college federation'' kept fabricating rumours to fool
the masses and incite their feelings.
From what it has done, we know that the ''college federation'' was set up
after long preparations and was a counter-revolutionary organisation with an
explicit political programme and target. Spreading rumours was its main method
of inciting the people. It used the good intentions of the masses to stir up
turmoil and counter-revolutionary rebellion. More and more people will surely
see it in its true colours.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 39 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
JULY 7, 1989, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 603 words
HEADLINE: student-1 "beijing autonomous student union" unmasked
DATELINE: beijing, july 7; ITEM NO: 0707137
BODY:
the "federation of autonomous student unions in beijing universities and
colleges" played an important role in the whole process of the recent turbulence
in the capital, from the student demonstrations to turmoil and
counter-revolutionary rioting, the "people's daily" reported today. under the
headline, "the true colors of the federation of autonomous student unions in
beijing universities and colleges", the paper said that many people fail to
understand the true nature of the federation because of the complications of
the recent struggle. with the quelling of the riots and disclosure of the true
nature of the small number of people and reactionary forces that fabricated,
maneuvered and utilized the student unrest, the counter-revolutionary nature of
the federation has been gradually exposed as well. on the background to the
federation, the paper reported that since the first half of last year, some
people began to conduct organized activities, advocating various views of
bourgeois liberalization among students. from the end of last year, they whipped
up dissatisfaction with the government to make trouble on the occasions of the
70th anniversary of the may 4th movement, 200th anniversary of the french
revolution and the 40th anniversary of the founding of new china. in february
and march this year, they were more active in organizing various salons and
seminars, collecting signatures and claiming to create a democratic movement by
may 4, with the aim of instituting a multi-party system in politics and private
ownership of the economy. when comrade hu yaobang died april 15, they
considered it was a good opportunity to stir up emotions and moved up their
original plans.from may 1988, some people organized "democratic salons" once a
week and invited leading advocates of bourgeois liberalization such as professor
fang lizhi to disseminate their propaganda. april 19 this year, the "beijing
university student solidarity preparation committee" was set up to lead the
student movement at the 16th "democratic salon" presided over by student wang
dan. the preparatory committee consisted of seven members: ding xiaoping, wang
dan, yang tao, yang dantao, xiong yan, feng congde and chang jin. the
preparatory committee laid the foundation for the "federation of autonomous
student unions in beijing universities and colleges". as the unrest turned into
turmoil, they considered the time was ripe for them to attack the party and the
government. drawing lessons from past student unrest, they rushed to organize
their own system. april 20, over 300 students from different institutions held a
meeting presided over by ding xiaoping, and announced the founding of the
"federation of student unions of beijing universities and colleges", which
directly organized tens of thousands of students to occupy tian'anmen square
april 22. on april 23, representatives of 21 universities and colleges held a
meeting in yuanmingyuan park to found the "provisional committee of beijing
universities and colleges", that is, the provisional federation of the student
unions, and elected zhou yongjun, a student at the beijing university of
political science and law, as chairman. the members included wang dan,
wu'erkaixi, ma shaofang and zang kai. april 28, the provisional committee held
a meeting at the university of political science and law and replaced zhou
yongjun with wu'erkaixi as chairman. the name of the provisional committee was
changed to "the federation of autonomous student unions in beijing universities
and colleges", which marked the official founding of the federation.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, JULY 7, 1989
LOAD-DATE: July 8, 1989
LEVEL 1 - 40 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
June 22, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; 2. CHINA; FE/0489/B2/ 1;
LENGTH: 79 words
HEADLINE: OTHER REPORTS ON ARREST AND TRAILS;
Student union leaders arrested in Xian and Datong
SOURCE: Peking television 0315 gmt 14 Jun 89
BODY:
On 13th June, after the Ministry of Public Security transmitted a Peking
municipality-issued circular ordering the arrest of leaders, and ''backbone
elements'' of the autonomous union of college students who were still at large,
it was learned that the public security department arrested Zhou Fengsuo, listed
as wanted on circular at a certain engineering college in Xian. Meanwhile,
Xiong Yan was also arrested by public security personnel on train No 170 in
Datong.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 22, 1989
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 41 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Facts on File, Inc.
Facts on File World News Digest
June 16, 1989
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
PAGE: Pg. 433 A1
LENGTH: 1739 words
HEADLINE: China Begins Crackdown on Pro-democracy Activists; Hundreds of
Students and Workers Arrested;
Deng Reappears After Absence
BODY:
Chinese authorities June 9-15 began arresting hundreds of pro-democracy
activists in Beijing and elsewhere less than one week after the army had
violently suppressed a student-led protest movement in the capital. [See p.
409A1]
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
At the same time, the Chinese regime launched a sweeping propaganda campaign
aimed at discrediting widespread reports that several thousand protesters had
been killed during the army assault. [See below]
The nationwide crackdown coincided with the reappearance of China's paramount
leader, Deng Xiaoping, who had not been seen in public since his May 16 summit
meeting in Beijing with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. During his
absence, the 84-year-old Deng had repeatedly been rumored to have died. [See p.
411E1]
Deng and nine other top officials were shown June 9 on state-run television
meeting with senior army commanders in the capital. Outside observers said the
broadcast was the clearest indication in a month that hard-liners were in
control of the country.
Standing near Deng at the meeting were Premier Li Peng, President Yang
Shangkun and Wan Li, the head of the National People's Congress, China's nominal
parliament. Other figures at the gathering included Vice President Wang Zhen,
Deputy Premier Yao Yilin, Qiao Shi, the party's security chief, and Bo Yibo, the
deputy chairman of the Central Advisory Commission. A pair of retired party
veterans -- former President Li Xiannian and Peng Zhen, the former head of the
People's Congress -- were also in attendance.
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
Conspicuously absent was Zhao Ziyang, the general secretary of the Communist
Party, who was widely believed to have been stripped of his power.
Deng praised the army commanders at the meeting for their recent suppression
of the protests in the capital, and he harshly denounced the pro-democracy
activists and their supporters.
"A very small number of people started to cause chaos which later developed
into a counterrevolutionary rebellion," Deng said. "Their aim was to overthrow
the Communist Party and the socialist system."
He declared that the protests would not affect the course of the nation. "Our
basic direction, our basic strategy and policy will not change," Deng said.
The paramount leader also called for a moment of silence to mourn the
"heroes" who died in the military action, an apparent reference to soldiers and
policemen killed during the disorder.
First Arrests Announced -- The government June 9 announced that an
undisclosed number of "thugs" and "hooligans" had been arrested for suspected
involvement in the pro-democracy demonstrations.
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
Chinese television news programs during the day repeatedly showed pictures of
unidentified young men being brought in to police stations for questioning.
It was the first report of large-scale arrests since the protest movement had
begun in mid-April. (On May 30, the government had said that 14 people had been
detained in connection with the unrest. [See p. 396E1])
State-run news broadcasts June 10 said that more than 400 people had been
arrested in Beijing on various charges related to the protests, including
beating soldiers, stealing ammunition from the military, burning army trucks and
spreading rumors.
Among those detained was Guo Haifeng, one of the leaders of an independent
student group that had helped organize the protests.
Additional arrests were reported the same day in the provincial cities of
Chengdu, Xian, Shenyang, Nanjing and Changsha.
In a development that caused concern among foreign journalists covering the
unrest in Beijing, the official Chinese media June 11 reported the arrest of a
man who had been shown on ABC News June 5 harshly denouncing the military
crackdown in the capital.
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
The unidentified man had told ABC News that army tanks had crushed protesters
to death during the crackdown and that 20,000 people had been killed in the
unrest. After his capture, he was shown on state television retracting his
story.
Chinese authorities June 12 ordered the abolition of all independent student
and worker organizations, and announced that police had been authorized to shoot
rioters on sight.
A "wanted" list of 21 student leaders was broadcast June 13 on the official
evening news program. The students were accused of organizing a
"counterrevolutionary rebellion," a crime punishable in China by death.
Two of the student leaders, Zhou Fengsuo and Xiong Yan, were arrested June
14, Chinese television reports said. A third leader, Xiong Wei, surrendered June
15 to authorities.
According to Western estimates, a total of at least 1,000 people around the
country had been arrested as of June 15 in connection with the disorders.
Three in Shanghai Sentenced to Die -- Three young workers in Shanghai June 15
were sentenced to death for helping set fire to a train during a protest the
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
previous week. [See p. 411A3]
The sentences marked the first imposition of capital punishment against
protesters seized during the recent unrest.
The three condemned men -- Xu Guoming, Bian Hanwu and Yan Xuerong -- had been
charged with destroying public property in connection with an incident June 6 in
which students and workers had set fire to a train that had run over a group of
protesters lying on the railroad tracks, killing six of them.
No one had perished in the train fire, but several firefighters reportedly
were beaten up and nine railroad cars were destroyed.
Earlier, a crowd of between 40,000 and 100,000 people had marched June 9 in
Shanghai to protest the military crackdown in Beijing.
Government Denies Massacre -- The mass arrest of dissidents was accompanied
by a concerted effort by the government's propaganda organs to portray the
Beijing crackdown as a heroic action by the army to save the country from
turmoil. [See p. 411B1]
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
Chinese television broadcasts during the week focused on the casualties
incurred by the military and police in the suppression of the protests. Reports
that hundreds of unarmed civilians had been massacred by army troops -- reports
that were well documented by Western journalists and Chinese witnesses -- were
dismissed by the state-run media as nothing more than "rumors" spread by
foreigners.
The Chinese broadcasts featured visits by government leaders to local
hospitals where injured army troops were recovering, and interviews with angry
citizens blaming the pro-democracy protesters for the disorder.
People purporting to be witnesses to the military action were repeatedly
shown praising the army troops for their restraint.
The propaganda department of the Beijing branch of the Communist Party June
14 released the government's first detailed version of the crackdown.
The report said that protesters in the capital, supported by "overseas
reactionary political forces," staged an unprovoked attack June 3-4 on military
convoys moving through Beijing, killing nearly 100 soldiers and policemen and
wounding thousands of others. Some 180 army vehicles were destroyed in the
attack, the official account said.
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
The account claimed that the troops at first held their fire but were then
compelled to shoot at the protesters in the face of extraordinary provocations.
About 100 civilians were killed and 1,000 wounded in the turmoil, the report
said.
U.S. in Row over Top Dissident -- China and the U.S. meanwhile became
involved in a diplomatic confrontation over the fate of a prominent dissident
being sheltered in the American embassy in Beijing. The dispute erupted after
the Chinese government June 9 accused the dissident, Fang Lizhi, of being a
traitor who had incited the recent unrest in the capital. [See p. 412A1]
Fang and his wife, Li Shuxian, had been in hiding in the American embassy
since June 5. U.S. officials had refused to turn the couple over to Chinese
authorities.
U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker 3rd met June 10 in Washington, D.C.
with China's ambassador to the U.S., Han Xu, in an attempt to settle the
stand-off. Talks between the two officials ended, however, with the issue
unresolved.
The Chinese government raised the stakes in the matter June 11, when it
issued a warrant for the arrest of Fang and Li. According to the official New
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
China News Agency, the couple was accused of "committing crimes of
counterrevolutionary propaganda and instigation" during the unrest.
Although Fang had avoided active participation in the student-led
pro-democracy movement -- reportedly for fear that the government would use his
participation as a pretext to crush the protests -- he was depicted in the
Chinese media as the main instigator of the recent disorders.
Following the announcement of the arrest warrant, Baker June 12 again met
with Han in an effort to find an acceptable solution to the dispute.
U.S. officials June 13 said they had proposed that Fang be allowed to leave
the American embassy in China to go to a third country, but the offer had yet to
be formally accepted or rejected by the Chinese government.
Three Foreign Journalists Expelled -- Chinese authorities June 10 expelled
Peter Newport, a journalist for the Independent Television News in Great
Britain, after he videotaped a student demonstration in Shanghai.
Newport was the first foreign correspondent to be forced to leave the country
for covering the unrest.
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
Several days later, on June 14, two American reporters stationed in Beijing
were also ordered expelled.
The Chinese government accused the two -- Alan W. Pessin of the Voice of
America and John E. Pomfret of the Associated Press -- of violating martial law
restrictions on press coverage of the disorder.
Two Chinese Diplomats Defect -- Two diplomats stationed at the Chinese
consulate in San Francisco announced June 11 that they were seeking political
asylum in the U.S.
The two, identified as Zhang Liman, an acting consul for overseas affairs,
and Zhou Liming, a vice consul for cultural affairs, made the announcement at a
rally staged in front of San Francisco's city hall to protest the recent
crackdown in Beijing.
The pair said they had decided to defect after the Chinese government began a
propaganda campaign to deny that a large-scale massacre of civilians had ever
taken place.
Rally Held at U.N. -- An estimated 16,000 people attended a protest rally
against the Chinese government staged June 9 outside the United Nations
1989 Facts on File, June 16, 1989
building and the Chinese mission to the U.N. in New York City.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 42 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday
June 16, 1989, Friday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5
Other Edition: City Pg. 6, Home Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1174 words
HEADLINE: China to Execute 3 Men;
Hands down first death sentences arising from unrest
BYLINE: By Jeff Sommer. Newsday Foreign Editor
DATELINE: Beijing
BODY:
In the first death sentences linked to the pro-democracy movement, three men
were convicted of sabotage yesterday for allegedly setting fire to a train that
had just plowed through demonstrators in Shanghai and killed six people.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
As has become customary since the military attack on Tiananmen Square two
weekends ago, the news was released on the evening national television
broadcast. Three men were shown in a Shanghai courtroom, apparently impassive as
a judge handed down capital punishment. They were charged with having attacked a
train in Shanghai on June 6, moments after the locomotive struck and killed six
demonstrators who were blocking the tracks in protest against the bloody
crackdown in Beijing.
The three were given three days to appeal their sentences.
(***The following appeared in the Home edition***[In Beijing, China's
leadership has ordered "severe punishment" for the ringleaders of the protest
and will continue carrying out mass arrests, Reuter quoted a Communist Party
source as saying today.])
Neither the television broadcast nor an official Xinhua news agency report
referred to the demonstrators who were killed and injured when the train struck
them. Instead, Xinhua described the incident as a "traffic accident" in which
'the three criminals and scoundrels frenziedly smashed the railway carriages and
set fire to police motorcycles and the carriages."
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
Xinhua identified "the three criminals" as "Xu Guoming, a worker at a
Shanghai brewery, Bian Hanwu, an unemployed worker, and Yan Xuerong, a worker at
the Shanghai No. 18 Radio Factory." The three men prevented firefighters from
extinguishing the fire and beat them, "causing a direct economic loss [to China]
of nearly 3 million yuan [more than $ 800,000] and stopping transport on the
railway line for 50 hours," Xinhua said.
The broadcast also showed one of the 21 "most wanted" student protest leaders
giving himself up to authorities at his mother's urging.
Xiong Wei, 28, a student of radio science at Qinghua University in Beijing,
whose "mug shot" was flashed across television screens Tuesday night, was shown
in a Beijing public security office after surrendering on a train from Shenyang,
where he had gone into hiding and to see his family after the military's attack
on Tiananmen Square. He was depicted as the first of the Tiananmen
"counterrevolutionaries" to turn himself in, as the authorities have demanded on
television, radio, public loudspeakers and in newspapers and posters.
Xiong appeared to be calm and, from time to time, smiling. He was comfortably
seated on a couch and was treated respectfully by officials who read his written
confession. An announcer said he was in charge of "foreign contacts" within the
student movement. Foreigners have been accused of influencing the movement and
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
of distorted reporting.
By contrast, earlier in the day Beijing television showed 26 workers who had
been arrested by police for their protest activities being led, with their heads
shaved, before a crowd in the city of Changchun. Some of the workers had signs
hanging from their necks, saying they had been sentenced to "labor reform" -
hard labor in prison - for such alleged crimes as "instigating social unrest"
and "spreading rumors."
Signs and duncecaps were common signs of public disgrace for political
criminals during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s but have not
been used in recent years.
Evening television also showed Xiong Yan, 25, a law student at Beijing
University, surrendering to police. A day earlier the television announced the
arrest of Xiong, also one of the 21 top student "counterrevolutionaries" on
police lists, but showed no pictures of him. He appeared to be in good health.
On Tuesday the evening television news broadcast said that Zhou Fengsuo, a
third student on the list of 21, had been turned in by his sister.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
[Three prominent student leaders - Wang Dan, Wuer Kaixi and Chai Ling - were
among the 18 remaining as fugitives. In Australia, The Associated Press
reported, Prime Minister Bob Hawke refused Wednesday to discuss newspaper
reports in his country that the Australian Embassy in Beijing was sheltering
Ling, a 22-year-old female psychology student at Beijing Normal University.]
More than 1,000 people have been officially reported to have been arrested in
connection with the now-banned pro-democracy movement. New arrests have been
shown daily on television, with the "criminals" usually handcuffed, being pushed
before magistrates by officers, and signing confessions on the spot. Many of the
offenders had swollen faces, and one was photographed in a blood-spattered jail
cell.
U.S. journalists came under attack on the evening news again. An announcer,
quoting Xinhua, said the Red Cross Society of China denied saying that 2,600
people were killed in Tiananmen Square, as was reported by Voice of America and
United Press International.
[***The following appeared in the City edition***"The figure does not conform
to the reality and is sheer fabrication" a spokesman for the society was
reported to have said.]
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
On Wednesday Alan Pessin, the Voice of America's bureau chief here, and
Associated Press correspondent John Pomfret were ordered out of the country for
alleged "illegal newsgathering activities" under martial law regulations.
The Voice of America is extremely popular and is described by many Chinese as
one of their few reliable sources of news. It broadcasts on shortwave
frequencies that the government has jammed electronically over the past month.
The government also has attacked the VOA repeatedly in propaganda organs.
Despite the frequent criticism of foreigners, China has offered repeated
assurances that it will continue to welcome foreign investment and tourism.
Yesterday the National Tour Administration declared that "overseas friends may
come on normal visits to China," Xinhua said. "The announcement assures would-be
visitors" that life in Beijing is "normal," Xinhua said.
Armed soldiers continue to occupy Beijing, and while there have been few
incidents of violence in the last few days, most hotels, restaurants and tourist
spots are deserted.
In another announcement reported by Xinhua, Zheng Tuobin, minister of foreign
economic relations and trade, declared that "turmoil and counterrevolutionary
rebellion over the past two months have done serious political and economic
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 16, 1989
damages to the country." Xinhua reported that China lost more than 1 billion
yuan because of the "disturbances."
Zheng said that while "governments of the developing countries and most
socialist countries have shown understanding to our crackdown on the riots . . .
the majority of developed countries are reluctant to have their business
relations with China adversely affected." He warned, "We will stand firm on our
principles and make necessary struggles if foreign partners use the crackdown on
riots as an excuse to cancel, suspend or postpone their obligations and try to
interfere in China's internal affairs."
GRAPHIC: AP Photos-1) Chinese TV shows workers being paraded in Beijing with
signs accusing them of fomenting unrest. 2) A cyclist passes squad of Chinese
police officers occupying Tiananmen Square. 3) AP Photo-4) Reuter Photo-Two of
three workers sentenced to death in Shanghai in the torching of a train. 5)
Reuter/UPI Photo-Scene from Chinese TV: Xu Guoming, above left, is sentenced to
death in Shanghai. (page 6 C)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 43 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
June 15, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: Part 3 The Far East; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; 2. CHINA; FE/0483/B2/ 1;
LENGTH: 1763 words
HEADLINE: WANTED ORDER BROADCAST FOR ARREST OF STUDENT LEADERS
SOURCE:
Peking television 1000 gmt 13 Jun 89
Text of report FE/0482 i
in English 1232 gmt 13 Jun 89
BODY:
[Video begins with medium close-up of an unidentified male announcer, reading
from script] The Ministry of Public Security today [13th June] issued a notice
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
relaying a wanted order issued by the Peking municipal public security bureau.
[To] Public security departments and bureaux of all provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the central government and public
security bureaux of railway, communications, and civil aviation departments
Gaozilian, the illegal Peking College Students Autonomous Federation incited
and organised a counter-revolutionary rebellion in Peking. The Peking public
security bureau has already issued a wanted order for Wang Dan and 20 other
fugitives, who are ringleaders and other backbone elements of the organisaton.
We are now relaying the order and all public security organs of all provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government;
public security organs of railway, civil aviation and communications
departments; and all public security checkpoints in border areas are expected to
deploy forces immediately to stop these people from escaping. Once they are
discovered, these wanted members of the Peking College Students Autonomous
Federation shall be detained and the Peking municipal public security bureau
shall be notified.
[Dated] 13th June 1989
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
[Video cuts to sequence of full-screen information board. Each has a small
black-and-white still head-and-shoulders photograph of the wanted individual
centred in top half of screen, and Chinese description of the individual in the
lower half, as announcer reads the description of each one shown. STCs provided
from on-screen information.]
Wang Dan [3769 0030], male, 24 A native of Jilin. Student in the Department
of History, Peking University. Approximately 1.73 metres tall. Has a pointed
lower jaw, relatively thin hair, cavities on his front teeth, and relatively
thin physical features. Wears glasses for myopia. Speaks with husky Peking
accent.
Wuer Kaixi [0702 1422 7030 1585], formerly known as Wuer Kaixi [0702 1422
0418 6007]. Male, born on 17th February 1968. Uygur nationality. A native of
Yining County, Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Student of the 1988 class of the
Education Department, Peking Normal University. Is 1.74 metres tall. Hair parted
in the middle. Hair colour is yellowish. Has long face, big eyes, thick lips,
thick lips, relatively white skin, relatively rough voice. Speaks Putonghua.
Regularly wears green military trousers.
Liu Gang [0941 0474], male. A native of Liaoyuan city, Jilin. Former graduate
student of the Department of Physics, Peking University, now unemployed.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
Approximately 1.65 metres tall. Has a square face, full beard, relatively long
sideburns. Speaks with a north-eastern accent.
Chai Ling [2693 3781], female. Born on 15th April 1966. Han nationality. A
native of Rizhao city, Shandong. Graduate student of the 1986 class of the
Department of Psychology, Peking Normal University. Is 1.56 metres tall. Has a
round face, single-fold eyelids, high cheekbones, short hair and relatively
white skin.
Zhou Fengsuo [0719 6912 6956], male. Born on 15th October 1967. Han
nationality. A native of Changan county, Shaanxi Province. A student of the 1985
class of the Department of Physics, Qinghua University. Is 1.76 metres tall. Has
a square face, pointed chin and quite heavy eyebrows.
Zhai Weimin [5049 0251 3046], originally called Zhai Weimin [5049 3634 3046].
Male, 21. A native of Xinan county, Henan Province. Student of Peking Economics
College. Is 1.68 metres tall. Thin, has a long, oval face, crew cut, single-fold
eyelids, relatively dark facial complexion. Speaks with quite a heavy Henan
accent.
Liang Qingtun [2733 2348 2557], alias Liang Zhaoren [2733 0340 0088], Male.
Born on 11th May 1969. A native of Pengxi county, Sichuan Province. Student of
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
the 1987 class of the Department of Psychology, Peking University. Is 1.71
metres tall. Has quite a thin physique and quite dark skin, a long squarish
face, small eyes, high nose, quite thick lips. Can speak Putonghua.
Wang Zhengyun [3769 2973 0061], male, 21, of Kucong nationality. Address
Lianfang village, Nanke town, Mengla district, Jinping county, Honghe
prefecture, Yunnan Province. Student of the Central Institute for Nationalities.
Height about 1.67 metres. Long, thin face, hair parted in the middle, dark brown
complexion with freckles.
Zheng Xuguang [6774 2485 0342], male, 20. Native of Mixian county, Henan.
Address 56 North Lane, Huancheng West Road, Xian city. Student of Peking
Aeronautic and Astronautic University. Height 1.81 metres, weight 63 kg. Long,
oval face, single-fold eyelids, a pointed chin, big ears.
Ma Shaofang [7456 1421 2455], male, born in November, 1964. Native of Jiangdu
city, Jiangsu Province. Student of the evening writing classes of Peking Film
Academy. Height about 1.67 metres. On the thin side, long face, pointed chin,
dark-skinned, wears glasses for myopia.
Yang Tao [2799 3447], male, 19. Native of Fuzhou city, Fujian. History
student of Peking University. Height about 1.70metres. On the thin side, high
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
cheekbones, double-fold eyelids, wears glasses, speaks Putonghua.
Wang Zhixin [3769 3112 2450], male. Born in November 1967. Student of China
University of Political Science and Law. Address Textile Industry School, Yuci
city, Shanxi. Height 1.69 metres. Long hair, wears glasses.
Feng Congde [1409 1783 1795], male, 22. Native of Sichuan Province. Candidate
of the Institute of Remote Sensing of Peking University. Height about 1.70
metres. On the thin side, dark-skinned.
Wang Chaohua [3769 6389 5478], female, 37. Graduate student of the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences. Height about 1.63 metres. Rather thin, long face,
dark brown complexion, triangular eyes, short hair.
Wang Youcai [3769 2589 2088, male. Born in June 1966. Native of Zhejiang
Province. Graduate student of the Law Department of Peking University.
Zhang Zhiqing [1728 1807 3237], male. Born in June 1964. Native of Taiyuan
city, Shangxi. Student of China Political Science and Law University.
Zhang Boli [1728 0130 4567], male, 26. Native of Wangkui county, Heilongjiang
Province. Student of the writing class of Peking University. Height about 1.75
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
metres. A little overweight, round face, double-fold eyelid, upturned nose,
thick lips. Speaks with a north-eastern accent.
Li Lu [2621 6922], male, about 20. Student of Nanjing University. Height
about 1.74 metres. Middle type of figure, square chin, protruding lower teeth.
Zhang Ming [1728 6900], male. Born in April 1965. Native of Jilin city, Jilin
Province. Student of the Automotive Engineering Department of Qinghua
University.
Xiong Wei [3574 3555], male. Born in July 1966. Native of Yingcheng county,
Hubei Province. Student of the 1985 class of the Radio Engineering Department of
Qinghua University. Address No 502, Unit 47, No 1 Mashengmiao, Haidian, Peking.
Xiong Yan [3574 8746], male. Born in September 1964. Native of Shuangfeng
county, Hunan Province. Graduate student of the Law Department of Peking
University. Address Xingziceshui Hospital, Shuangfeng county, Hunan Province.
[Video cuts abruptly to full-screen title board reading ''The True Face of a
Ringleader of 'Gaozilian'''. No audio is heard. Video then begins a montage
showing the activities of Wuer Kaixi, with occasional voice-overs by
unidentified announcer]
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
[Begin video montage; Video shows Wuer Kaixi shouting through megaphone, with
a large crowd in background. Natural sound is audible, with Wuer heard shouting
in Standard Chinese ''I am Wuer Kaixi!'']
Wuer Kaixi is a key ringleader of Gaozilian.
[Video cuts to new scene of five men standing at the base of the Monument to
People's Heroes waving a banner. The date symbol ''4/5'' is visible on the top
left-hand corner of screen]
To instigate and organise this counter-revolutionary rebellion, he went
everywhere to give lectures and organise students to stage hunger strikes and
sit-ins and to raise funds for these purposes. [Video rapidly intercuts among
medium shots and still pictures showing Wuer Kaixi waving banners, onthe
shoulders of several people, and standing in crowds giving lectures. Natural
sound of rally and an announcer voice speaking Cantonese are heard. Video then
cuts to new clips of Wuer Kaixi amongst others at student demonstrations, hunger
strike, and fund raising. Date symbol at upper left reads ''13/5''. The logo
''CNN'' is visible in the lower right-hand corner of the screen]
However, Wuer Kaixi himself ate and drank extravagantly at a certain
high-class hotel.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
[Video cuts to very close shot of a television screen, with black-and-white
picture showing Wuer Kaixi and six other people seated at a round table, with
light tablecloth and several dishes, eating. A two-line caption at bottom of the
picture shows the date and time 1855 hours, 29th May 1989. The time read-out is
constantly advancing. No sound accompanies the video.]
While many unsuspecting students staged sit-ins and hunger strikes at
Tiananmen Square, Wuer Kaixi was spending freely and enjoying himself.
[Video cuts back to close-up of black-and-white television screen, with no
sound, showing Wuer Kaixi and the same group at restaurant, helping themselves
to food on the table.]
This is the scene of Wuer Kaixi feasting at a certain high-class hotel in
Peking. Even at the time when Wuer Kaixi claimed to be taking the lead in
staging the hunger strike, he also had meals at a major unit in Peking.
[Picture on the black-and-white screen moves slightly left and right, also
periodically zooming in on people at the table. Video periodically cuts to new
clips of the black-and-white screen showing the group eating, with the time
advanced in each new clip. Last time recorded in the caption is 1915 hours, when
the group is seen beginning to get up from the table. The black-and-white
The British Broadcasting Corporation, June 15, 1989
screen then cuts to medium shot of Wu and the others walking out of the
building.]
From these video segments of Wuer Kaixi, we can clearly see the true ugly
faces of the ringleaders of Gaozilian.
[Montage ends with full-screen title board reading ''This film is provided by
the Information Service of the Martial Law Command. End video montage.]
[Note Xinhua (in English 1232 gmt 13 Jun 89)also carried a shorter version of
this report, omitting the section on the activities of student leaders.]
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 44 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune
June 15, 1989, Thursday, FINAL
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5; ZONE: M
LENGTH: 706 words
HEADLINE: 2 reporters expelled in anti-U.S. campaign
BYLINE: By Uli Schmetzer and Ronald E. Yates, Chicago Tribune. Tribune wires
contributed to this report
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
The Chinese government stepped up its anti-American campaign Wednesday by
expelling two U.S. reporters and intensified its drive to discredit the leaders
of the democracy movement.
Chicago Tribune June 15, 1989
State media broadcasts also claimed 63 more "counterrevolutionary elements"
had been caught in the nationwide dragnet for students and workers who
demonstrated for democratic reforms.
Despite the crackdown and a shrill propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting
leaders of the pro-democracy movement, dissident graffiti appeared on public
walls in Beijing early Thursday for the first time since the bloody June 4
assault on protesters in Tiananmen Square.
"All these things must be answered for" had been scribbled in English on the
back of a traffic police box near the square. "Someone should take the lead and
speak openly with the Communist Party," said a message scrawled on an overpass.
Tiananmen Square was unguarded by tanks Wednesday for the first time in 11
days, but banners supporting the army and wreaths honoring soldiers who died in
the military crackdown appeared around Beijing.
After publishing a "wanted" list of 21 student leaders earlier this week,
state television on Wednesday broadcast photographs of the organizers of the
outlawed Independent Workers Union, which fought alongside the students when the
military attacked them.
Chicago Tribune June 15, 1989
So far, more than 900 people have been arrested in the crackdown, according
to official figures. Among the latest to be seized were two student leaders,
Zhou Fengsuo, 22, and Xiong Yan, 25. State television said Zhou had been
turned in by his sister.
Two American reporters, Alan Pessin of the Voice of America and John Pomfret
of the Associated Press, were given 72 hours to leave the country.
In addition, British television reporter Vernon Mann said in a report
smuggled out of China that he had been arrested and was confined to his hotel
room in Chengdu.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it would formally protest the
expulsion of the two Americans.
The New China news agency alleged that Pomfret had had "frequent contacts
with leaders of illegal organizations" and had "obtained state secrets through
illegal means."
Pessin was charged with "writing stories to distort facts, spread rumor and
incite turmoil and counterrevolutionary rebellion."
Chicago Tribune June 15, 1989
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater described the Chinese move as "very
alarming," and State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler rejected the
Chinese charges against the two Americans, saying: "They were simply doing their
jobs. (They were) fully accredited and possessed the proper Chinese working
visas."
But Tutwiler added the U.S. did not plan any retaliatory expulsions among the
38 Chinese reporters in Washington and New York.
The Bush administration apparently is not prepared to let the expulsions
sidetrack efforts to defuse the dispute over dissident Fang Lizhi, who has taken
refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and whose arrest on political charges has
been ordered by China.
Rumors swept the financial markets Wednesday that China had attacked the U.S.
Embassy, but the State Department denied them.
Diplomatic sources reported that other embassies, including those of France,
Australia and Argentina, also are sheltering dissidents and political figures
who had sought refuge after the June 4 massacre.
Chicago Tribune June 15, 1989
The government, meanwhile, continued its attempt to rewrite the bloody events
of June 4 and 5. Officials insisted no civilians had been killed by soldiers,
and busloads of schoolchildren were taken to sites where they were told soldiers
had been killed by mobs of angry protesters.
At one pedestrian overpass where a dead soldier had been hanged over a
railing on June 4, long lines of children in their Young Pioneer uniforms were
led past dozens of funeral wreaths.
"This is where the brave soldier of the People's Liberation Army was murdered
savagely by the counterrevolutionary hooligans," a teacher told the wide-eyed
children.
In a special report by state-run television, an army colonel, tears streaming
down his cheeks, told an astonished audience gathered for a memorial service on
the street that his soldiers had been "brutally murdered by crazed mobs."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (color): Agence France-Presse photo. China intensifies
anti-democracy drive. Chinese soldiers lead a handcuffed man down a Beijing
street Wednesday. State media reported that 63 "counterrevolutionary elements"
had been caught in the nationwide dragnet. In addition, two U.S. reporters
Chicago Tribune June 15, 1989
were expelled (page 1).
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 45 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The Daily Telegraph plc;
The Daily Telegraph
June 15, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 479 words
HEADLINE: Police state style
BYLINE: By Our Paris Staff
BODY:
Mme Edwige Avice, France's junior foreign affairs minister, said yesterday
the Chinese were using "all the instruments of an implacable police state".
International: Sister betrays Chinese student on wanted list CHINESE POLICE have
captured two of the 21 leaders of unofficial student unions wanted on charges of
inciting "counter revolution", state-controlled television announced yesterday,
writes Graham Hutchings in Peking. One appears to have been turned over to the
authorities by members of his own family - a development encouraged in the
extended propaganda campaign directed at all those wanted for
The Daily Telegraph plc, June 15, 1989
"counter-revolutionary crimes". Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was
captured in Xian, and Xiong Yan, 25, a law student, was seized on a train in
north east China. Announcing the arrests, the television newsreader said: "Just
after Tuesday's broadcast of the arrest warrants on television, Zhou's sister
and her husband, working in the Xian Air Force Institute, talked it over, then
went to tell the authorities all they knew." Five policemen then went to
Sanqiao, near Xian, and arrested Zhou. He admitted that he was a student leader.
Names, details and photographs of the 21 have been shown repeatedly on
television, broadcast on state radio, and published in leading newspapers. They
occupied nearly half a page in yesterday's People's Daily. The authorities claim
that the 21 on the wanted list are leaders of the Peking University's autonomous
Students' Federation. The federation helped organise pro-democracy
demonstrations until they were crushed by troops on June 4. The official media
continues to report scores of arrests throughout the country as the authorities
crack down on leaders of unofficial organisations. Thirty-one people have been
arrested in Changsha in south China, 15 in Kunming in the south west, and nine
in Lanzhou in the north west, the People's Daily said yesterday. All those
arrested had either instigated the strikes, committed thefts or acts of
violence, interrupted communications, or harmed social order, the paper said. It
also provided a chilling explanation of the unrest in China's cities, using
language rarely heard since the disastrous Cultural Revolution of the mid-1960s.
"The unrest shows that the class struggle continues to exist to a certain
The Daily Telegraph plc, June 15, 1989
extent in our country, and that a very small minority of reactionaries who hate
the Communist party have never abandoned their goals," the paper said. Such
people "occupy important positions, and had support from overseas
reactionaries". Their social basis was made up of "ex-prisoners who had not been
sufficiently reformed, remnants of the Gang of Four, and the very dregs of
society". The article said such people were trying to stir up trouble, overthrow
Marxism and encourage anarchy. "In the face of their attack, we have to strike
back".
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 46 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The Financial Times Limited
Financial Times
June 15, 1989, Thursday
SECTION: SECTION I; Overseas News; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 411 words
HEADLINE: Chinese Security Forces Arrest Two Student Leaders
BYLINE: Steven Butler, Peking
BODY:
Chinese security forces yesterday arrested two top leaders from the banned
Autonomous Student Union after launching a nationwide search for 21 leaders on
Tuesday night.
An imposed sense of fear gripped Peking as thousands of soldiers armed with
assault rifles stood guard throughout the city. Some 16,000 civilians are also
now reported assisting troops on patrol.
Financial Times, June 15, 1989
Tiananmen Square, the site of pro-democracy protests last month, was cleared
of tanks for the first time since the army crushed the protest on June 4 in a
hail of bullets. However, a dozen armoured vehicles remained under tarpaulins
at the southern end of the square, with the square sealed off by soldiers.
All rubble now appears to have been cleared from the streets, where
protestors burned over 400 military trucks and armoured vehicles, police cars,
and buses after troops opened fire on unarmed citizens.
The two arrested students, Zhou Fengsuo, a physics student at Qinghua
University and Xiong Yan, a law student at Peking University, were leaders of
a student group accused of mounting a counter-revolutionary rebellion, which is
how China now described a series of peaceful marches and demonstrations over six
weeks.
The state-run television reported that Zhou was turned into the police by his
older sister in the city of Xian, 750 km south-west of the capital.
A series of other arrests were reported throughout the day, including that of
a 71-year-old man accused of burning military vehicles. The public security
bureau also issued arrest warrants for three leaders of the Autonomous Trade
Union.
Financial Times, June 15, 1989
The Government yesterday cracked down on the foreign press when it ordered Mr
John Pomfret of the Associated Press and Mr Al Pessin of the Voice of America to
leave China within 72 hours. Both are accused of "activities incompatible with
their status as journalists" and of violating martial law restrictions on press
reporting, which make virtually every act of reporting in Peking illegal.
The Peking government has launched a vigorous propaganda campaign against the
VOA, heard throughout China in both English and Chinese.
Mr Vernon Mann, a reporter for Britain's Independent Television News, said
yesterday he had been arrested and confined to his hotel room in Chengdu,
south-west China, after filming damage caused by student unrest. He said in a
report smuggled out of China that he had been interrogated for five hours and
had had his passport confiscated.
GRAPHIC: Picture Chinese soldiers walk past a queue of about 200 outside the US
embassy seeking visas yesterday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 47 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
June 15, 1989, Thursday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part 1; Page 11; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 801 words
HEADLINE: TURMOIL IN CHINA: CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT;
DREAMS CRUSHED, ONE-TIME FIREBRANDS OF TIAN AN MEN ARE ON THE RUN
BYLINE: By DANIEL WILLIAMS, Times Staff Writer
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
They were cocky and restless, full of explosive ideals and recklessness. They
thought they would move their world. Now they are fugitives.
For a few heady weeks, student leaders from major universities in Beijing and
other cities occupied the symbolic heart of Beijing and the minds of
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1989
supporters on Tian An Men Square and opponents behind the walls of Zhongnanhai,
China's Kremlin.
The weapons in their battle for democratic reform have all but disappeared:
No more bullhorns, leaflets or banners carry their message to young followers, a
restive public and a foreign audience that marveled at their brashness.
Eleven days ago, their images appeared on television at the head of massive
crowds of students and common citizens facing down police and soldiers alike.
Once, a group of them appeared on the screen jousting verbally with Premier Li
Peng, the hard-line Communist leader who promoted a crackdown on the Tian An Men
demonstrators.
Beginning this week, 21 of their faces appeared on a video version of wanted
posters that gave their names, ages, descriptions and even regional accents to
make it easier for anyone so inclined to inform on them. The Chinese government
identified the 21 as ringleaders in a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."
On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the order had gone out for their
apprehension, state-run television said that two of the 21 had been captured.
One, engineering student Zhou Fengsuo, was turned in by his own sister and her
husband in the central city of Xian, the television said.
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1989
The other arrest was of law student Xiong Yan, one of those who had been
seen on television arguing with Premier Li.
The fate of the 19 others is not yet known. Classmates of some of them at
Beijing campuses say they have gone into hiding. China's huge size works in
their favor: There are a lot of places to escape to. But the size and relentless
pursuit of the country's well-practiced police apparatus works against them:
There are a lot of prying eyes in China.
Looking back, it is hard to imagine that the students seemed to feel immune
from punishment, that somehow China's traditional reverence for the scholar
could shield them from a fate that has befallen so many dissident predecessors
this century.
Among the 19 still at large, three stand out for their visibility and
involvement.
Perhaps none was more flamboyant than Wuer Kaixi, a student of education
administration at Beijing University. The government has singled out Wuer for
special attack. State television showed him eating at a restaurant, which the
announcer viewed as a sign of corruption.
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1989
The video is a tribute to the state's pettiness and to the resources it is
willing to deploy to show Wuer in a bad light.
During the weeks of protest at Tian An Men, Wuer worked up the crowd with
sharp rhetoric and an apparent fearlessness. In a typical speech, he exhorted
students: "Tomorrow, we will create history. Students, let us march together
with our heads held high."
Carried on the backs of fellow protesters and holding aloft a red school
banner, he led a charge against a group of waiting police.
Like many of his colleagues, Wuer, 21, is the offspring of China's
bureaucratic elite. His father was a Communist Party member and government
translator, and Wuer himself aspired to join the party.
In a fateful twist, Wuer advised his fellow students to give up the
demonstration in Tian An Men Square on May 22, nearly two weeks before the June
3-4 military assault on the demonstrators in and around the square. For his
caution, he was voted out of the leadership of the Independent Assn. of Beijing
Universities, an amalgam of student groups collected in the plaza.
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1989
He was replaced by Chai Ling, a fiery woman from Beijing Teachers University,
who became leader of the ad hoc Command for the Protection of Tian An Men.
Chai, 23, had helped to organize hunger strikes and to urge the students on
when it appeared that their numbers were faltering. When she was sworn in as a
leader of the command, she vowed: "I will risk my life and invest my
wholehearted loyalty to protect Tian An Men Square, to protect our capital
Beijing and to protect the People's Republic."
Seven days later, Chai, too, would counsel students to leave the square.
Inflamed with confidence, they refused. Chai dropped out, citing ill health.
Another top leader, history student Wang Dan, also favored ending the Tian An
Men demonstration. The slender, bespectacled 24-year-old placed his activism in
the perspective of Chinese intellectual history, in which it is considered the
responsibility of the educated elite to criticize the government.
There are contradictory rumors about his fate: Some say he was killed in the
assault on Tian An Men, while others say he is alive and in hiding.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 48 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
June 15, 1989, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 16, Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 1406 words
HEADLINE: Turmoil in China;
Beijing Ousts 2 American Correspondents
BYLINE: By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, Special to The New York Times
DATELINE: BEIJING, June 14
BODY:
China today ordered the expulsion within 72 hours of two Beijing-based
American journalists, including one from the Voice of America.
The Government accused the two reporters, Alan W. Pessin of the Voice of
America and John E. Pomfret of The Associated Press, of violating martial-law
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
regulations in Beijing.
China also issued its official version of the ''shocking counterrevolutionary
rebellion,'' as the democracy movement is now labeled, and announced new arrests
throughout the nation of students and workers who had been leaders of the
movement.
In Reaction to U.S. Criticism
The expulsion order against the two reporters was widely interpreted as an
extension of the Government's campaign of criticism against the United States in
the last few days. The campaign began after the Bush Administration condemned
the violent suppression of the democracy movement and then offered refuge to the
dissident Fang Lizhi in the American Embassy in Beijing.
Because the Voice of America is an arm of the United States Government, the
expulsion of Mr. Pessin is particularly likely to affect relations between
Beijing and Washington. It is not clear if the United States will respond by
expelling Chinese reporters or by taking other measures.
The regulations that the two reporters are accused of violating in effect ban
all news coverage about the democracy movement or about the enforcement of
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
martial law, as well as almost all interviews. The restrictions are far more
sweeping than the censorship that has been imposed on foreign correspondents in
other countries, like Israel and South Africa.
The authorities had not, however, enforced the regulations very strictly. At
least three foreign correspondents were shot or stabbed by soldiers during the
crackdown, and others have been detained and then released, but there have been
hundreds of foreign journalists covering the events of the last few weeks, and
until today only one - a British television journalist in Shanghai who had
entered China on a tourist visa - had been expelled.
Details of Charges
The Government accused Mr. Pessin, who is 33 years old, of violating the
censorship restrictions by ''conducting illegal press coverage after martial law
was declared'' and by ''writing news stories to distort facts, spread rumor and
incite and stir up turmoil and counterrevolutionary rebellion.''
''I didn't do anything that other foreign journalists didn't do,'' Mr. Pessin
said tonight in his office, while surrounded by other journalists and
well-wishers. ''As with other foreign journalists, we made every effort to check
facts and give balanced reporting.''
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
The official New China News Agency accused Mr. Pomfret of ''having frequent
contacts with illegal-organization leaders, passing on information to and
providing shelter for them,'' while ''obtaining state secrets through illegal
means.''
''I did my job,'' Mr. Pomfret, 30, said. ''Everything I learned I put on the
Associated Press wire.''
Louis D. Boccardi, president and general manager of The Associated Press,
said in a statement, ''We deplore and have protested in the strongest terms to
the Chinese Government this unwarranted assault on fair and factual reporting.''
Bureaus Wlll Remain Open
The Beijing bureaus of both the Voice of America and The Associated Press
will continue to function, as the Voice of America has one other accredited
correspondent and The Associated Press has two others. While the Chinese have
given no assurances, both organizations expect the Government to accredit new
correspondents to fill the positions of those expelled.
About 40 American journalists are accredited to work in Beijing, and the
number has been slowly increasing in recent years. The Americans are the
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
largest group of foreign journalists here, followed by the Japanese.
Mr. Pomfret was informed of his expulsion at a meeting with Chinese officials
that lasted for more than an hour. A brief United States Embassy statement said
Mr. Pomfret had been told he had an ''uncooperative attitude'' because he would
not provide information about his Chinese contacts.
In the last two days, Chinese news organizations have somewhat slackened
their denunciations of the Voice of America and of the United States Embassy.
Official Denunciation
But today, the authoritative Communist Paarty newspaper People's Daily
carried a front-page editorial condemning Mr. Fang as a behind-the-scenes
instigator of the ''counterrevolutionary rebellion'' and warning that some
people in the United States are hostile to China and risk harming relations
between the two countries.
''The events in China are entirely China's internal affair,'' the editorial
said. ''Any attempt to put pressure on the Chinese Government is foolish and
shortsighted, and is doomed to fail. China has always sought to develop its
relations with the United States. We hope the United States will consider the
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
overall importance of our long-term mutual interests, and stop interfering in
China's internal affairs, so as to avoid harming our bilateral relations.''
The television news announced tonight that 2 of the 21 student leaders who
had been placed on a wanted list on Tuesday had been captured. It said that Zhou
Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student in Beijing, had been turned in by his
sister and her husband. The television program showed the couple being
interviewed by the police.
The other student leader who was reported arrested was Xiong Yan, a
24-year-old graduate law student in Beijing. The circumstances of Mr. Xiong's
arrest were not reported.
The authorities also announced the arrest of 32 people who were arrested at
the Beijing rail station while trying to flee the capital. Most were apparently
workers who had been involved in the democracy movement.
One More Official Reappears
The news program also showed one more Politburo member, Yang Rudai, the
Sichuan province party leader, which suggested that he may not be purged in the
restructuring now under way in the Communist Party leadership. Mr. Yang's
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
appearance means that only two Politburo members are unaccounted for: Zhao
Ziyang, the national party's General Secretary, and Hu Qili, who supported Mr.
Zhao in favoring conciliation with student leaders.
If only Mr. Zhao and Mr. Hu are purged from the Politburo, which now has 16
full members and one alternate member, that would be a milder shake-up than was
originally feared when Mr. Zhao and Mr. Hu disappeared from view nearly three
weeks ago, the day before the declaration of martial law.
The detailed account issued today of the events of June 3 and 4, when troops
opened fire on civilians and killed hundreds or perhaps thousands of
pro-democracy demonstrators and passers-by, recounted events in a way very
different than did Western correspondents who were on the scene.
The report, issued by the Beijing Communist Party Propaganda Department,
suggests that ''a certain small group of people'' had ''plotted to arrest party
and state leaders and seize political power.''
Many Dissimilarities Seen
It said the group, financed by ''overseas reactionary political forces,''
attacked the army on the night of June 3, killing nearly 100 soldiers and
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
policemen and wounding thousands. Only then, after exercising extraordinary
restraint, were the troops obliged to fire their weapons, the official history
asserts. As a result, it says, about 100 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000
were wounded.
While this version of events is sure to be widely circulated in China in the
coming weeks, it bears little relationship to the scenes that actually took
place on the Avenue of Eternal Peace, or Changan Avenue, and in other parts of
Beijing, as witnessed by this reporter and other correspondents.
While many civilians did attack and kill soldiers, using clubs, firebombs and
their bare hands, the violence did not begin solely with the demonstrators. It
began on both sides almost spontaneously when the troops arrived and tried to
push their way forward.
The troops repeatedly fired their machine guns directly at crowds of
demonstrators, including those who posed no threat, including those who were
fleeing as fast as they could run. From interviews with doctors and hospital
officials, there is no doubt that far more than 100 civilians were shot, stabbed
or beaten to death, and that civilian casualties far outweighed military
casualties.
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
GRAPHIC: Photo of a young man in handcuffs being escorted by soldiers on a
street in Beijing (Agence France-Presse)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 49 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
June 15, 1989, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 17, Column 5; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 86 words
HEADLINE: Turmoil in China;
Pronouncing the Names
BODY:
DENG XIAOPING, senior leader: dung sheeow-ping (sheeow rhymes with meow)
FANG LIZHI, dissident: fahng lee-jur (rhymes with burr)
HAN XU, Ambassador to the United States: hahn shoo
HU QILI, Politburo member: hoo chee-lee
The New York Times, June 15, 1989
LI PENG, Prime Minister: lee pung
XIONG YAN, student leader -shyoong yen
YANG RUDAI, Politburo member: yahng rew-die
ZHAO ZIYANG, Communist Party General Secretary: jow (rhymes with how) dzuh-yahng
ZHOU FENGSUO, student leader - joe fung-swoh
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 50 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday
June 15, 1989, Thursday, CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 7
Other Edition: Nassau and Suffolk Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1002 words
HEADLINE: China Expels 2 Journalists;
Reporters accused of violating martial law
BYLINE: By William Sexton and Jeff Sommer. Newsday Staff Correspondents
DATELINE: Beijing
BODY:
The Chinese government, unsuccessful in its efforts to jam Voice of America
broadcasts, yesterday ordered VOA bureau chief Alan Pessin out of the country.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
A second expulsion order was handed to Associated Press correspondent John
Pomfret, who had closely covered the now-outlawed student democracy movement in
dispatches published abroad.
The expulsion orders were announced on the government television network's
evening newscast along with a report that two of 21 student leaders on a
nationwide "most wanted" list had been apprehended by authorities. Three new
names were added, the alleged leaders of an underground free labor union in the
Beijing area.
In other incidents involving journalists, British television reporter Vernon
Mann said yesterday he was arrested and confined to his hotel room in Chengdu,
southwest China, after filming damage caused by student unrest. In Beijing,
soldiers yesterday detained Denis Hiault, Beijing bureau chief of Agence-France
Press, for an hour and confiscated his residence card. Hiault was accused of
photographing troops, the French news agency said.
Pomfret and Pessin were accused of "illegal news-gathering activities" under
Beijing's martial law regulations and given 72 hours to leave. Pessin also was
forced to hand over the audio tape he had made of a municipal official reading
out the accusations against the Voice of America's China coverage and his own
rebuttal of them.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
According to Pessin's notes of the interview, the official charged Pessin
with "distorting facts, spreading rumors [and] instigating turmoil and
counterrevolutionary rebellion."
Replied Pessin: "The only motive that we have is to tell the truth as best we
can, and governments do not always like that."
The expulsion of Pessin left the VOA temporarily without an accredited
reporter here. Pessin said he expected to continue his reporting on China from
Hong Kong until a replacement can be accredited in Beijing. Several freelance
journalists work for the VOA in China. The AP has three other accredited staff
members in Beijing.
Beijing' government-controlled media have been on an anti-American offensive
ever since the revelation last week that Fang Lizhi, China's best-known human
rights activist, had been given refuge in the U.S. Embassy here.
Chinese efforts to jam VOA broadcasts into the country started with the
declaration of martial law in the capital May 20. The American programs, beamed
in both Chinese and English from transmitters in the Philippines, continued to
get through to many areas and could be picked up throughout the country on
foreign-made shortwave radios, which carry a broader range of frequencies than
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
those commonly available in China. Many Chinese citizens have said in recent
weeks that they depend on the VOA for news that is suppressed in the Chinese
media.
The VOA also began transmitting its audio signal on TV channels beamed from
satellites over the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it could be picked up by
satellite dishes at government and military facilities.
Unable to block the signal, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's regime last week
launched the new tactic of vilifying the American newscasts in all
government-controlled media.
Beijing Daily, the official organ of the capital's hard-line municipal
leadership, published a lengthy commentary blaming VOA broadcasts for
exaggerating the turmoil in China out of "ulterior motives." Pessin said he
wasn't surprised when the summons came at midday yesterday to report to the
city's foreign affairs office.
"The story here is far from over and I'm certainly disappointed I can't be
here to cover it," Pessin said. "But I can't say I'm surprised." Pessin, 33, had
been stationed in Beijing since July, 1987. Previous assignments in his 12 years
with VOA included Hong Kong, Islamabad, Washington and New York.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said in Washington the government
would file protests with Chinese officials in Washington and in Beijing.
In Washington, VOA director Richard W. Carlson said he believed the expulsion
was based not on Pessin's reporting but on his audience. "The Voice of America
is the most listened to outside radio station and does have a considerable
influence," Carlson said.
Louis D. Boccardi, president and general manager of the AP, said in New York
that he "protested in the strongest terms to the Chinese government this
unwarranted assault on fair and factual reporting."
Pomfret, 30, who joined the AP in 1986 and was assigned to the Beijing bureau
last year, attended Beijing University in 1980-82. He speaks Chinese fluently
and is known among fellow reporters for his excellent sources within the student
movement.
Journalists believed Pomfret's expulsion was a warning to the rest of the
press corps to obey the martial law regulations banning unauthorized contact
with Chinese citizens. Until yesterday, the government had not seriously
enforced the measures.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
Meanwhile, state broadcasting announced yesterday that authorities already
have arrested two of the 21 student pro-democracy leaders whose "wanted posters"
were flashed across Chinese television screens only a day earlier.
A television announcer said that Xiong Yan, 25, a law student at Beijing
University, was arrested on a train in northeast China. The announcer said that
the sister and brother-in-law of Zhou Fengsuo, 22, a physics student at Qinghua
University, turned him over to authorities near the city of Xian Tuesday night.
Chinese citizens have been asked to inform on all suspected
"counterrevolutionaries."
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing expected a stampede at its visa office yesterday
following the announcement that it would resume granting non-immigrant visas to
Chinese for short stays in the United States but no stampede developed,
apparently because many Chinese were watched closely by plainclothes police
officers. About 200 people gathered outside the office, opened for the first
time since the military crackdown began.
GRAPHIC: 1) AP Photo-The Forbidden City, Beijing's most famous site, reopened to
tourists yesterday. 2) Photos-Alan Pessin. 3) John Pomfret
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 51 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday
June 15, 1989, Thursday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
Correction Appended
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5
Other Edition: City Pg. 7
LENGTH: 1012 words
HEADLINE: 2 U.S. Reporters Expelled; 2 of 'Most Wanted' Nabbed
BYLINE: By William Sexton and Jeff Sommer. Newsday Staff Correspondents. Newsday
Washington Bureau Correspondent Marie Cocco contributed to this story.
DATELINE: Beijing
BODY:
The Chinese government, unsuccessful in its efforts to jam Voice of America
broadcasts, yesterday ordered VOA bureau chief Alan Pessin out of the country.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
A second expulsion order was handed to Associated Press correspondent John
Pomfret, who had closely covered the now-outlawed student democracy movement in
dispatches published abroad.
The expulsion orders were announced on the government network's evening
newscast along with a report that two of 21 student leaders on a nationwide
"most wanted" list had been apprehended by authorities. Three new names were
added to the list, the alleged leaders of an underground free labor union in the
Beijing area.
Pomfret and Pessin were accused of "illegal news-gathering activities" under
Beijing's martial law regulations and given 72 hours to leave. Pessin also was
forced to hand over the audio tape he had made of a municipal official reading
the accusations against VOA's China coverage and his own rebuttal.
According to Pessin, the official charged him with "distorting facts,
spreading rumors [and] instigating turmoil and counterrevolutionary rebellion."
Replied Pessin: "As is well known to our tens of millions of listeners in
China and around the world, the VOA does not report rumors. We report the best,
most accurate, the fairest and best balanced news that we possibly can. The only
motive that we have is to tell the truth as best we can, and governments do
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
not always like that."
The AP said Pomfret was accused of "using illegal methods to obtain state
secrets" and "protecting leaders of student groups and exchanging information
with them."
The expulsion of Pessin left the VOA temporarily without an accredited
reporter here because Pessin's assistant, Heidi Chay, is on vacation. Pessin
said he expected to continue his reporting on China from Hong Kong until a
replacement can be accredited in Beijing. Several freelance journalists work for
the VOA in China. The AP has three other accredited staff members in Beijing.
Chinese efforts to jam VOA broadcasts into the country started with the
declaration of martial law in the capital May 20. The American programs, beamed
in both Chinese and English from transmitters in the Philippines, continued to
get through to many areas and could be picked up throughout the country on
foreign-made shortwave radios, which carry a broader range of frequencies than
those commonly available in China. Many Chinese citizens have said in recent
weeks that they depend on the VOA for news that is suppressed in the Chinese
media.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
The VOA also began transmitting its audio signal on TV channels beamed from
satellites, and it could be picked up by satellite dishes at government and
military facilities.
Unable to block the signal, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's regime launched
the new tactic of vilifying the American newscasts in all government-controlled
media.
Beijing Daily, the official organ of the capital's hard-line municipal
leadership, Sunday published a lengthy commentary blaming VOA broadcasts for
exaggerating the turmoil in China out of "ulterior motives." Pessin, 33, who had
been stationed in Beijing since July, 1987, said he wasn't surprised by the
expulsion order.
In Washington, the State Department called in Chinese Ambassador Hun Xu for a
15-minute meeting with Undersecretary of State Robert Kimmet. Kimmet, the
department said, "vigorously protested the expulsion of the U.S. journalists."
State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said U.S. officials also planned
to lodge a protest with Chinese officials in Beijing this morning. But she said
that the United States did not plan to expel any Chinese journalists in
retaliation.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
A White House official, who asked not to be identified, said the
administration believes such a move would be counterproductive, and could
unfairly penalize Chinese journalists, many of whom support the pro-democracy
movement.
"If what you're trying to achieve is to have a healthy flow of information to
and from the Chinese people, expelling journalists who are reporting here in the
U.S. doesn't help that process," the official said.
In Washington, VOA director Richard W. Carlson said he believed the expulsion
was based not on Pessin's reporting but on his audience. "The Voice of America
is the most listened to outside radio station and does have a considerable
influence," Carlson said. "They clearly don't like the fact that we have
credibility and the Chinese media do not."
Louis D. Boccardi, president and general manager of the AP, said in New York
that he "protested in the strongest terms to the Chinese government this
unwarranted assault on fair and factual reporting."
Journalists said they believed that the expulsion of Pomfret, 30, who was
assigned to the Beijing bureau last year, was a warning to the rest of the press
corps to obey the martial law regulations banning unauthorized contact with
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
Chinese citizens. Until yesterday, the government had not seriously enforced the
measures.
In other incidents involving journalists, British television reporter Vernon
Mann said yesterday he was arrested and confined to his hotel room in Chengdu,
southwest China, after filming damage caused by student unrest. In Beijing,
soldiers yesterday detained Denis Hiault, Beijing bureau chief of Agence-France
Press, for an hour and confiscated his residence card. Hiault was accused of
photographing troops, the French news agency said.
Meanwhile, state broadcasting announced yesterday that authorities already
have arrested two of the 21 student pro-democracy leaders whose "wanted posters"
were flashed across Chinese television screens only a day earlier.
A television announcer said that Xiong Yan, 25, a law student at Beijing
University, was arrested on a train in northeast China. The announcer said that
the sister and brother-in-law of Zhou Fengsuo, 22, a physics student at Qinghua
University, turned him over to authorities near the city of Xian Tuesday night.
Chinese citizens have been asked to inform on all suspected
"counterrevolutionaries."
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 15, 1989
CORRECTION-DATE: June 16, 1989, Friday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
CORRECTION:
In yesterday's Newsday, the name of the Chinese ambassador in Washington was
misspelled. It is Han Xu.
GRAPHIC: 1) AP Photo-(Alan) Pessin, left, and (John) Pomfret pose near China map
at VOA's Beijing office. 2) Reuter Photo-A Chinese guard examines visa
applications yesterday at the American Embassy in Beijing. 3) Reuter
Photo-Premier Li Peng, center, meets in Beijing with other Chinese leaders
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 52 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Bergen Record Corp.
The Record
June 15, 1989; THURSDAY
SECTION: NEWS; Four Star B
ALSO IN Four Star P, Three Star; Pg. A14
LENGTH: 540 words
HEADLINE: CHINA OUSTS TWO U.S. REPORTERS
SOURCE: Wire services
BYLINE: Uli Schmetzer and Ronald E. Yates, Special from the Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
The Chinese government Wednesday stepped up its anti-American,
campaign by expelling two U.S. reporters, and intensified its drive to
discredit the leaders of the democracy movement.
The Record, June 15, 1989
State media broadcasts also claimed that 63 more
"counterrevolutionary elements" had been caught in the nationwide
dragnet for students and workers who demonstrated for democratic
reforms.
Despite the crackdown and a shrill propaganda campaign aimed at
discrediting leaders of the pro-democracy movement, dissident graffiti
appeared on public walls in Beijing early Thursday for the first time
since the bloody June 4 assault on protesters in Tienanman Square.
"All these things must be answered for" was scribbled in English on
the back of a traffic police box near the square.
"Someone should take the lead and speak openly with the Communist
Party," said a message scrawled on an overpass.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 11 days, Tiananmen Square was
not guarded by tanks. But banners supporting the army and wreaths
honoring soldiers who died in the military crackdown appeared around
Beijing.
The Record, June 15, 1989
After publishing a "wanted" list of 21 student leaders earlier this
week, state television Wednesday broadcast photographs of the organizers
of the outlawed Independent Workers Union, which fought alongside the
students when the military attacked them.
So far, more than 900 people have been arrested in the crackdown,
according to official figures. Among the latest to be seized were two
student leaders, Zhou Fengsuo, 22, and Xiong Yan, 25. State television
said Zhou had been turned in by his sister.
Two American reporters, Alan Pessin of the Voice of America and John
Pomfret of The Associated Press, were given 72 hours to leave the
country. In addition, British television reporter Vernon Mann said in a
report smuggled out of China that he had been arrested, and was confined
to his hotel room in Chengdu.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it would formally
protest the expulsion of the two Americans.
The New China news agency claimed that Pomfret had had "frequent
contacts with leaders of illegal organizations" and had "obtained state
secrets through illegal means."
The Record, June 15, 1989
Pessin was charged with "writing stories to distort facts, spread
rumor, and incite turmoil and counterrevolutionary rebellion."
State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler rejected the
Chinese charges against the two Americans, saying: "They were simply
doing their jobs. They were fully accredited, and possessed the proper
Chinese working visas."
Tutwiler said the United States did not plan any retaliatory
expulsions among the 38 Chinese reporters in Washington and New York.
The Bush administration apparently is not prepared to let the
expulsions sidetrack efforts to defuse the dispute over dissident Fang
Lizhi, who has taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and whose
arrest on political charges has been ordered by China.
Diplomatic sources reported that other embassies, including those of
France, Australia, and Argentina, are also sheltering dissidents and
political figures who had sought refuge after the June 4 massacre.
LANGUAGE: English
The Record, June 15, 1989
LOAD-DATE: April 23, 1996
LEVEL 1 - 53 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 15, 1989, THURSDAY, FIVE STAR Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1320 words
HEADLINE: MORE CHINESE ARRESTED; U.S. REPORTERS EXPELLED
SOURCE: Compiled From News Services
BODY:
BEIJING - The Chinese government has arrested more student leaders and
supporters of the pro-democracy movement, and it warned the United States on
Wednesday to refrain from what it called interference in China's internal
affairs. China also issued orders to expel two American reporters - John
Pomfret of The Associated Press and Alan Pessin of the Voice of America - for
what it called violations of martial-law regulations, which ban most news
gathering. State-run television announced the arrests of two of 21 student
leaders who were listed Tuesday in a wanted lis t. The television station also
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
issued a new circular calling for the arrest of three leaders of an independent
labor union. Dozens of people nationwide were shown being led into police
stations, some with their arms wrenched in the air in a posture the Chinese call
''the airplane position.'' While the mass arrests continued, the Chinese army
reduced its presence in Beijing. No tanks were in Tiananmen Square for the first
time since the army began cracking down on the democracy movement 11 days ago.
Authorities ordered Pomfret and Pessin to leave China within 72 hours. The
order against Pessin followed a barrage of criticism by the Chinese state press
denouncing Voice Of America as a rumormonger. Pomfret was accused of having
contacts with student leaders and of obtaining unspecified state secrets. Also
Wednesday, a British television reporter said that he had been arrested and
confined to his hotel room in Chengdu after filming damage caused by student
unrest. The reporter, Vernon Mann of Independent Television News, said in a
report smuggled out of China that he had been arrested and interrogated for five
hours and that his passport had been confiscated. He compiled his report from
his hotel room, where security police had told him to remain and ''await
punishment.'' He was told that his passport eventually would be returned and
that it would be best for him to leave the country. Soldiers also detained
Denis Hiault, Beijing bureau chief of Agence France-Presse, and confiscated his
residence card on Wednesday. Hiault was accused of photographing soldiers.
Pomfret said he had been accused of protecting Wu'er Kaixi, one of the leading
student activists in hiding. Chinese authorities have charged Wu'er with
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
counterrevolutionary activities. Pomfret has worked for the AP since 1986 and
has been based in Beijing since last year. He wrote a profile of Wu'er before
the martial-law crackdown and interviewed him several times during the
demonstrations. ''I did my job as a journalist, and I worked hard,'' said
Pomfret. ''It's a shame that these are the results I get.'' In New York, Louis
D. Boccardi, president and general manager of the AP, said that he had
''protested in the strongest terms to the Chinese government this unwarranted
assault on fair and factual reporting.'' In Washington, Chinese Ambassador Han
Xu was summoned to the State Department and issued a formal protest of the
expulsion order. Richard Carlson, director of the Voice of America, called the
expulsion ''a step backward for the media in China, which over the past couple
of years has demonstrated some steps forward.'' The expulsion orders appeared to
be part of China's campaign against the United States for sheltering Fang Lizhi,
a leading dissident, and his wife at the U.S. Embassy after soldiers opened up
on demonstrators June 3-4. The shooting ended seven weeks of demonstrations by
students and their supporters for a freer society. More than 1,000 people have
been arrested since the crackdown began. The Communist Party newspaper, the
People's Daily, said in a front-page editorial: ''What kind of people these
so-called 'democracy fighters' are and the role that some Americans played is
now all too clear. ''We hope the U.S. side will emphasize the overall situation
of Chinese-American relations . . . stop interfering in China's internal affairs
and not do anything to hurt bilateral relations.'' Another People's Daily
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
commentary said events showed that ''class struggle'' continued in China.
Television reports said two student leaders had been arrested. Identified as
Zhou Fengsuo and Xiong Yan, the two were among 21 leaders who were accused of
''inciting and organizing counterrevolutionary rebellion'' and whose names and
pictures were flashed repeatedly on television Tuesday. The reports said Zhou
had been turned in by his sister and her husband, who works at an air force
academy in Xian. Zhou, 22, was a physics student at Qinhua University in
Beijing. No details were given of the arrest of Xiong, 24, a graduate student of
law at Beijing University. The television report also said that Fang Ke, a
Beijing student leader not on the circular, had turned himself in to police in
the central city of Wuhan. A leader of an independent worker union set up to
support the students was arrested after fleeing to the nearby province of Hebei,
the report said. Beijing Radio said 32 protesters had been arrested at the
railway station as they tried to flee Beijing. Meanwhile, dozens of tanks that
had been in Tiananmen Square disappeared overnight, and 20 remaining armored
personnel carriers were covered with tarps. The U.S. State Department announced
Tuesday that it would begin granting non-immigrant visas to Chinese for short
stays in the United States.
LANGUAGE: English
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
LOAD-DATE: October 22, 1993
LEVEL 1 - 54 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 15, 1989, THURSDAY, THREE STAR Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1200 words
HEADLINE: MORE CHINESE ARRESTED; U.S. REPORTERS EXPELLED
SOURCE: Compiled From News Services
BODY:
BEIJING - The Chinese government has arrested more student leaders and
supporters of the pro-democracy movement, and it warned the United States on
Wednesday to refrain from what it called interference in China's internal
affairs. It also issued orders to expel two American reporters - John Pomfret
of The Associated Press and Alan Pessin of the Voice of America - for what it
called violations of martial-law regulations that ban most news gathering.
State-run television announced the arrests of two of 21 student leaders named
Tuesday in a wanted list. It also issued a new circular calling for the arrest
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
of three leaders of an independent labor union. Dozens of people nationwide
were shown being led into police stations, some with their arms wrenched in the
air in a posture the Chinese call ''the airplane position.'' While the mass
arrests continued, the Chinese army reduced its presence in Beijing. No tanks
were in Tiananmen Square for the first time since the army began cracking down
on the democracy movement 11 days ago. Authorities ordered Pomfret and Pessin
to leave China within 72 hours. The order against Pessin followed a barrage of
criticism by the Chinese state press denouncing Voice Of America as a
rumormonger. Pomfret was accused of having contacts with student leaders and of
obtaining unspecified state secrets. In New York, Louis D. Boccardi, president
and general manager of the AP, said that he had ''protested in the strongest
terms to the Chinese government this unwarranted assault on fair and factual
reporting.'' In Washington, Chinese Ambassador Hun Xu was summoned to the State
Department and issued a formal protest of the expulsion order. Richard Carlson,
VOA director, called the expulsion ''a step backward for the media in China,
which over the past couple of years has demonstrated some steps forward.'' The
expulsion orders appeared to be part of China's campaign against the United
States for sheltering Fang Lizhi, a leading dissident, and his wife at the U.S.
Embassy after soldiers opened up on demonstrators June 3-4. The shooting ended
seven weeks of demonstrations by students and their supporters for a freer
society. More than 1,000 people have been arrested since the crackdown began.
The Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, said in a front-page ed
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
itorial: ''What kind of people these so-called 'democracy fighters' are and the
role that some Americans played is now all too clear. ''We hope the U.S. side
will emphasize the overall situation of Chinese-American relations . . . stop
interfering in China's internal affairs and not do anything to hurt bilateral
relations.'' Another People's Daily commentary said events showed that ''class
struggle'' continued in China. Also Wednesday, a British television reporter
said that he had been arrested and confined to his hotel room in Chengdu after
filming damage caused by student unrest. The reporter, Vernon Mann of
Independent Television News, said in a report smuggled out of China that he had
been arrested and interrogated for five hours and that his passport had been
confiscated. He compiled his report from his hotel room, where security police
had told him to remain and ''await punishment.'' He was told that his passport
eventually would be returned and that it would be best for him to leave the
country. Television reports said two student leaders had been arrested.
Identified as Zhou Fengsuo and Xiong Yan, the two were among 21 leaders
accused of ''inciting and organizing counterrevolutionary rebellion'' whose
names and pictures were flashed repeatedly on television Tuesday. The reports
said Zhou had been turned in by his sister and her husband, who works at an air
force academy in Xian. Zhou, 22, was a physics student at Qinhua University in
Beijing. No details were given of the arrest of Xiong, 24, a graduate student of
law at Beijing University. The television report also said that Fang Ke, a
Beijing student leader not on the circular, had turned himself in to police in
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1989
the central city of Wuhan. A leader of an independent worker union set up to
support the students was arrested after fleeing to nearby Hebei province, the
report said. Beijing Radio said 32 protesters had been arrested at the railway
station as they tried to flee Beijing. Meanwhile, dozens of tanks that had been
in Tiananmen Square disappeared overnight, and 20 remaining armored personnel
carriers were covered with tarps. Despite the stream of news describing the
widening political crackdown and bitter attacks on the United States,
authorities made parallel efforts to reassure foreigners that the country was
safe for business and tourism. State television showed Geology and Mineral
Resources Minister Zhu Xun thanking six American advisers at his ministry who
had stayed on despite the turmoil of the past three weeks. ''Our government is
stable,'' he told them. ''Please, everyone relax.''
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: October 22, 1993
LEVEL 1 - 55 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 U.P.I.
June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 897 words
HEADLINE: U.S. to protest expulsions of two American journalists
BYLINE: By DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
China accused the United States of violating Chinese sovereignty by
harboring a leading dissident and Washington said it would protest the
expulsions of two American journalists, but it had no immediate plans to
retaliate against Chinese reporters.
A nationwide hunt for pro-democracy activists netted at least 63 new arrests,
state-run television said Wednesday, while state radio early Thursday reported
United Press International June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
the first signs of continued armed resistance to the military crackdown in the
capital.
The radio said snipers fired two gunshots Tuesday from a building in the
northwest university district, and vandals burned a bus in an area south of
Tiananmen Square in before dawn on the same day.
The arrests Wednesday raised to more than 900 the number of people swept up
since the army's brutal June 3-5 suppression of student-led protesters in
Beijing.
The television said the detainees included two men whose names were included
in a most-wanted list of 21 student leaders of the democracy demonstrations, the
largest outpouring of anti-government sentiment in nearly 40 years of communist
rule. One of the pair reportedly was turned in by his sister.
The arrests of Zhou Fengsuo, 22, a Qinghua University physics major, and
Xiong Yan, 25, a Beijing University law student, were made within hours of the
Tuesday night broadcast of the list, the television said Wednesday.
The government had claimed 300 people, including 100 soldiers, died in the
Chinese army's bloody crackdown June 3-5 on the protesters but Wednesday, the
United Press International June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
official death toll was reduced to about 200. A Japanese official said a Chinese
Red Cross source put the death toll at 2,600.
In a new move to unearth fugitive dissidents, the television issued a wanted
notice for three leaders of an outlawed independent workers union, flashing
their mug shots and short biographies across China and ordering border police to
ensure they do not flee the country.
Despite the terror generated in Beijing by the sweep and the grip of military
rule, tiny sprouts of defiance blossomed.
Black grafitti inscriptions on an overpass road read: ''Someone should take
the lead and speak openly with the (Communist) party'' and ''What can we do? The
government is unreasonable.''
Near central Tiananmen Square, a slogan written in English on the back of a
traffic police box said, ''All these things must be answered for.''
The harboring by the U.S. Embassy of China's leading dissident,
astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, and his wife, Li Shuxian, brought the toughest
anti-American blast from China.
United Press International June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
''The American Embassy's offer of protection to Fang and Li is an invasion of
Chinese sovereignty,'' said the People's Daily, official organ of the Communist
Party. ''It is a violation of international law.''
The United States has refused to surrender Fang and Li, wanted on charges of
''counterrevolutionary'' crimes, which are tantamount to treason and punishable
by death.
The U.S. decision to harbor the pair fueled a diplomatic row with China first
fired by President Bush's suspension of military sales contracts to protest the
bloody suppression of the student-led democracy movement.
Fang and his wife sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy after the government
blamed them for an uprising by tens of thousands of Beijing residents against
armor-backed troops who ruthlessly enforced martial law and ended a peaceful
22-day occupation of Tiananmen Square by pro-democracy protesters.
The dispute with the United States was further heightened Wednesday when
authorities summoned the Beijing bureau chief of the Voice of America and a
Beijing-based correspondent for The Associated Press and ordered them to leave
China within 72 hours.
United Press International June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
VOA's Alan W. Pessin, 33, and the AP's John Pomfret, 30, were accused of
violating rigid restrictions imposed on news coverage of pro-democracy
demonstrations when martial law was declared May 20.
Pomfret, of New York City, was accused of ''having frequent contacts with
illegal organization leaders, passing on information to and providing shelter
for them'' and ''obtaining state secrets through illegal means,'' said the
official Xinhua News Agency.
Pessin was charged with ''writing stories to distort facts, spread rumor and
incite and stir up turmoil and counterrevolutionary rebellion.''
White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the United States will file
a formal protest with the Chinese government to protest the expulsions which
Washington viewed with ''great concern.''
''We believe ... the harassment of journalists trying to do their jobs and
attempts to jam the Voice of America will not succeed in keeping the truth of
what is going on in China from being heard around the world,'' Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater refused to say what other moves were being considered, and at the
State Department, officials said there was no plan to take similar action
United Press International June 15, 1989, Thursday, BC cycle
against Chinese reporters in the United States.
There are 25 Chinese reporters in Washington representing 10 news
organizations and 13 others in New York representing four agencies.
The government has mounted a vicious smear campaign in recent days against
VOA, the U.S. government's global radio network, accusing it of distorting
coverage of the unrest in China.
Short-wave broadcasts by VOA and the British Broadcasting Corp. provide most
Chinese with their sole source of uncensored news.
GRAPHIC: PICTURE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 56 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part 1; Page 1; Column 5; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 1479 words
HEADLINE: CHINA HUNTS FOR STUDENT LEADERS;
PREMIER WARNS OF MORE STEPS TO RESTORE ORDER, QUASH REBELS
BYLINE: By DAVID HOLLEY, Times Staff Writer
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
China's police put a net out for 21 pro-democracy student leaders Tuesday
while the hard-line winners in the recent government power struggle promised
further blows against their opponents.
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
Early today, state-run television announced the arrest of two of the 21
"counterrevolutionaries." The others are believed to be still in hiding.
The student leaders are accused of "inciting and organizing
counterrevolutionary rebellion," television reports said. Photographs and brief
descriptions of each student were broadcast in the manner of a most-wanted list.
"Wang Dan. Male. 24 years old. Beijing University history department student.
Height: about 173 centimeters. Pointed chin. Thin hair. Cavity in a front tooth.
Thin. Wears glasses for nearsightedness. Speaks with a local Beijing accent,"
ran the first description on the list.
"Wuer Kaixi. Male. Born Feb. 17, 1968. Uighur minority from Xinjiang
Autonomous Region. Beijing Teachers University education department student.
Height: 174 centimeters. Big eyes. Thick lips. Fair skin. Often wears green
military pants," said the next.
2 Most Prominent Leaders
Wang and Wuer were the two most prominent leaders of the pro-democracy
protests.
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
One arrested student, according to the television report, was Zhou Fengsuo, a
22-year-old physics major at Qinghua University. He was detained in the central
city of Xian, the report said, and had been turned in by his sister and her
husband, who works at an air force academy.
The other person arrested, according to the report, was Xiong Yan, 25, a
student in the Beijing University law department. No further details were
available.
Premier Li Peng, who issued the order for martial law that culminated with
the June 4 massacre of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of citizens as the army shot
its way into Beijing, delivered a hard-line speech Tuesday in which he praised
the soldiers and said that further steps will be taken "to restore order and
strike relentless blows at the counterrevolutionary rebels."
Li also warned foreign countries against criticizing China. His remarks were
directed in part at the United States, which has provided refuge in the U.S.
Embassy in Beijing to China's most prominent pro-democracy activist,
astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, and his wife, Li Shuxian. Chinese authorities issued
warrants last weekend for their arrest.
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
"While we are putting down the counterrevolutionary rebellion, a small number
of nations . . . have taken the opportunity to spread all kinds of rumors, stir
up anti-China sentiments, and put pressure on us," Li declared in his speech,
parts of which were broadcast on the evening television news. "We must warn them
sternly: The Chinese people . . . will not yield to this kind of pressure."
Politburo Standing Committee member Qiao Shi, who appears to have emerged as
acting head of the Communist Party in place of the reformist General Secretary
Zhao Ziyang, also appeared on television Tuesday with a warm endorsement of the
army's actions.
In a statement implying that further actions against dissent are still to
come, Qiao told martial-law troops that "we hope the counterrevolutionary
rebellion can be put down quickly and thoroughly in the capital, and that good
social order can soon be restored."
Qiao's comments appeared to indicate plans for additional arrests and a
further heightening of political controls.
The mood on the streets of Beijing is sullen, with armed troops posted at
major intersections. Some people have not yet returned to work following a week
of street violence during which martial-law troops sometimes fired at
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
pedestrians virtually at random. But there are no more demonstrations to be
suppressed.
The government contends that only about 300 people, most of them soldiers,
died during the June 3-4 army move into downtown Beijing. An estimate of 3,000
deaths has circulated widely in diplomatic circles, based partly on a Chinese
Red Cross report, later repudiated, that 2,600 had died. Confirmed deaths based
on hospital body counts and reports by Western witnesses have been placed at 400
to 700 by various news organizations. The true death toll may never be proven.
The student protesters, who staged pro-democracy demonstrations in central
Beijing's Tian An Men Square for seven weeks before the bloody crackdown, had
originally been described by the government as misguided but "patriotic." Before
the army assault and General Secretary Zhao's fall from power, the government
had promised that there would be no retaliation against them.
But Tuesday evening, national television repeatedly broadcast the stark
descriptions of student leaders, together with photographs.
"After receiving this arrest warrant, police in every province and region on
railways, airlines, highways and border posts must immediately deploy units to
arrest them and stop them from escaping the country," the Ministry of Public
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
Security announcement said.
Footage of Wuer leading demonstrations was also shown repeatedly, together
with a videotape from a hidden camera that showed Wuer and friends dining at
what was described as "a high-class hotel" during late May.
"Wuer Kaixi is one of the big heads of the organization," the announcer said.
"He spoke all over to fan the flames of the movement. . . . From this, we can
clearly see the ugly face of the student union leaders."
In his speech, delivered to top government and Communist Party leaders,
Premier Li declared that "if we hadn't imposed martial law and called in the
troops, the entire country could have fallen into a counterrevolutionary
rebellion that could not have been suppressed."
Li said that China will continue its policy of openness to the outside world
and warned foreign governments not to retaliate against China for its actions in
suppressing dissent.
"We hope that all countries that wish to keep and develop friendly relations
with China will take a long-term view," he said.
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
In an indication of plans for a new ideological campaign, Li added that the
"counterrevolutionary rebellion" had occurred in part because "we did not pay
adequate attention to spiritual civilization and ideological and political
work."
"We must take steps to correct this," Li said.
Li's comments pointed to the existence not only of deep conflict between the
government and its critics, but also sharp disagreement within the Communist
Party itself -- especially within the party's propaganda organs.
"Because of mistakes in the guidance of media work by a small number of
comrades in the central leadership who departed from the stand of the Communist
Party, some media organizations, in the work of suppressing this rebellion, have
given incorrect guidance to public opinion," Li said.
Li blamed this situation on "the free spread of bourgeois liberalization" --
a code word for Western concepts of democracy and civil liberties.
"We earnestly demand," Li said, "that the media immediately adopt the
viewpoint of the party and the people, redouble efforts to propagate the central
leadership's policies, take another step in exposing the crimes of the
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
counterrevolutionary rebels, encourage the people's fighting spirit and make a
proper contribution to thoroughly putting down this counterrevolutionary
rebellion."
There are already indications of an impending crackdown at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, a government-run research institute that has been
closely associated with Zhao and reformist thinking in general.
Troops and army trucks have been visible in the academy parking lot for
several days. An intellectual familiar with the situation at the institute said
Tuesday that troops have been searching offices of scholars in the fields of
world economics, politics, philosophy and Marxism, Leninism and Mao Tse-tung
Thought.
The other leaders targeted for arrest are:
Liu Gang, 28, Beijing University physics department; Chai Ling, 23, Beijing
Teachers University psychology department; Zhai Weimin, 21, Beijing Institute of
Economics; Liang Qingtun, 20, Beijing Teachers University psychology department;
Wang Zhengyun, 21, Central Institute for Nationalities.
Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1989
Zheng Xuguang, 20, Beijing Space and Aeronautics University; Ma Shaofang, 25,
Beijing Film Academy; Yang Tao, 19, Beijing University history department; Wang
Zhixin, 22, China University of Political Science and Law; Feng Congde, 22,
Beijing University Institute of Remote Sensing; Wang Chaohua, 37, Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences graduate student.
Wang Youcai, 23, Beijing University physics department; Zhang Zhiqing, 25,
China University of Political Science and Law; Zhang Boli, 26, Beijing
University; Li Lu, 20, Nanjing University; Zhang Ming, 24, Qinghua University
automobile engineering department; Xiong Wei, 23, Qinghua University.
FASTER VISAS -- U.S. to speed process for Chinese who want to flee. Page 10
GRAPHIC: Photo, One of the 21 wanted posters shown on Chinese television. ;
Photo, (Southland Edition) A wall of military hardware forms a backdrop for
bicyclists near Beijing's Tian An Men Square. Associated Press
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 57 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, HOME EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5
Other Edition: Nassau and Suffolk Pg. 5, City Pg. 7, City Home Pg. 7
LENGTH: 1171 words
HEADLINE: China Targets 21 Wanted Students
BYLINE: By Jeff Sommer. Newsday Foreign Editor
DATELINE: Beijing
BODY:
State-run broadcasting flashed "wanted posters" of 21 top student leaders
across China's television screens last night, heightening the campaign of terror
against the shattered pro-democracy movement. Today, two of the leaders were
arrested, national television reported.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
Wuer Kaixi, Wang Dan and Chai Ling, heads of the student movement who spoke
frequently with western reporters before the military cleared Tiananmen Square
of protesters on June 3 and 4 in a bloody raid, were at the top of the
government's list.
After showing a "mug shot" of each leader, with detailed descriptions, an
announcer asked all Chinese citizens to turn in the "counterrevolutionaries."
And early today national television announced the arrest of two of the
leaders, Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student at Qinghua University in
Beijing, and Xiong Yan, a 25-year-old law student, Reuter reported. Zhou was
arrested in the central city of Xian and had been turned in by his sister and
her husband. Xiong was seized on a train in northeast China.
A report by the official Xinhua news agency said the Beijing Public Security
Bureau had distributed a circular throughout the country, calling for the arrest
of the leaders, accusing them of "inciting and organizing counterrevolutionary
rebellion in Beijing." Long prison terms or death sentences are likely if they
are captured, western diplomats said. The television slammed particularly hard
at Wuer, who was shown eating at an unnamed "high-class restaurant in Beijing"
in surveillance pictures the announcer said were taken on May 29. "From this we
can clearly see the ugly face of the student union leaders," the announcer
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
said.
[In Shanghai, police detained an ABC News crew for more than two hours after
it tried to film a family watching China's evening TV news, ABC correspondent
Mark Litke told The Associated Press. He said five officers burst in on the U.S.
network team without warning Monday night and seized the three-member crew and
its government-assigned interpreter. "It was like a scene from a bad Gestapo
movie," Litke said.]
The intimidation on Chinese television followed an announcement of an
important meeting of China's State Council in which Qiao Shi, the Politburo
member in charge of public security, "transmitted" the words of Deng Xiaoping to
the government body. Qiao's role as spokesman for China's most powerful leader
appeared to be another indication of Qiao's high standing at a time of apparent
instability in the Communist Party leadership.
Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, a moderate who favored a
conciliatory approach toward the student-led pro-democracy movement, has not
appeared in public since meeting with students in Tiananmen Square on May 19.
Qiao may replace him if Zhao has lost out in the party power struggle, as most
analysts believe.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
Present at the State Council meeting was Hu Shen, the head of the Academy of
Social Sciences, which has functioned as a think-tank for Zhao's economic and
political reforms, and many of whose members openly supported the pro-democracy
movement. Some other officials known in the past as moderates also appeared.
Premier Li Peng followed Qiao's remarks with a survey of Chinese affairs
featuring hard-line views that now are official policy. He pledged a
continuation of his conservative approach to economic reform.
Li said stabilizing prices and increasing grain production would be the focus
this year - goals long associated with him and with Chen Yun, the octogenarian
economic specialist believed to be his patron. There will be reduced investment
in new enterprises, with a focus on infrastructure projects such as energy and
transport.
Li said "neglect" of "opinion-making" within the party Central Committee had
caused grave problems in Chinese journalism. "Some journalists have left the way
of the Party," he said, adding. "This is a longterm consequence of bourgeois
liberalism." Bourgeois liberalism, in the jargon of the Chinese Communist Party,
refers to a complex of ideas associated with western concepts of freedom of
speech and thought, U.S.-style electoral politics, student activism, and what
are viewed as the more decadent manifestations of capitalism.
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
Li's remarks were further evidence that a full-fledged campaign against
"bourgeois liberalism" is under way. Fang Lizhi, the dissident astrophysicist,
is known here as a leading "bourgeois liberal." He and his wife are being
sheltered in the U.S. Embassy, despite Chinese orders that they be arrested for
"counterrevolutionary" activities.
He said that a small group of countries was stirring up "anti-China" feeling
but that "the Chinese people who have stood up will not yield to pressure and
rumors." Li asked "foreign countries which are friendly to China to take a
longterm view and to avoid doing anything to hurt the feelings of the Chinese
people at this time." He said that China's "open-door policy will remain in
place, and that China's basic orientation toward economic reform will continue.
Politburo Member Yao Yilin followed Li's speech with remarks reported by the
television news as saying that if China had not stopped the student movement,
"we would have become a bourgeois republic."
Immediately after Yao's words, the television switched to the call for the
arrest of the student leaders.
Using footage that appeared to have been taken from western broadcasts, Wuer
- who was featured on western news broadcasts during the movement's weeks of
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
international fame - was shown speaking through a megaphone in Tiananmen Square.
"He spoke, urging students to go on a hunger strike," an announcer said. "But he
went to a high-class restaurant in Beijing and ate and ate and ate." The
television then showed surveillance pictures of the student and friends sitting
at a round table in an unnamed restaurant. The announcer said the date of the
meal was May 29. It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the pictures or
the date. But by May 29 the hunger strike had been called off.
On May 18, Wuer and six other student leaders were shown on nationwide
television meeting with Li at the Great Hall of the People. According to an
account that day by Xinhua, Wuer spoke critically of Li, who had told the
students to stop fasting, to leave the square and to deal with other issues
later.
Wuer, Xinhua said, "asked the premier to focus on substantive issues because
several thousand students are still starving on the concrete of Tiananmen
Square." He also asked for repudiation of a critical April 26 People's Daily
editorial and demanded that Li "apologize to the whole nation and affirm the
significance of the current student movement." (**** THE FOLLOWING APPEARED IN C
H EDITION:
(c) 1989 Newsday, June 14, 1989
Li was visibly angry, and, while he "affirmed that the students have
patriotic feelings and wishes," he warned, "The situation will not develop as
you wish and expect . . . I hope you think it over that what the final
consequences might be should the situation get worsening.")
GRAPHIC: 1) AP Photo-Zhang Min was one of 21 students shown on Chinese TV
yesterday. 2) Photo by Reuter-Pro-democracy student leader Wuer Kaixi, shown
last month in Beijing (P 7 C). 3) AP Photo-Premier Li Peng, right, with
politburo member Qiao Shi, addresses party officials (P 7 C)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 58 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Reuters Reuters
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, AM cycle
LENGTH: 1060 words
HEADLINE: MANHUNT NETS STUDENTS, WORKERS SOUGHT, U.S. NEWSMEN EXPELLED
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
Chinese authorities announced Wednesday the arrest of two of 21 fugitive
students accused of heading the pro-democracy movement and highlighted the
example of one young woman who turned in her brother.
On a day that saw a significant tightening on dissent, state media said a
nationwide manhunt was also being launched for three leaders of the banned
Beijing Autonomous Workers' Union.
After a week of mounting attacks on the United States and American news
coverage of China's political crisis, Beijing announced it was expelling two
U.S. reporters.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
Alan Pessin of the government-funded Voice of America radio and John Pomfret
of the Associated Press were given 72 hours to leave the country.
Less than 24 hours after a massive media blitz announced the nationwide
dragnet for the 21 student leaders wanted on charges of inciting and organizing
a "counter-revolutionary rebellion," the first two arrests were announced.
State television said Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was turned
in by his sister and brother-in-law near the central city Xian Tuesday night
while law student Xiong Yan, 25, was seized on a train in the northeast of
China.
"Just after the evening broadcast of the arrest warrants on television,
Zhou's sister Zhou Wenrong and her husband working in the air force institute
went and made a report to the local police after talking it over," the
newsreader said.
"Five policemen went to Sanqiao (near Xian) and arrested him. He admitted he
was a student leader."
No independent confirmation of the report was possible. Television showed
pictures of Zhou, handcuffed, being taken for interrogation and separate
Reuters, June 14, 1989
footage of his sister bouncing her baby on her knees as she spoke to two
policemen, apparently in her living room.
The 21 students sought in the manhunt are said by the authorities to be
leading members of the Beijing Universities Autonomous Students Union, which
helped organize pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and across China which
were crushed by a military assault on June 3 and 4.
The authorities, who once praised the students as "patriotic" and promised no
reprisals, have since denounced them as "counter-revolutionaries"- a charge
which can carry years in prison.
As with the dragnet operation launched Tuesday to capture the alleged student
protest leaders, government-controlled television launched the campaign against
the illegal union leaders by showing pictures of the wanted men and broadcasting
detailed physical descriptions.
Accompanying the announcement was news that at least 15 other labor activists
had been detained.
In the first trial linked to the protests in Beijing, a Shanghai man went on
trial accused of "hooliganism" for attacking a train.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
The locomotive had just plowed through a group of demonstrators blocking the
line to denounce the Beijing repression, in which hundreds, perhaps thousands of
unarmed civilians were killed. Six of the demonstrators were killed and six
injured.
Early Wednesday, the last tanks and armored troop carriers left Beijing's
Tiananmen Square, focus of the student protests, but heavily armed troops still
guarded the area.
In another security operation, television showed police raiding the campus of
Lanzhou University, in northwest China, and hauling out a suspect.
For some days last week demonstrators protesting at the Beijing bloodshed
blocked all railway lines and roads into the city.
Despite the stream of news describing the widening political crackdown and
bitter attacks on the United States for sheltering top dissident Fang Lizhi in
the Beijing embassy, authorities made parallel efforts to reassure foreigners
that the country was safe for business and tourism.
After making reassuring noises Tuesday, there were assurances Wednesday that
Beijing airport was working normally.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
State television showed Geology and Mineral Resources Minister Zhu Xun
thanking six American advisers at his ministry who had stayed on despite the
turmoil of the past three weeks.
"Our government is stable," he told them. "Please, everyone relax."
The New China News Agency carried a long article, written by the propaganda
department of the Beijing City Communist Party, entitled "The
Counter-revolutionary Rebellion In Beijing."
Taking issue with foreign news reports of the June 3-4 army crackdown in the
center of the capital, it concluded:
"During the whole process of this clearing operation (persuading the
remaining student protesters to leave Tiananmen Square), no one died.
"This shows that rumors of 'rivers of blood' running in Tiananmen Square were
completely unfounded."
The draconian political crackdown of the past few days, since paramount
leader Deng Xiaoping appeared on television Friday night flanked by military,
party and state dignitaries, seemed to remove all doubt that the hardliners
Reuters, June 14, 1989
were back in control.
Further confirmation came Wednesday when the main Communist Party newspaper
frontpaged a call to revive class struggle, a Marxist concept virtually
abandoned here for the past decade.
"Class struggle still exists to a certain extent, and a very small minority
of reactionaries who hate the Communist Party and the communist system have
never abandoned their political goals," said the article in People's Daily.
It said these persons had "occupied important positions, had support from
overseas reactionaries...tried to stir troubles..."
Referring to the recent pro-democracy protests, the article said released
criminals, political hooligans and other social criminals had engaged in
smashing, stealing, burning and other criminal acts.
"Behind them were people planning and plotting. We can't let them get away
with it.
"These people were trying to stir troubles, do away with Marxism-Leninism,
plot anarchy. Their purpose was to use instability to divide the party and
Reuters, June 14, 1989
overthrow the communist People's Republic," it added.
"In face of their attack we have no choice, we cannot retreat. The only way
is to fight back firmly...Honest people should stay on the alert, see clearly,
and firmly struggle against a very small minority of reactionaries."
Foreign China analysts said it was the first time in a decade that such harsh
language had been used, adding it was further confirmation that the hardline
communist ideologues were firmly in control of the levers of power.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 59 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Reuters Reuters
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, PM cycle
LENGTH: 768 words
HEADLINE: CHINESE POLICE CAPTURE TWO FUGITIVE STUDENT LEADERS
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
Chinese police have captured two of 21 fugitive student union leaders wanted
on charges of inciting and organizing a "counter-revolutionary rebellion," state
television reported Wednesday.
It said Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was turned in by his
sister and brother-in-law near the central city of Xian Tuesday night and
Xiong Yan, a 25-year-old law student, was seized on a train in northeast
China.
Police have launched a countrywide manhunt for the 21 students whose
photographs and detailed descriptions were on shown on television, published
Reuters, June 14, 1989
in newspapers and broadcast repeatedly on state radio.
"Just after the evening broadcast of the arrest warrants on television,
Zhou's sister Zhou Wenrong and her husband working in the airforce institute
went and made a report to the local police after talking it over," the
newsreader said.
"Five policemen went to Sanqiao (near Xian) and arrested him. He admitted he
was a student leader."
No independent confirmation of the report was possible. State television
showed pictures of Zhou being detained and separate footage of his relatives
speaking to police.
The 21 students are said by the authorities to be leading members of the
Beijing Universities Autonomous Students Union that helped organize
demonstrations in Beijing and across China until troops and tanks crushed their
pro-democracy movement on June 4 with heavy loss of life.
Once praised by the authorities as "patriotic" and promised there would be no
reprisals, the students have since been denounced as "counter-revolutionaries"
and face charges that can carry years in prison.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
Hundreds of workers have already been arrested for taking part in
demonstrations and riots across China.
Early Wednesday, the last tanks and armored troop carriers left Beijing's
Tiananmen Square but heavily armed troops still guarded the area, which had been
the focus of student protests.
Barbed wire that had surrounded Tiananmen, giving it the appearance of a
prison camp, was also removed overnight.
More than 100 tanks and scores of armored personnel carriers had already left
the square in stages over the past week.
Officially fewer than 300 civilians and troops died as armored convoys
crashed through barricades on their way to Tiananmen but diplomats say the death
toll could be several thousand.
Pedestrians were still barred from the square and cyclists passing around
its edges were forbidden to stop.
Despite the reduced military presence, China's hardline leaders stepped up
their ideological pressure by calling for a revival of class struggle, a
Reuters, June 14, 1989
concept abandoned earlier in the 1980s and used in the Cultural Revolution of
the late 1960s to persecute millions of people.
"Class struggle still exists to a certain extent, and a very small minority
of reactionaries who hate the communist party and the communist system have
never abandoned their political goals," said the People's Daily, the main party
organ.
It said these people had "occupied important positions, had support from
overseas reactionaries... (and) tried to stir troubles."
In a clear reference to the Beijing democracy protests, now officially dubbed
a "counter-revolutionary rebellion," the article said released criminals and
political hooligans had engaged in stealing, burning and other criminal acts.
"Behind them were people planning and plotting. We can't let them get away
with it.
A separate front-page editorial launched a fresh attack on the United States
for harboring two wanted dissidents in its Beijing embassy but the hardline
rhetoric did not deter crowds of Chinese applying for U.S. visas.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
Police have issued arrest warrants for the couple and charged them with
"counter-revolutionary crimes."
U.S. authorities have refused to hand them over. President George Bush has
also blocked further U.S. military sales to China and a White House spokesman
has accused unnamed Chinese officials of murder.
The editorial said Sino-U.S. relations had progressed well in recent years to
the benefit of both sides, then added:
"But we must not forget that there is always a small number of people in
America who hate communism and will do anything to use their bourgeois ideology
and bourgeois system to influence some Chinese with the aim of turning China
into a bourgeois republic."
Despite the rhetoric more than 200 people lined up outside the U.S. embassy
under the watchful eyes of policemen and two armed soldiers, waiting to apply
for visas.
Washington has indicated that it will be sympathetic and flexible in
considering visa applications amid the crackdown.
Reuters, June 14, 1989
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 60 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Reuters
The Reuter Library Report
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, AM cycle
LENGTH: 1075 words
HEADLINE: MANHUNT NETS STUDENTS, WORKERS SOUGHT, U.S.NEWSMEN EXPELLED
DATELINE: PEKING, June 14
BODY:
Chinese authorities announced on Wednesday the arrest of two of 21 fugitive
students accused of heading the pro-democracy movement and highlighted the
example of one young woman who turned her brother in.
On a day which saw a significant tightening of the screw on dissent, state
media said a nationwide manhunt was also being launched for three leaders of the
banned Peking Autonomous Workers' Union.
After a week of mounting attacks on the United States and American news
coverage of China's political crisis, Peking announced it was expelling two
Reuters; June 14, 1989
U.S. reporters.
Alan Pessin of the government-funded Voice of America radio and John Pomfret
of the Associated Press news agency were given 72 hours to leave the country.
Less than 24 hours after a massive media blitz announced the nationwide
dragnet for the 21 student leaders wanted on charges of inciting and organising
a "counter-revolutionary rebellion", the first two arrests were announced.
State television said Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was turned
in by his sister and brother-in-law near the central city Xian on Tuesday night
while law student Xiong Yan, 25, was seized on a train in the northeast of
China.
"Just after the evening broadcast of the arrest warrants on television,
Zhou's sister Zhou Wenrong and her husband working in the air force institute
went and made a report to the local police after talking it over," the
newsreader said.
"Five policemen went to Sanqiao (near Xian) and arrested him. He admitted he
was a student leader."
Reuters; June 14, 1989
No independent confirmation of the report was possible. Television showed
pictures of Zhou, handcuffed, being taken for interrogation and separate footage
of his sister bouncing her baby on her knees as she spoke to two policemen,
apparently in her living room.
The 21 students sought in the manhunt are said by the authorities to be
leading members of the Peking Universities Autonomous Students Union, which
helped organise pro-democracy demonstrations in Peking and across China which
were crushed by a military assault on June 3 and 4.
The authorities, who once praised the students as "patriotic" and promised no
reprisals, have since denounced them as "counter-revolutionaries" -- a charge
which can carry years in prison.
As with the dragnet operation launched on Tuesday to capture the alleged
student protest leaders, government- controlled television launched the campaign
against the illegal union leaders by showing pictures of the wanted men and
broadcasting detailed physical descriptions.
Accompanying the announcement was news that at least 15 other labour
activists had been detained.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
In the first trial linked to the protests in Peking, a Shanghai man went on
trial accused of "hooliganism" for attacking a train.
The locomotive had just ploughed through a group of demonstrators blocking
the line to denounce the Peking repression, in which hundreds, perhaps thousands
of unarmed civilians were killed. Six of the demonstrators were killed and six
injured.
Early on Wednesday, the last tanks and armoured troop carriers left Peking's
Tiananmen Square, focus of the student protests, but heavily armed troops still
guarded the area.
In another security operation, television showed police
raiding the campus of Lanzhou University, in northwest China,
and hauling out a suspect.
For some days last week demonstrators protesting at the Peking bloodshed
blocked all railway lines and roads into the city.
Despite the stream of news describing the widening political crackdown and
bitter attacks on the United States for sheltering top dissident Fang Lizhi in
Reuters; June 14, 1989
the Peking embassy, authorities made parallel efforts to reassure foreigners
that the country was safe for business and tourism.
After making reassuring noises on Tuesday, the charm offensive continued on
Wednesday with assurances that Peking airport was working normally.
State television showed Geology and Mineral Resources Minister Zhu Xun
thanking six American advisers at his ministry who had stayed on despite the
turmoil of the past three weeks.
"Our government is stable," he told them. "Please, everyone relax."
The New China News Agency carried a long article, written by the propaganda
department of the Peking City Communist Party, entitled "The
Counter-revolutionary Rebellion In Peking".
Taking issue with foreign news reports of the June 3-4 army crackdown in the
centre of the capital, it concluded:
"During the whole process of this clearing operation (persuading the
remaining student protesters to leave Tiananmen Square), no one died.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
"This shows that rumours of 'rivers of blood' running in Tiananmen Square
were completely unfounded."
The draconian political crackdown of the past few days,
since paramount leader Deng Xiaoping appeared on television on
Friday night flanked by military, party and state dignitaries,
seemed to remove all doubt that the hardliners were back in
control.
Further confirmation came on Wednesday when the main Communist Party
newspaper frontpaged a call to revive class struggle, a Marxist concept
virtually abandoned here for the past decade.
"Class struggle still exists to a certain extent, and a very small minority
of reactionaries who hate the Communist Party and the communist system have
never abandoned their political goals," said the article in People's Daily.
It said these persons had "occupied important positions, had support from
overseas reactionaries...tried to stir troubles..."
Reuters; June 14, 1989
Referring to the recent pro-democracy protests, the article said released
criminals, political hooligans and other social criminals had engaged in
smashing, stealing, burning and other criminal acts.
"Behind them were people planning and plotting. We can't let them get away
with it.
"These people were trying to stir troubles, do away with Marxism-Leninism,
plot anarchy. Their purpose was to use instability to divide the party and
overthrow the communist People's Republic," it added.
"In face of their attack we have no choice, we cannot retreat. The only way
is to fight back firmly...Honest people should stay on the alert, see clearly,
and firmly struggle against a very small minority of reactionaries."
Foreign China analysts said it was the first time in a decade that such harsh
language had been used, adding it was further confirmation that the hardline
communist ideologues were firmly in control of the levers of power.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Reuters; June 14, 1989
LOAD-DATE: 061489
LEVEL 1 - 61 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 Reuters
The Reuter Library Report
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, PM cycle
LENGTH: 830 words
HEADLINE: CHINESE POLICE CAPTURE TWO FUGITIVE STUDENT LEADERS
DATELINE: PEKING, June 14
BODY:
Chinese police have captured two out of 21 fugitive student union leaders
wanted on charges of inciting and organising a "counter-revolutionary
rebellion", state television reported on Wednesday.
It said Zhou Fengsuo, a 22-year-old physics student, was turned in by his
sister and brother-in-law near the central city of Xian on Tuesday night and
Xiong Yan, a 25-year-old law student, was seized on a train in the northeast
of China.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
Police have launched a countrywide manhunt for the 21 students whose
photographs and detailed descriptions were on shown on television, published in
newspapers and broadcast repeatedly on state radio.
"Just after the evening broadcast of the arrest warrants
on television, Zhou's sister Zhou Wenrong and her husband
working in the airforce institute went and made a report to
the local police after talking it over," the newsreader said.
"Five policemen went to Sanqiao (near Xian) and arrested him. He admitted he
was a student leader."
No independent confirmation of the report was possible. State television
showed pictures of Zhou being detained and separate footage of his relatives
speaking to police.
The 21 students are said by the authorities to be leading members of the
Peking Universities Autonomous Students Union which helped organise
demonstrations in Peking and across China until troops and tanks crushed their
pro-democracy movement on June 4 with heavy loss of life.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
Once praised by the authorities as "patriotic" and promised there would be no
reprisals, the students have since been denounced as "counter-revolutionaries"
and face charges which can carry years in prison.
Hundreds of workers have already been arrested for taking part in
demonstrations and riots across China.
Early on Wednesday, the last tanks and armoured troop carriers left Peking's
Tiananmen Square but heavily armed troops still guarded the area which had been
the focus of student protests.
Barbed wire which had surrounded Tiananmen giving it the appearance of a
prison camp had also been removed overnight.
More than 100 tanks and scores of armoured personnel carriers had already
left the square in stages over the past week.
Officially less than 300 civilians and troops died as armoured convoys
crashed through barricades on their way to Tiananmen but diplomats say the death
toll could be several thousand.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
Pedestrians were still barred from the square and cyclists
passing around its edges were forbidden to stop.
Despite the reduced military presence, China's hardline leaders stepped up
their ideological pressure by calling for a revival of class struggle, a concept
abandoned earlier in the 1980s and used in the Cultural Revolution of the late
1960s to persecute millions of people.
"Class struggle still exists to a certain extent, and a very small minority
of reactionaries who hate the communist party and the communist system have
never abandoned their political goals," said the People's Daily, the main party
organ.
It said these people had "occupied important positions, had support from
overseas reactionaries... (and) tried to stir troubles."
In a clear reference to the Peking democracy protests, now officially dubbed
a "counter-revolutionary rebellion", the article said released criminals and
political hooligans had engaged in stealing, burning and other criminal acts.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
"Behind them were people planning and plotting. We can't let them get away
with it.
A separate front-page editorial launched a fresh attack on the United States
for harbouring two wanted dissidents in its Peking embassy but the hardline
rhetoric did not deter crowds of Chinese applying for U.S. visas.
"Interfering in China's internal politics is not allowed," read the headline.
"This is a violation of China's sovereignty. It contravenes internationally
recognised laws," the newspaper said in China's strongest condemnation of the
embassy's decision to give refuge to Fang Lizhi and his wife Li Shuxian a day
after the June 4 killings.
Police have issued arrest warrants for the couple and charged them with
"counter-revolutionary crimes".
U.S. authorities have refused to hand them over. President George Bush has
also blocked further U.S. military sales to China and a White House spokesman
has accused unnamed Chinese officials of murder.
Reuters; June 14, 1989
The editorial said Sino-U.S. relations had progressed well in recent years to
the benefit of both sides, then added:
"But we must not forget that there is always a small number of people in
America who hate communism and will do anything to use their bourgeois ideology
and bourgeois system to influence some Chinese with the aim of turning China
into a bourgeois republic."
Despite the rhetoric more than 200 people queued outside the U.S. embassy,
under the watchful eyes of policemen and two armed soldiers, waiting to apply
for visas.
Washington has indicated that it will be sympathetic and flexible in
considering visa applications amid the crackdown.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: 061489
LEVEL 1 - 62 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
June 14, 1989, Wednesday
SECTION: NEWS; Ed. 1,2,3,4; Pg. A-1
LENGTH: 747 words
HEADLINE: 2 student leaders arrested in China; 2 reporters expelled
SOURCE: AP
BODY:
Authorities today announced the d the arrest of two of 21 student leaders
wanted for roles in the pro-democracy movement and ordered two Western reporters
expelled for their reporting on the martial-law crackdown.
John Pomfret of The Associated Press and Voice of America bureau chief Alan
Pessin were given three days to leave the country. criticism of the United
States and pressed on with a nationwide crackdown on dissent that has already
netted more than 1,000 arrests.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
Communist authorities have criticized VOA, whose short-wave broadcasts are an
important source of information for Chinese, as spreading "distortions."
They have also condemned Washington for sheltering Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi
and his wife, Li Shuxian, at the U.S. Embassy.
Authorities also announced today the arrest of 32 participants in
pro-democracy protests, which ended June 3-4 with a military assault on
Tiananmen Square in which hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed.
The Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, warned the United States
in a harsh front-page editorial today to "stop interfering in China's internal
affairs and not do anything to harm bilateral relations."
"Anyone who tries ... to put pressure on the Chinese government is not
sensible and is shortsighted, and will gain no advantage in the end," the
editorial said.
Police said Pomfret, 30, violated martial-law regulations on reporting and
had met with leaders of the independent student organizations that led seven
weeks of protests for a freer China.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
"Pomfret used his journalism credentials for illegal activities and used
illegal methods to get state secrets," the Beijing television news charged.
"He protected the leaders of student groups and exchanged information with
them."
Pessin, 33, said police accused him of engaging in reporting aimed at
distorting facts, spreading rumors and instigating turmoil and
"counterrevolutionary" rebellion.
The official Xinhua News Agency today issued its first detailed account of
the assault on Beijing, saying nearly 100 soldiers and police died and thousands
were wounded. It said about 100 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000 injured.
The figures were lower than those given last week by a government spokesman,
who said nearly 300 people were killed, including many soldiers.
Chinese witnesses and Western intelligence estimates say about 3,000 people were
killed, most of them civilians. for a freer society.
National television said one of 21 student leaders of the pro-democracy
movement, Zhou Fengsuo, was arrested in the central city of Xian after being
turned in by his sister and her husband, who works at an air force academy.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
Pictures of Zhou, a 22-year-old physics student at Qinghua University in
Beijing, and the other activists were flashed on television yesterday and today
and appeared in today's newspapers with appeals for people to turn them in.
The evening television news showed Zhou sitting in a police station being
questioned.
A later report said Xiong Yan, 24, a graduate student of law at Beijing
University, also was arrested but gave no details.
Television also reported that Fang Ke, a member of the independent student
union that led the protests, surrendered to police in the central Chinese city
of Wuhan. It identified Fang as a philosophy student at People's University in
Beijing.
Authorities have ordered all students and workers active in the crushed
pro-democracy movement to turn themselves in.
Among them were Wu'er Kaixi, a Beijing Normal University student who in a
televised meeting in May told Premier Li Peng to "stop beating around the bush"
because China faced a political crisis.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
The government accused the 21 of "inciting and organizing
counterrevolutionary rebellion in Beijing" during the movement for a dialogue
with the government, free speech and an end to official corruption.
Beijing Radio said 32 people, including workers, were arrested while trying
to flee from the capital's railway station. Troops and police have set up
checkpoints at the railway station and have been inspecting bags and
identification papers.
The People's Daily editorial continued to attack both Fang and the United
States for sheltering him. "Some foreigners who are hostile to China praise
them (Fang and Li) and make them out to be democracy fighters.' In so doing,
they can't but dream of using Fang Lizhi and others to throw China into chaos,"
it said.
LOAD-DATE: October 30, 1996
LEVEL 1 - 63 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
June 14, 1989, Wednesday
SECTION: NEWS; Ed. 5; Pg. A-1
LENGTH: 568 words
HEADLINE: China arrests two leaders of student protest
SOURCE: AP
BODY:
Authorities today announced the arrest of two of 21 student leaders wanted
for roles in the pro-democracy movement and ordered two Western reporters
expelled for their reporting on the martial-law crackdown. Pomfret of The
Associated Press and Voice of America bureau chief Alan Pessin were given three
days to leave the country.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the Bush
administration plans to file a protest with Chinese officials in Washington
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
this afternoon and in Beijing tomorrow, but said the administration has no plans
to take any reciprocal action against Chinese journalists in the United States.
The expulsion order came as authorities intensified criticism of the United
States and pressed on with a nationwide crackdown on dissent that has already
netted more than 1,000 arrests.
Communist authorities have criticized VOA, whose short-wave broadcasts are an
important source of information for Chinese, as spreading "distortions."
They have also condemned Washington for sheltering Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi
and his wife, Li Shuxian, at the U.S. Embassy.
Authorities also announced today the arrest of 32 participants in
pro-democracy protests, which ended June 3-4 with a military assault on
Tiananmen Square in which hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed.
The Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, warned the United States
in a harsh front-page editorial today to "stop interfering in China's internal
affairs and not do anything to harm bilateral relations."
Police said Pomfret, 30, violated martial-law regulations on reporting and
had met with leaders of the independent student organizations that led seven
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
weeks of protests for a freer China.
"Pomfret used his journalism credentials for illegal activities and used
illegal methods to get state secrets," the Beijing television news charged.
"He protected the leaders of student groups and exchanged information with
them."
Pessin, 33, said police accused him of engaging in reporting aimed at
distorting facts, spreading rumors and instigating turmoil and
"counterrevolutionary" rebellion.
The official Xinhua News Agency today issued its first detailed account of
the assault on Beijing, saying nearly 100 soldiers and police died and thousands
were wounded. It said about 100 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000 injured.
many soldiers.
Chinese witnesses and Western intelligence estimates say about 3,000 people were
killed, most of them civilians.
The government crackdown on dissent continued unabated, with national
television announcing the arrest of two student leaders of the seven-week
movement for a freer society.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 1989
National television said one of 21 student leaders of the pro-democracy
movement, Zhou Fengsuo, was arrested in the central city of Xian after being
turned in by his sister and her husband, who works at an air force academy.
Pictures of Zhou, a 22-year-old physics student at Qinghua University in
Beijing, and the other activists were flashed on television yesterday and today
and appeared in today's newspapers with appeals for people to turn them in.
A later report said Xiong Yan, 24, a graduate student of law at Beijing
University, also was arrested but gave no details.
Television also reported that Fang Ke, a member of the independent student
union that led the protests, surrendered to police.
LOAD-DATE: October 30, 1996
LEVEL 1 - 64 OF 69 STORIES
Copyright 1989 U.P.I.
June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 1206 words
HEADLINE: China expels two American journalists
BYLINE: By DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
China accused the United States of violating Chinese sovereignty by
harboring a leading dissident and expelled two American journalists Wednesday in
the harshest moves of an intensifying diplomatic row with Washington.
The United States said it will formally protest the expulsions, but the State
Department said there were no immediate plans to take similar action against
Chinese reporters.
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
A nationwide hunt for pro-democracy activists netted at least 63 new arrests,
state-run television said, while state radio early Thursday reported the first
signs of continued armed resistance to the military crackdown in the capital.
The radio said snipers fired two gunshots Tuesday from a building in the
northwest university district, and vandals burned a bus in an area south of
Tiananmen Square in the pre-dawn hours the same day.
The arrests Wednesday boosted to more than 900 the number of people swept up
since the army's brutal June 3-5 suppression of student-led protesters in
Beijing. The television said the detainees included two men whose names were
included in a most-wanted list of 21 student leaders of the democracy
demonstrations, the largest outpouring of anti-government sentiment in nearly 40
years of communist rule. One of the pair was reportedly turned in by his sister.
The arrests of Zhou Fengsuo, 22, a Qinghua University physics major, and
Xiong Yan, 25, a Beijing University law student, were made within hours of the
Tuesday night broadcast of the list, the television said Wednesday.
The government had claimed 300 people, including 100 soldiers, died in the
Chinese army's bloody crackdown June 3-5 on the protesters but on Wednesday, the
official death toll was reduced to about 200. A Japanese official said a
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
Chinese Red Cross source put the death toll at 2,600.
In a new move to unearth fugitive dissidents, the television issued a wanted
notice for three leaders of an outlawed independent workers union, flashing
their mug shots and short biographies across China and ordering border police to
ensure they do not flee the country.
Despite the terror generated in Beijing by the sweep and the grip of military
rule, tiny sprouts of defiance blossomed.
Black grafitti inscriptions on an overpass road read: ''Someone should take
the lead and speak openly with the (Communist) party'' and ''What can we do? The
government is unreasonable.''
Near central Tiananmen Square, a slogan written in English on the back of a
traffic police box said, ''All these things must be answered for.''
The harboring by the U.S. Embassy of China's leading dissident,
astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, and his wife, Li Shuxian, brought the toughest
anti-American blast from China.
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
''The American Embassy's offer of protection to Fang and Li is an invasion of
Chinese sovereignty,'' said the People's Daily, official organ of the Communist
Party. ''It is a violation of international law.''
The United States has refused to surrender Fang and Li, who are wanted on
charges of ''counter-revolutionary'' crimes, which are tantamount to treason and
punishable by death.
The U.S. decision to harbor the pair fueled a diplomatic row with China first
fired by President Bush's suspension of military sales contracts to protest the
bloody suppression of the student-led democracy movement.
Fang and his wife sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy after the government
blamed them for an uprising by tens of thousands of Beijing residents against
armor-backed troops who ruthlessly enforced martial law and ended a peaceful
22-day occupation of Tiananmen Square by pro-democracy protesters.
The dispute with the United States was further heightened Wednesday when
authorities summoned the Beijing bureau chief of the Voice of America and a
Beijing-based correspondent for The Associated Press and ordered them to leave
China within 72 hours.
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
VOA's Alan W. Pessin, 33, and the AP's John Pomfret, 30, were accused of
violating rigid restrictions imposed on news coverage of pro-democracy
demonstrations when martial law was declared May 20.
Pomfret, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was accused of ''having frequent contacts with
illegal organization leaders, passing on information to and providing shelter
for them'' and ''obtaining state secrets through illegal means,'' said the
official Xinhua News Agency.
Pessin was charged with ''writing stories to distort facts, spread rumor and
incite and stir up turmoil and counter-revolutionary rebellion.''
White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the United States will file
a formal protest with the Chinese government to protest the expulsions which
Washington viewed with ''great concern.''
''We believe ... the harassment of journalists trying to do their jobs and
attempts to jam the Voice of America will not succeed in keeping the truth of
what is going on in China from being heard around the world,'' Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater refused to say what other moves were being considered, and at the
State Department, officials said there was no plan to take similar action
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
against Chinese reporters in the United States.
There are 25 Chinese reporters in Washington representing 10 news
organizations and 13 others in New York representing four agencies.
The Washington-based association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press, also protested the expulsions in a telegram to the Beijing Foreign
Affairs Office, saying the order ''is an attempt to censor, intimidate and
harass foreign news media, violating the rights of your citizens and those of
all democratic nationals to monitor critical events in your country.''
The government has mounted a vicious smear campaign in recent days against
VOA, the U.S. government's global radio network, accusing it of distorting
coverage of the unrest in China.
Short-wave broadcasts by VOA and the British Broadcasting Corp. provide most
Chinese with their sole source of uncensored news.
Pessin and Pomfret were the first Beijing-based correspondents expelled since
early 1987, when an American reporter for the French news agency Agence France
Presse and a Japanese reporter for Kyodo News Service were kicked out for
coverage of nationwide student protests.
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
The political tensions contrasted with efforts by the army to scale back its
daytime presence on Beijing's streets.
Nearly all the tanks and armored vehicles encamped in Tiananmen Square had
been withdrawn by Wednesday. Truckloads of soldiers continued to prowl the city
and armed troops remained on patrol, but secret police have taken over much of
the arrest work.
A few bored-looking soldiers carrying assault rifles were posted on street
corners in embassy districts and several diplomats complained their cars had
been searched. But embassies were guarded only by a routine contingent of
paramilitary police.
Hundreds of people stood outside the visa office of the U.S. Embassy on its
first day open since June 2. Increasing numbers of Chinese are flooding the
embassy with requests to flee the country.
''A lot of people are afraid of the government and want to go abroad,'' said
a 32-year-old woman doctor who hoped to do research in the southern United
States. ''Everyone has lost hope with the government. My motherland is
unhappy.''
United Press International June 14, 1989, Wednesday, BC cycle
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 65 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
JUNE 13, 1989, TUESDAY
LENGTH: 371 words
HEADLINE: wanted circular issued for arrest of illegal student organization
leaders
DATELINE: beijing, june 13; ITEM NO: 0613138
BODY:
the public security bureau of beijing has issued a wanted circular for the
arrest of 21 leaders of the autonomous students union of beijing universities
(asubu) here today. also today, the ministry of public security transmitted the
circular throughout the country. the circular accused the asubu, an illegal
student organization, of "inciting and organizing counter-revolutionary
rebellion in beijing." the ministry of public security said in the circular
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, JUNE 13, 1989
that once the wanted asubu members are detected, they should be detained by law
enforcement organizations. the circular includes the names, sex, age,
identities and physical features of the wanted. their photos are attached to
the list. following is the list of the 21 asubu members wanted: wang dan, m.,
24, history student of beijing university; wu'er kaixi, m., 21, of uygur
nationality, education science student of beijing normal university; liu gang,
m., 28, former physics graduate student of beijing university; chai ling, f.,
23, psychology graduate student of beijing normal university; zhou fengsuo, m.,
22, physics student of qinghua university; zhai weimin, m., 21, student of
beijing institute of economics; liang qingtun, m., 20, psychology student of
beijing normal university; wang zhengyun, m., 21, of kucong nationality, student
of the central institute for nationalities; zheng xuguang, m., 20, student of
beijing space and aeronautics university; ma shaofang, m., 25, student of
beijing film academy; yang tao, m., 19, history student of beijing university;
wang zhixin, m., 22, student of china university of political science and law;
feng congde, m., 22, m.a. candidate of the institute of remote sensing of
beijing university; wang chaohua, f., 37, graduate student of the chinese
academy of social sciences; wang youcai, m., 23, physics graduate student of
beijing university; zhang zhiqing, m., 25, student of china university of
political science and law; zhang boli, m., 26, student of beijing university; li
lu, m., 20, student of nanjing university; zhang ming, m., 24, automobile
engineering student of qinghua university; xiong wei, m., 23, student of
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, JUNE 13, 1989
qinghua university; xiong yan, m., 25, law student of beijing university.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 66 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1985, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 268 words
HEADLINE: youngest gold medalist at asian track and field meet
DATELINE: jakarta, september 27; ITEM NO: 092732
BODY:
jin bingjie from northeast china won the ninth gold medal for her country
when she walked home [TEXT OMITTED FROM SOURCE] in the women's 10 kilometer walk
in the madya stadium here this morning.
born in april 1971, jin bingjie became the youngest gold medalist among the
500 participating athletes at the current asian track and field meet but the
time was far short of her personal best of 45.59.00.
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
"i am very tired after the walk, and i must have some rest," the shy,
14-year-old replied when she, accompanied by his coach, was asked in the doping
room.
jin bingjie comes from a worker's family in fuxin, a coal mining city in
liaoning province. both her parents work in a starch factory.
she started walking in november 1983, and finished second at the national
juniors' walking competition this year. she was picked for the national team
last july to prepare for the asian meet.
"i like swimming. i used to swim for hours after the daily training program
is finished," jin bingjie said.
liaoning province has been famous for its great women walkers. yan hong,
holder of the world record of 45:39.50 in the 10 kilometers, and xu yongjiu, the
world no. 2 in the women's 10 kilometer walk are both born in jinxian country,
liaoning province.
xiong yan of china came second in the 10 kilometer walk with a time of
51:04.66 and iece magdalena of indonesia was third with a time of 53:55.46.
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
only five competitors entered in this event, but margareni of indonesia was
disqualified. the other walker, hasiati, also of indonesia finished fourth and
the last with a time of 55:22.77.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 67 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1985, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 267 words
HEADLINE: asian athletics meet results (third day)
DATELINE: jakarta, september 27; ITEM NO: 092774
BODY:
following are the results of today's competition at the sixth asian track and
field meet: women's longjump:
1. huang donghuo, china, 6.60
2. liao wengen, china, 6.57
3. kim mi sook, south korea, 6.25
4. lin yueh hsiang, chinese taibei, 5.97
5. fan su yu, chinese taibei, 5.77
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
6. ira soselisa, indonesia, 5.74
7. dellime peterson, sri lanka, 5.49
8. china yassine, lebanon, 4.56
women's 10-kilometer walk:
1. jin bingjie, china, 50:53.81
2. xiong yan, china, 51:04.66
3. iece magdelena, indonesia, 53:55.46
4. hasiati, indonesia, 55:22.77
men's 400-meter hurdles:
1. ahmad hamada, bahrain, 49.88
2. jasin aldowaila, kuwait, 50.81
3. hiroshi kakimuri, japan, 50.85
4. wu chin tzung, chinese taibei, 51.88
5. lin chew ching, chinese taibei, 52.25
6. hwang hong chui, south korea, 52.83
7. kholid hassan, bahrain, 52.83
women's 400-meter hurdles:
1. p.t usha, india, 56.64
2. m.d. valasama, india, 57.81
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
3. agripina dela cruz, philippines, 59.59
4. joko soto, japan, 60.07
5. martha lekransy, indonesia, 61.02
6. jeng fei fuo, chinese taibei, 64.07
women's javelin:
1. zhu hongyang, china, 56.84
2. wang jing, china, 53.44
3. emi matsui, japan, 53.28
4. lee hui chen, chinese taibei, 50.04
5. erlinda lavandia, philippines, 45.74
6. razia sheikh, india, 45.40
7. pauline makdessi, lebanon, 41.76
8. tati ratnaningsih, indonesia, 41.48
women's heptathlon:
1. ye lianying, china, 5,319 points
2. dong yuping, china, 5.198
3. tung fung au, chinese taipei 5,117
4. nene gamo, philippines, 4,663
5. reet abraham, india, 4,619
6. jublina mangi, indonesia, 4,228
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LEVEL 1 - 68 OF 69 STORIES
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service
The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Xinhua News Agency.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1985, FRIDAY
LENGTH: 612 words
HEADLINE: china keeps lead at asian athletic meet
DATELINE: jakarta, september 27; ITEM NO: 927101
BODY:
china added four more golds to its medal tally at the sixth asian track and
field meet here today but p.t. usha of india became the first double gold
winner.
another asian record was shattered in the men's 200 meters by jang jae keun
of south korea when he won the first heat of the semi-finals in a surprising
time of 20.41.
The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
the new chinese gold medals, which brought the total to 12 all came in the
women's events -- 10kilometer walk, long jump, javelin throw, and heptathlon.
zhu jianhua, former high-jump world record holder, withdrew from competition
in the last minute because of a high temperature which has confined him to the
village since his arrival.
jin bingjie, a 14-year-old school girl from northeast china, turned out to be
the youngest gold medal winner when she walked to the finish line in a time of
50:53.81 in the women's 10-kilometer walk this morning. she was followed by
xiong yan of china for the silver medal in 51:04.66. iece magdalena of
indonesia came third by clocking 53:55.46.
jang jae keun's new mark was regarded as a marvellous achievement for asia as
he trimmed 0.32 seconds off the previous record of 20.73 which he set last may.
the listed asian record of 20.81 was held by japan's tohsio toyoda for three
years.
p.t. usha proved herself to be the fastest woman in asia again when she won
the women's 400-meter hurdles finals in a convincing time of 56.64. her first
victory was scored in the 100 meters yesterday. she also delighted the crowd by
winning the first heat of the women's 200meter semi-finals one hour later in