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| The Square Belongs to the People |
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At breakfast in the Minzu dining hall I plunged into the newspaper accounts of Sunday?s demonstration and the latest developments in the Communist Party. The Herald Tribune reported that the students had decided to continue the occupation of Tiananmen Square at least until the June 20th scheduled meeting of the National People?s Congress, winning out over the smaller group of students who had called for a final rally on Tuesday before returning to their classes. Wan must have been pleased with the decision to stay in the square.
I learned that both the government?s television news and the Xinhua press agency did not deem Sunday?s demonstration newsworthy enough to tell its citizens about. This was undoubtedly a signal that the Party was beginning to exercise more control over journalists, as Deng must not have been amused to learn that reporters for the People?s Daily had marched in Sunday?s demonstration demanding more freedom of the press. Deng must also not have been thrilled about reports coming in from all over China that pro-democracy protests were breaking out in Shanghai, Canton, Chengdu, Xian and other areas. Beijing?s spark was igniting and threatening to erupt into a prairie fire across China.
The press accounts of the internal party struggle between Deng and Zhao reflected the conflicting signals emanating from Beijing. One article reported that Zhao Zhang was being attacked in internal documents circulated in ?work units? around the country, amidst speculation that he would be dismissed for leading an antiparty clique. Another article?s theme trumpeted that the party?s moderates were down but not out; that Deng and Li had persuaded the Politburo to move against Zhao and the students, but were having a difficult time convincing other Party officials to fall in line. It said that Zhao still had the support of some army officers who were reluctant to enforce martial law in Beijing. The article suggested that the mass support for the students was preventing Deng from officially ousting Zhao from his position as Party leader.
Meanwhile, the government?s propaganda offensive against the students was escalating in the pages of the People?s Daily, but it too reflected the strength of the mass movement. Conscious of the strong support from Beijing?s citizens for the pro-democracy campaign, the Party was now taking great pains to characterize the overwhelming majority of the students as ?patriotic and well intentioned.? The real threat to China?s stability came from a small group of conspirators who were behind the pro-democracy protests, manipulating the honest intentions of the students for their own pernicious goals of overthrowing the Party and establishing a capitalist government.
Peng Zhen, former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People?s Congress, was assigned by the Central Committee the task of calling a meeting of the vice-chairmen of the Standing Committee to discuss the crisis facing the government. Peng told the meeting the student demonstrations were held out of ?good, pure, kindhearted and constructive motives. Their objective is to overcome the shortcomings and mistakes in our work, and to better the country and the socialist cause. This is consistent with what we demand. However, their ways and means are not so proper. They are not so familiar with the laws. As they lack political experience, they do not have enough vigilance against the very small number of conspirators and bad elements who take advantage of the situation to create turmoil.?
Peng went on to say that the Constitution and the laws should provide the basis for unifying people?s thinking on current issues, and he asked the vice-chairmen to try to find ways to unite the students and the people around the Communist Party to end the chaos and restore order. The vice-chairmen expressed concern over the chaos generated by the protests, and reaffirmed support for the leadership of the Party and a return to stability. But some of them declared that the students? patriotic enthusiasm should be fully affirmed and protected, that their reasonable demands on many issues should be seriously considered, and a clear distinction should be made between the masses and the small number of conspirators.
The same theme was picked up by the Supreme People?s Court in a companion article. While expressing firm support for the Party?s decisions in keeping the social order, it sounded like the government was trying to co-opt the students? demands. An official from the Court declared that the patriotic enthusiasm of the students was sound and reasonable, and what they have advocated?fighting official profiteering, punishing corruption and promoting democracy and prosperity?conformed with the goals of the Party and the government.
While all this was going on in the government, the people of Beijing had their own ideas. As I rode my bicycle down a very congested Changan Avenue, I discovered there was more to the pro-democracy movement than the protests in Tiananmen Square. At each of the wide intersections along Changan, large crowds were reading the latest proclamations from the students posted on walls and buildings. People were talking politics on every street corner, and the entire city seemed excited about something, although lacking an interpreter I had no idea what the buzz was about.
But one didn?t have to know Chinese to grasp that Beijing was a city politicized, whose populace was taking advantage of the political opening already won by the mass movement. The early momentum of the student protests had caught the government off guard, and while Deng and Li Peng were preparing the counterattack, the working people of Beijing were making the most of the breathing room provided by the mobilizations. Consciously blocked from actively participating in the life of the country, the people were embracing the opportunity to engage in political discussion, talk freely in the streets and the press, and assemble for a redress of their grievances.
The business with my friend in Beijing took me into the basement of the city?s TV and Radio Ministry building to watch classic footage from old films of the People?s Liberation Army dug up from the archives. The government bureaucrat assigned to work with us was visibly nervous about the demonstrations and did his dutiful best to downplay their significance.
?It is all very complicated,? Mr. Xing kept repeating, and I agreed with him.
After several hours of viewing footage of Mao?s Great March across China and the People?s Liberation Army fighting the Japanese imperialist forces, I returned to the Minzu to prepare for my dinner meeting with Professor Bail. The hotel staff on the 27th floor were very friendly and engaging young fellows, especially when I gave them miniature American flags and baseball cards. They didn?t speak any English, but something about them gave me the impression that they were supporters of the pro-democracy campaign. Although they weren?t exactly strangers to Western journalists, they seemed intrigued over any American journalist covering this particular historical event taking place in their country.
I biked to the Beijing Hotel to meet Professor Bai for dinner. He met me in the lobby and I liked him immediately. A handsome, pleasant man in his mid-forties, Bai looked like he was in a state of idealized euphoria from the dizzying events taking place in Beijing. I could tell right away Bai was right in the middle of the movement at Beijing University, for he had that glazed, far away look on his intelligent face. He spoke rapidly, with short staccato bursts of sentences.
?The students have called another demonstration in Tiananmen Square for this evening. Something big is happening. An arts and crafts festival. Students from local art colleges made some kind of statue of freedom. They?re bringing it into the square tonight.?
I asked him for the latest news from the students.
?Beijing University students are sending teams of agitators around China,? Bai said breathlessly. ?Five teams of agitators are going all over the country, spreading the pro-democracy message. Students from all over China are coming to Tiananmen Square, and we are sending students to other provinces around China.?
?Professor Bai, can you tell me anything about the Beijing Autonomous Workers Federation?? I asked him.
?Yes, yes, of course,? Bai answered excitedly. ?They arrested three activists from the independent labor union. People are very angry.?
Over dinner I learned that at a demonstration on Beijing University?s campus led by Professor Bai, a number of his students had been beaten by baton-wielding policemen.
Bai said: ?Yes, yes, it was terrible. And unprovoked. Unprovoked. They bloodied four of my students. They were only demonstrating.?
After dinner, I took a taxi with Professor Bai down the Avenue of Eternal Peace to the square. Bai told me that the driver was an enthusiastic supporter of the students and their democratic demands.
?He?s heard about the arts and crafts festival in the square this evening,? said Bai excitedly. ?And look, everyone in Beijing is going!?
It sure looked that way. The closer we got to Tiananmen Square, the more people were filling up the avenue. Tens of thousands of Beijing citizens were headed for Tiananmen on bicycles and foot. The mood was decidedly more upbeat than it had been the previous day.
Bai continued: ?I expect a dramatic change in the political structure in the next few days. The document condemning Zhao has been withdrawn. That?s a good sign. I have some connections with Zhao?s son-in-law. But I could not get in touch with him recently.?
We talked briefly about the government?s strategy of calling the students patriotic and well intentioned as a whole while targeting the leaders as troublemakers.
Bai said: ?That?s right. And the students are saying to the leaders, ?you are the troublemakers. You are the handful of people who have created chaos.? And they are saying a handful of small people are trying to make chaos. You are patriotic. Repeating the same propaganda. Because tonight, there are so many people. Another highlight. Another great moment. Hundreds of thousands are in the square tonight.?
When we were still a few blocks from Tiananmen Square we got out of the cab to join the teeming masses on foot. Professor Bai led the way, hurriedly talking as we went.
?One hundred scholars will be on hunger strike tomorrow. High ranking scholars. That would be a heavy blow. If they die, then the whole world will be in anger. Of course, there would be great loss for those people. As for me, I?m not so. . .I. . .I better not. Maybe that?s the only way out.?
I was practically jogging in order to keep up with the frenetic Professor Bai. His energy fit in well with the charged excitement permeating the warm Beijing evening. As we approached the square, I realized that I was getting caught up in it all as well. It looked like 200,000 people were jamming in and around Tiananmen. You just had the feeling something big was happening that night. The people felt like they had the government on the run again, for it was another massive outpouring and the army with its martial law was nowhere in sight.
As we reached the square, the sea of pedestrians and bicyclists continued flowing into it. Bai translated what was being said on the loudspeakers: ?The announcer is repeating Li Peng?s statement justifying martial law while calling the students patriotic. The People?s Congress will meet in June.?
Our objective was to reach the students? headquarters located near the Monument of the People?s Heroes at the center of Tiananmen, where Bai hoped to hook me up with a student leader. Bai parted the crowd as if he were Moses parting the Red Sea. I followed a few steps behind him, amazed at his natural leadership abilities. It was easy to see why he was so popular both in the pro-democracy movement and with his students at Beijing University.
It was difficult to keep focused on what was happening; visually, my head was spinning from the swirl of multicolored flags and banners blanketing Tiananmen Square, and the bicycles, bike carts and the vendors selling orange soda pop. In the audio realm, I was overwhelmed by the sounds of bicycle bells ringing and the War of the Loudspeakers taking place throughout the square and across the way by the Heavenly Gate to the Forbidden City, where the government spokesperson repeated Premier Li Peng?s latest statement over the huge speakers near Mao?s portrait. The sing-song tone of the government spokesperson emanating from Chairman Mao?s presence made it all seem like a scene from an Orwellian fantasy.
I was jarred back to reality by the sound of Bai?s raised voice. ?Nivek! This way! Come!?
Looking up ahead, I realized I?d fallen back quite a ways from Professor Bai.
?Okay!? I yelled back, picking up the pace.
?Okay! Okay!? came the echoes from the students in the crowd. This was the beginning of an extremely amusing phenomena that occurred all week in the square. Chinese students are fascinated with the English language, and they would show it by playfully repeating words that were amusing to them. ?Fantastic!? was another popular favorite.
As we got closer to the Monument, I noticed that everyone was sitting down. Bai was negotiating with several students about letting me through. A student said to me: ?America. United States.?
?Yes, I?m from San Francisco. Also New York.? I was having a hard time making up my mind which city I should say I was from, so sometimes I resolved things by mentioning both.
?New York,? repeated the young Chinese man.
As we approached the students? headquarters, we heard singing coming out of the square?s loudspeakers. I was trying hard not to be distracted by the steady stream of eyes trained on me wherever I went. Someone asked who I was.
?I?m a journalist from the United States,? I managed to reply.
Finally, we reached the concentration of tents surrounding the Monument of the People?s Heroes, headquarters of the students? pro-democracy campaign. After several minutes of intense n negotiations with several students, Professor Bai bade me an unexpected good-bye.
?I must return home to my wife and family,? he said almost apologetically. ?She is very worried about me being so involved with everything. You understand.?
?Oh yes, I understand very well,? I said with a laugh.
?I?ll leave you in the hands of these students. They know me. Good luck to you. Call me in a few days.?
?I will, and thanks for everything, Professor Bai. Take care of yourself.?
And then he was gone. I was sad to leave him so early, and sobered by the fact that I was in the middle of Tiananmen Square and on my own. One of the students Bai had bequeath to me, a young woman named Li, began escorting me somewhere. She told him that one of the commanders of the students movement was in the square that night. The only name I was familiar with was Wuer X?axi, and I asked Li if he was the commander she referred to.
Li?s face brightened with a smile, happy that I was familiar with the student movement.
?No, not Wuer X?axi. Wang Dan.?
?Oh yes, Wang Dang,? I repeated, remembering that Wan, the Inner Mongolian student leader, had mentioned that name in the same breath as Wuer?s.
We continued making our way forward until a student monitor stopped us at what appeared to be the final security line before headquarters.
?I?m a journalist,? I told him.
The student repeated ?journ-al-ist? in mangled English, before letting us through. Then we were met by another group of students, who didn?t appear to be thrilled with my presence. One of them stepped forward and began interrogating me in Chinese.
Remembering my New York City roots, I figured I?d better start thinking fast.
?I?m with Shanghai Television,? I managed to reply. I pulled out a Shanghai Television sticker that my Beijing associate had given me. ?I?m a journalist from the United States, from San Francisco.?
?Aah, San Francisco,? repeated a student.
?CBS?? asked another student.
?No, not CBS,? I said with a smile, remembering the government?s pull-the-plug on Dan Rather incident. ?I?m here to cover the demonstration, and perhaps to talk to some student leaders. That?s all. Do you speak English?? No?? I turned to Bai?s student and said: ?Tell them I respect the authority of the student leaders. I support the demonstration and I only wish to cover it. I?m here in solidarity with you and I want to report on that basis. I want to tell the American people the truth about your fight for democracy.?
But the students apparently were not satisfied. Through my interpreter, they said they wanted to seem my press pass. All I had was the Shanghai Television badge, so I worked that for all it was worth. Luckily, my situation had attracted quite a bit of attention from the surrounding crowd, some of whom had seen me earlier with Professor Bai. It was only because they argued so vociferously in my behalf was I finally allowed through the security line before the Monument. I turned around and realized that my interpreter was gone; I was on my own again, with no apparent access to any student leaders. I decided to scale the steps to the top tier of the Monument area for a birds?-eye of the demonstration.
An inspiring sight greeted me, for the square was completely filled that Monday evening. Students, working people, families of all ages, showed up in Tiananmen Square, responding to the students? call for a mobilization for democratic rights. Everyone seemed confident, determined and disciplined amidst the red, blue and yellow banners. Right below the Monument was the intense concentration of tents I had seen the day before?the headquarters for the Tiananmen students, where all sorts of frenetic activity was going on: communications, medical care, liaisons with the students at Beijing?s campuses.
Suddenly a convoy of trucks filled with food and other supplies drove up to the tents. Demonstrators began unloading the trucks and carrying the bags on their shoulders back to the tents. It seemed like all segments of society were pitching in to help the students?workers, vendors, shop owners, and farmers. The government statements characterizing the movement as a counterrevolutionary rebellion in no way squared with the reality before me.
When I descended to the base of the Monument my interpreter-friend, whose name was Li, had reappeared. I told her I was struck by the discipline shown by the students.
?But not as disciplined as they were,? Li replied.
?You mean a couple of weeks ago when there were a million people out here?? I asked her.
?Yeah,? she answered.
?You know there are a lot of people here tonight who are not students, who are the working people of Beijing, no??
?Yes, and no turmoil,? Li said proudly, stressing the last word as if she wanted Li Peng to be listening.
?Do you think now that this kind of demonstration will continue for a while longer? There has been talk of ending it soon.?
Li replied: ?Most of the students here now are from other cities. They come and go.?
?Some are from Beijing universities,? I persisted. ?I saw the banners coming in here.?
?Yes,? she said, ?but much less than before. Many are going out to other areas to tell the people what?s going on here. And tonight, we will have more people here. The government has stopped and not allowed people to come here, but still we have support.?
Indeed they did. As we walked around the square, my eyes were again drawn to the video cameras covered up by the students to prevent identification of the demonstrators. In the background, the bicycle bells rang incessantly.
The sheer size of the mobilization made me recall a phone conversation that morning with a friend back in San Francisco, who told me that large pro-democracy demonstrations were also taking place in Shanghai. I asked Li if she?d heard about them.
?No, I haven?t,? she replied, ?but it makes me very happy. And I am not surprised. All Chinese people want democracy.?
You could sense a charged atmosphere throughout Tiananmen Square as word spread about the pending arrival of the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom, the star of the Arts and Crafts Festival. The Goddess was rumored to be a 30-foot high plaster of paris statue, constructed by students from Beijing?s Central, Fine Arts and Music Colleges. Li told me she had heard that the authorities had attempted to block the arrival of the statue miles from the square, but there was no word as to their success. I felt a little deflated upon hearing this, but when I scanned the crowd in Tiananmen I knew the statue would make it there.
Suddenly, I realized that the Anglo man I was staring at in the crowd was none other than Fred, the travel agent from Seattle. It turned out that my initial skepticism concerning his story about opening a travel bureau in Beijing was justified?Fred was actually a cameraman for ABC News.
Pandemonium reigned near a large square area that had been cordoned off by the students for the scaffolding tower they were building for the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom. There was all sorts of commotion, confusion, pushing and shoving going on as everyone jockeyed for the best position to view the arrival of the statue. But the highly disciplined marshals were doing an outstanding job managing to keep matters under control.
?What?s coming?? someone shouted in English.
?The statue?s coming.?
Suddenly, majestic-sounding trumpets blared from Tiananmen?s loudspeakers, adding to the tremendous excitement in the air. The horns were a prelude to the playing of the Internationale, signaling the looming arrival of the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom. I did my best to situate myself as close to the scaffolding tower as possible, but so were many hundreds of others. Monitors constantly exhorted us to back away from the tower.
The Internationale brought goose bumps to my skin and chills down my spine, as it did when I heard it coming from the square?s loudspeakers the moment I?d first entered Tiananmen Square. The stirring theme of the international communist anthem never fails to evoke that reaction in me, whether I?m at a Socialist Workers Party convention in Oberlin, Ohio, or just watching Warren Beatty?s Reds. But there was something different about it this evening in the square; it was hard to tell if the students? motivation was genuinely patriotic, an emotional appeal to the senior leadership of the Chinese Communist Party to back up the Marxist rhetoric with genuine socialist policies, or if the students were mocking the party elders, attempting to bring legitimacy to the mass demonstrations and outflanking the Party in choosing the Internationale as the musical backdrop for the Tiananmen protests. I suspected it was a little of both.
A large yellow bunting was draped around the top of a pickup truck not far from the tower. Li said the word was circulating that the students had eluded the authorities? attempt to intercept the statue and were on their way to Tiananmen Square.
Students then began chanting emotionally, ?Torsha! Torsha! Torsha!? [Sit down!] A friendly student walked up to me and struck up a conversation.
?I?ve been here six years. I graduated from Normal University in July 1983. My name is Lijie.?
I asked Lijie about the hunger strike Professor Bai had talked about.
?It?s not real news to us. I don?t think so,? he replied.
?What do you know about the statue?? I asked him.
?It looks like what?s in the United States. It?s about 30 meters high. It is made of plaster.?
?How long did it take to build it??
?Five days,? Lijie answered. ?Thirteen students made it; it took them five days. They were from the Beijing Central Arts Institute.?
As he spoke, the bright lights from NBC and ABC live cameras illuminated the nearby crowd of students, bringing shouts, smiles and the V for Victory sign from the demonstrators.
?We will stay here until the Congress,? continued Lijie.
?You mean the National People?s Congress, which meets June 20th?? I inquired.
?Yah, yah, yah,? replied Lijie. ?Democracy in China is impossible at the present time.?
?You mean with this current leadership?? I asked.
?Yes, because Deng is a very powerful man,? said Lijie seriously.
Fred, the ABC journalist, asked Lijie,? What does power mean to you??
?He has the army,? responded Lijie immediately, with a sense of finality.
Suddenly a loud roar went up from the crowd. I turned to see three bicycle carts slowly making their way through the people assembled in the middle of the square. Each cart carried a third of what would become the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom. The crowd yelled and applauded wildly over the arrival of the much-anticipated artistic creation of the students. The lights from the television cameras were still illuminating the radiance and hope in the faces of the students as they waved the V sign for the world audience. Many wore shirts with the Goddess and the word ?Democracy? on them; others sported buttons possessing an amusing touch of authenticity?the word ?Victor? (instead of Victory) over the V sign and reading ?Beijing 1989.?
?Torsha! Torsha!? cried the hard-pressed marshals, locking arms and straining to keep back the delirious mass of demonstrators. The crowd surges right in front of me and to my right, in front of the first cart carrying the top portion of the Goddess's torso. Behind me, the students clapped and cheered again when bathed in the white lights of the news cameras. The crowd was joyous, exuberant, spirited and determined. The people seemed conscious of a great victory over the authorities. The government had been outwitted again; the statue had arrived.
Film crews frantically jockeyed for position as the statue approached the tower. I noticed an intense concentration of red and yellow flags surrounding the future home of the Goddess. Then a burst of applause erupted behind me as the trio of tricycle carts were being pulled right past me. As a man shouted excitedly over a loudspeaker, a group of students began clearing out the area for the construction of the Goddess. Then another man?s voice was coming out of a different speaker; his tone was more intense. He was followed by a young woman speaking in English: ?Will all the journalists please sit down. Tanks a lot.?
Students began chanting at the people in the back to sit down.
?Torsha! Torsha!?
The woman?s voice again came over the loudspeaker.
?To all journalists. Please sit down. Tanks a lot. Will you please do not take photos now.?
By now, a mass of students were furiously working on the scaffolding tower in preparation for the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom. A friendly Chinese student began talking to me. I asked him if he went to school in Beijing.
?In Beijing, yes,? he replied.
?And you?ve been coming to all the student protests for the last month??
?Almost every time. How long are you in Beijing?? he asked.
?I just came Saturday. I was here for Sunday?s demonstration.?
?Demonstration, yes,? repeats the student.
?This is incredible, tremendous.?
?Yes, tremendous demonstration. Fantastic. On Sunday I went to my friend?s wedding, so I missed that demonstration. I think many students are too tired. They are weary; not so many students go to demonstration as we expected.?
?You mean at Sunday?s demonstration?? I asked him.
?Yes, I missed Sunday?s demonstration, I had to go to wedding.?
?But there are a lot of students here tonight,? I tell him.
?Many students and citizens, yes,? the student agrees.
?I notice the government has been trying to divide the students from the people,? I said to him.
?Divide, yes. It?s a trick.?
?The people still support the students? demand for democracy, right??
?Yes, yes,? he answered with enthusiasm. ?The government has the most efficient press tools so they can convince the common people. Very efficient. But they cannot cheat us. The government cannot cheat us.?
?Are the students still demanding the resignations of Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping?? I asked.
?Yes,? he answered without hesitation. ?Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping must resign. They have lost credibility and trust from the people. We have two goals: 1) Withdraw the troops from the outskirts of the city; and 2) Li Peng resign.?
?And even Deng?? I inquired.
?Also Deng Xiaoping, but that is more difficult.?
?Do you think Deng enjoys more support from the workers than does Li Peng? Or is it that he is too powerful??
?Yes, he?s too powerful. But he has lost support from the people in our country. It?s a complex problem. For our students, we believe that a great part don?t believe communism. But we cannot oppose communism in our Party. Some Party leaders are good, but some are bad.?
As we spoke, students were removing some of the flags from the scaffolding tower, leaving on the Chinese flag at the top.
?What is this other flag down here?? I inquired of my friend.
?That is the Central and Fine Arts College,? he replied.
?What about the flag on the other side?? I then asked him.
?Central Music College. They worked together. Just about eight arts colleges, including music and sculpture, all worked together to build the Goddess.?
?Torsha! Torsha!? chanted the square marshals. The young woman was again exhorting the journalists to refrain from taking pictures while the students were constructing the Goddess. The sing-song characteristic of her voice was having an almost hypnotic effect on me, particularly when she would follow each plea with ?Tanks a lot.?
As the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom was being assembled into one piece at her new home in Tiananmen Square, her long, arduous journey through the streets of Beijing on three tricycle carts now over, it was clear that the 30-foot tall statue would have an equally hypnotic effect on Beijing. She really did resemble the Statue of Liberty, except that Tiananmen?s Goddess held the freedom torch with both hands. My new friend informed me that the students drew on several diverse influences in building the Goddess?most prominently New York?s Statue of Liberty, but also a figure from China?s mythological history.
A searing pride filled the square as the students worked furiously to complete the Goddess. The people of Beijing were proud of themselves, proud of the students, especially the art students who build the statue, and most of all, proud of the Goddess herself. During the several hours it took to finish the job, an awed silence fell over the square. Nearly everyone was sitting down and gazing up at the Goddess in wonder. The final act of defiance was unfolding in front of their eyes. There would be no going back now. The Goddess ruled Tiananmen, facing down Chairman?s Mao?s brooding face across the Avenue of Eternal Peace.
Sometime past two in the morning, the Goddess of Democracy and Freedom was in one piece, in all her glory, and the jubilant crowd cheered in approval. The students left the red and yellow bunting wrapped around her head, saving the unveiling for the official ceremony planned for noon the next day.
Shortly thereafter I left Tiananmen, well before the great majority of demonstrators could pull themselves away from the star of the arts and crafts festival. I began walking down Changan, still crowded with pedestrians and bicyclists, families, and transient types; still emanating a festive atmosphere. Beijing was a city that never slept during these last days of May 1989. Before long, an old man pedaling a motorized cart was gesturing to give me a lift home. After some haggling, I gave him 10 yuan for the ride back to the Minzu.
Beijing?s citizens made me feel like some kind of celebrity sitting in the back of that taxi-cart; people were smiling, waving, flashing the V for Victory sign, beaming when I returned it, and staring at me with that friendly curiosity. They were looking at me not so much as a stranger than as a participant and fellow demonstrator for democracy. Though thousands of miles from New York or San Francisco, I felt very much at home.
We passed the Communist Party headquarters at Zhonghanhai. Many hundreds of demonstrators were camping out in front of Zhonghanhai, still staring down the eight soldiers solemnly guarding the entrance to the compound, while hundreds more onlookers slowed down or stopped to check out the scene. Not a word was spoken by the soldiers, and there did not appear to be a hint of any overt animosity between the demonstrators and the soldiers; only a strange, uneasy silence existed between them. Occasionally, an agitator with a bullhorn would lead the crowd in a militant-sounding chant. The banners reading ?Serve the People? still hung from the mouths of the two lion statues in front of the compound.
It was a long time before I drifted off to sleep. So much had occurred since the fascinating dinner and cab ride to Tiananmen with Professor Bai. Though I?d spent only two hours with him, I felt that he was one of the most extraordinary individuals I?d ever met. I was bowled over by his fervor, energy and infectious optimism; he had thrown himself into the pro-democracy movement and was obviously entrenched in the Zhao wing of the Communist Party.
It wasn?t hard to understand Bai?s ebullience, for there hadn?t been too many high moments for intellectuals in recent Chinese history. But now, in the midst of the Beijing Spring, they were in the leadership of a mass movement for democracy that was spreading across China, had put Deng Xiaoping on the defensive, and the whole world was watching. What?s more, their campaign possessed legitimacy, as their cause had found support in Zhao?s reformist faction of the Party. Zhao was a party leader, and the pro-democracy movement was a patriotic one.
Bai had been excited over reports that the Party document condemning Zhao had been withdrawn; he was still looking for signs that Zhao?s fortunes were on the rise. At least outwardly, Bai was confident that the Deng/Li Peng leadership could be ousted by Zhao?s moderate faction. But Zhao himself had told the students in Tiananmen Square ten days earlier that it was too late. Zhao was nowhere to be heard, and the only news from the government was Li Peng?s warnings to end the Tiananmen demonstrations.
I thought of the exuberant pride in Bai?s voice when he told me how the students were organizing teams of pro-democracy agitators to travel around the country and build the movement. The plan itself showed that at least some of the student leaders were grappling with the political challenges facing them, challenges which were generated by the success of the mass movement in Beijing. They were beginning to look beyond the parameters of Tiananmen Square, realizing that the success of the campaign depended on the capacity of the pro-democracy forces to broaden the fight into a national one.
There were signs that they were succeeding: the reports of the pro-democracy mobilizations breaking out in Chengdu, Xian, Canton, Shanghai, and other cities. China was a country alive with politics and motion. Beijing students were traveling around China agitating for democracy. Students from provinces all over the country were trekking to Beijing to keep up the occupation of the square.
But there was also a very different kind of motion, one not nearly as visible as the Tiananmen protests, occurring in China?s capital and political center?the counterrevolutionary motion of the black limousines whisking Deng, Li Peng, Yang Shangkun and others in and out of Zhonghanhai, consolidating their power and marshalling their forces in preparation for the crackdown that drew closer.
I thought again of Professor Bai; I pictured him valiantly coming to the aid of his injured students after they were attacked by the police, and I understood why it looked like Bai was parting the Red Sea as we walked across the square. He had gained a great deal of respect from the students, and was now a leading activist in the movement. I only wished that Bai had been able to stick around for the arrival of the Goddess. But he made it clear that his wife was worried sick about his deep involvement in Tiananmen, and she wanted him home that night. Some things are the same the world over.
Most importantly, Professor Bai had provided a major breakthrough concerning the elusive Beijing Autonomous Workers Federation. The reports that three BAWF activists were arrested by the government showed that the Chinese workers were becoming more integrally involved in the pro-democracy campaign. The bad news was that Deng and Li Peng were observing this development as well, and they were using this to bolster their hard-line position. |
