Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!daemon From: chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (Bo Chi) Newsgroups: ut.chinese Subject: Nov. 19 (III), News Digest Message-ID: <8911191932.AA18684@vlsi.waterloo.edu> Date: 19 Nov 89 14:32:31 GMT Sender: Distribution: ut Lines: 179 Approved: nobody@csri.toronto.edu Original-To: china-distribution@cs.toronto.edu | +---------I __L__ ___- i \ ------I +----+----+ | ___\_\_ | \./ | | -----+- | | | | | __ \/ | --+-- |--- | |---| | I----+----I | I__J/\ | __|__ | | | |---| | | | _____ \ | /| \ | | | L__-| | I I---------J / J \/ | | V | _/ * C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t * (ND Canada Service) -- Nov. 19, (III), 1989 Table of Contents # of Lines 1. From ISU: Panel Discusses China Crackdown ................... 60 2. Grad Student Sees Hope for China ............................. 70 3. Recent Activities of Former Student Leaders from Beijing .... 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Panel Discusses China Crackdown ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tang@alisuvax.bitnet (Deming Tang) Source: Iowa State Daily, 11/17/89 1. Panel Discusses China Crackdown by Jennifer Gates A pannel of witnesses and experts discussed last summer's government crackdown in Beijing, China, and how it affected the role of Chinese media and its impact on development. Key speaker Madame Yang Ge, teh editor of a Beijing pro-democratic magazine was closed following the student massacre in Tiananmen Square. Ge told an audience of about 200 people through an interpreter that the Chinese government has tried to censor information received by the Chinese people by controling the media. However, this effort has not succeeded, she said. Information is now circulated in China by what Ge called "back-alley" news. Back-alley news is information that is passed by word of mouth. "The most effective way is word of mouth -- that is, from one person to another. It moves faster than newspapers," Ge said. There are still newspapers operating in China. However, she said, these papers are controlled by the government. Ge said these papers can still provide the peole with useful information. "In China, people are very careful reading the newspaper. Read between the lines," Ge said. Before the massacre in Tiananman Square, there had been 10 years of relaxed control over the mass media, Ge said. She said this period of available information helped promote the pro-democratic movement. "Had there been no mass media... it would mot have been possible for China to form the mass democratic movement," Ge said. "In China, if there is no media there is no freedom and democracy, and if there is no freedom and democracy there is no mass media," Ge said. Another member of the panel, John Wong, said he questioned whether or not the students in Tiananman Square truly understood democracy. Wong was in Beijing when the massacre occurred. Wong said he believed the students do want more personal freedom, but he doesn't think they understood it as applied in the West. He said Chinese students do not understand the responsibilities that go along with the personal freedom of democracy. Wong said students he talked to believed one of two things. He said they believe, "with democracy, all these evils(of society) will go away," or they believe democracy will give them an economy like Japan or the United States. Most members of the panel agreed the China is headed for reform. De-Ming Tang, representative of the Iowa State Chinese Students Association, said his family in China has already heard about reforms in East Germany. He said such information will keep the democratic movement going in China. Ge ended the discussion by saying, "Without reform, there is no hope in China." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Grad Student Sees Hope for China ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tang@alisuvax.bitnet (Deming Tang) Source: Iowa State Daily, 11/17/89 by Renee Zirk Business Graduate Student Hong Wei Li is optimistic about China's future. "A lot of students here(in the U.S.) say they won't go back to China because it's hopeless. I think it's hopeful, I want to go back," she said. Li, who has been in the U.S. since July 21, 1989, was teaching English at Shanghai International Studies University during the student uprising, which started in April in Beijing. She said students in Shanghai were eager to support the students in Beijing, and some of her students joined the hunger strike. Although students didn't attend classes during this period, authorities told Li to remain in the classroom. Buses in Shanghai didn't run for five days because students and civilians let the air out of bus tires. People had to walk to work. Some walked two to three hours, and many couldn't get to work at all, she said. Because of this, she said, production was "greatly affected." Trans- portating rice and getting electricity was a problem too, Li said. Li said she would like the Chinese government to change, but she said this will take time. She said it took more than 100 years to gain an open-door policy in the country and students should be satisfied with changes are occuring. "I don't think there was much killing in Beijing, just in the outskirts," Li said. However, Newsweek reported that approximately 1,000 to 2,500 unarmed civilians were killed in the pro-democratic movement. An ISU business graduate student, who preferred not to be identified, was in Japan during the uprising. She said, according to Japanese newspaper there were about 3,000 civilians killed, whereas the Chinese newspapers reported about 300. --------- Note: Ms. Li, Hong-Wei is a student majoring in Bussiness Management. She came to U.S. on July 21, 1989 with F-1 Visa. She now lives in ..., U.S.A ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. RECENT ACTIVITIES OF FORMER STUDENT LEADERS FROM BEIJING ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 10:18 EST From: GHUANG@UMAECS RECENT ACTIVITIES OF FORMER STUDENT LEADERS FROM BEIJING 1. On Nov.14 and Nov.15, Uerkesh, Shen Tong and Li Lu were invited to Washington D.C. to receive the "Kennedy Human Rights Award" for Fang Li-zhi (Fang's son was there as well). In DC., they met Polish Leader Walesa and submitted a congratulation letter to him. 2. In the Nov. 15 Morning, Shen Tong was on ABC's "Good Morning America" from New York to have a live conversation with East German Student leader Jacob Hein in East Berlin. Hein said that they learned about Chinese Democratic Movement this year through western media and were very sympathetic to us. Shen Tong said,"I wish I could stand on the Berlin Wall to fell the wind of freedom." The effect of our long-term struggle will be visible in China. 3. Today (Nov.17), Shen Tong will meet activists of East German opposite party "New Forum" in Boston. Those former student leaders are starting to establish relationship with East European democratic forces. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Editor: Gang Xu (NDUS) E-mail: gxu@kentvm.bitnet | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ============================================================================= News Transmission chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (or) -------------------- --------------------- Local Editor: Bo Chi chi@vlsi.waterloo.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- send out time: Sun Nov 19 14:31:20 EST 1989 Note: This package was bounced back once. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .