IOn the Events in Beijing J by An Zhiguo [llllhe situation in .Beijing in the with the top secrets of the Party pie and bad elements were mixed I IJ past two months kept develop- and state. Those who committed together, some students and onlook- I| hag from campus upheaval to the atrocities of beating, smashing, ers were accidentally injured. This turmoil and finally to a counter- grabbing and burning are mainly is something which nobody wants to revolutionary revolt; disturbances unreformed elements released after see. Senior officials have indicated of varying degrees also occurred in serving a sentence, a horde of polit- that the government, the martial some other cities. After the Chinese ical rascals, the remnants and evil law enforcement troops and the vic- government took drastic measures, elements of the "gang of four" and tims' families cherish the same feel- the revolt was quickly put down, the dross and dregs of society. ings and that they will work hard to social order was restored and the Taking advantage of students' pa- deal with the aftermath of the inci- political situation is now stable. triotic feelings, and certain short- dent. Some people who are not clear comings and mistakes in govern- The outbreak of this incident re- about the nature of this incident ment work, this handful of people quires soul-searching, prompting a have said that it was merely stu- with evil motives stirred up trouble. sober-minded consideration of the dents demanding democracy and The main difficulty in handling past as well as the future. opposing corruption and therefore this event was that a handful of bad Does the turmoil indicate that PLA troops should not have been elements mixed themselves in with there is something wrong with th~ sent to supress it. a multitude of young students and Party's line, principles and policies? The two articles "Why Impose onlookers. For a time the alignment The answer is no. Martial Law in Beijing?" and "What was not clear. The government had At its 13th National Congress the Has Happened in Beijing?" give shown great restraint. It was only Party's line was summed up as "one concrete facts to show the cause and under circumstances when serious centre (that is, economic construc- effect of the incident. They may disturbances had occurred which tion) and two basic points (One bas- help people understand the truth disrupted social stability and peo- ic point is to persist in the four of the matter. As Deng Xiaoping, ple's normal life and social order cardinal principles, that is, adher- chairman of the Central Military that the government declared mar- ence to the leadership of the Com- Commission, said in his meeting tial law in some parts of Beijing. munist Party, to the socialist road, with army commanders and higher This was done in accordance with to the people's democratic dictator- officers of the PLA martial law en- the Constitution. Again, it was only ship and to Marxism-Leninism and forcement troops on June 9: The after the rioters stormed Zhongnan- Mao Zedong Thought; and the oth- disturbance would have come soon- hal--the seat of the Party Central er is to persist in economic reform er or later. It was determined by the Committee and the State Council and opening up to the outside macro international climate and by --the Great Hall of the People, the world)." Is there anything wrong China's own micro climate. Its com- Ministry of Public Security, the with this line? The answer is in the ing was inevitable and independent central radio and television stations negative. If it can be said that there of man's will. This became clear as and when they beat officers and is something wrong in connection soon as the incident broke out. They men of the martial law enforcement with this line, it is a lack of contin- (referring to the creators of the in- troops and grabbed their weapons uing adherence to the four cardinal cident--Ed.) raised two basic slo- that the troops were ordered to quell principles and a lack of consistent gans: one was to overthrow the the revolt. In the process, many effort to educate the people, the stu- Communist Party, and the other PLA officers and men were injured dents, all the cadres and Communist was to topple the socialist system. and quite a few others died. Why Party members in the four cardinal Their aim was to establish a com- should this have happened? Because principles. pletely Westernized bourgeois re- evil elements mixed themselves in Plain living and hard struggle is public. with the people, the troops did. not one of the Chinese people's fine The plotters and organizers of the want to cause accidental injury to traditions. In recent years when counter-revolutionary rebellion are the public and they found it hard to there has been a slight improvement mainly a handful of people who resort to drastic measures. It is dis- in living standards, there has ap- have for a long time obstinately ad- tressing that some officers and men peared a deliberate advocacy of vocated bourgeois liberalization, op- died. But after making an objective high consumption, resulting in wi- posed Party leadership and so- analysis of the incident, people can- despread waste in all fields. This has cialism and harboured political not but admit that the PLA is the been made worse by the deficient schemes, who have collaborated people's own army. In the course of political and ideological work, lack with hostile overseas forces and who putting down the revolt, and under of a complete legal system and have provided illegal organizations circumstances when innocent peo- abuse of power and corruption. Giv- 4 BEIJING REVIEW, JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1989 BroEherand sist:er, Suol~mgZhuoma Cle~, Fro.e) ~ N;m.c;,.nC~#~) are now ~:)urEhgrac~e pupils. ®ongiue ClePc~)is an 80-year-old Tibeean who has lose his sight: in both eyes. He has spent: 30 years in Ehe Welfare Home. He once was a ~reet performer in the old socieb/. A Welfare Home in Lhasa More than 40 orphans and senior citizens live a happy I~ thanks to the great concern shown by the government in providing the Well:are Home for them in I.har,a. The old paople, o1: the home were street or ~ in the pre--lil~raeion socie- b/. Now, tJ~ey along wi~ ~ orphans have t~,;r living expenses provided for by the government:. The We~Care Home, buill: in 1959, gives sheller to the old people in tJ~eir remaining years, wh~ ,allowing I:he children bo keep tJ~elr minds on b~eir homework. ~ ,t ! A symbol oF luck, "Qiema," is prese~cKI ko 7A-year-old wang Qunpe; Ccentre), a r~;- den'c ~c I:he home, by some s~C members during a Tibe- tan calendar's New Year visit. BEIJING REVIEW VOL. 32, NO. 26 JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1989 What Has Happened in Beijing? [] An initial victory has been won in putting down the counter- revolutionary revolt that broke out in Beijing on June 3 and 4. CONTENTS Since turnouts are spreading far and wide, and people are not quite clear about 'the matter, there is a need to explain the truth of this incident. This article gives details about why the PLA martial law enforcement troops entered the city, how they were intercepted NOTES FROM THE EDITORS 4 and attacked by rioters during their advance, and how they were finally forced to counter-attack (p. 11). On the Events in Beijing EVENTS/TRENDS 5-8 Why Martial Law in Parts of Beijing? [] Chinese Premier Li Peng signed the State Council decree which Premier Li Outlines Current declared martial law in parts of Beijing on May 20. In discussing Tasks the need for the imposition of martial law, Shi Wei reviews the Turmoil Won't Close Open Door political situation in the city and explains why the State Council Order Recovered in Major Cities made the decision (p. 16). 400 Arrests Follow Riots INTERNATIONAL 9-10 Li Peng Outlines Current Tasks [] At a meeting of Party and government department leaders to VOA Disgraces Itself study Deng Xiaoping's recent speech to army commanders of the News in Brief martial law enforcement troops, Li Peng called upon leaders to unify people's thinking on the basis of Deng's speech. He also CHINA outlined six current tasks facing the Party and the nation (p. 5). What Has Happened in Beijing? 1 ! Order Has Come Back to Many Cities Why Impose Martial Law in Beijing 16 [] China's railway system has been restored to normal by June 9 and social order in many major cities across the country has also Subject Index (Nos. 1-26, 1989) been recovered after a spate of turmoil that began in late May. Many colleges in Shanghai, Beijing and Nanchang have resumed Centrefold classes (p. 7). CULTURE/SCIENCE 22-24 MOFERT Minister on China's Open Policy COVER: A martial law enforcement sol- o China's MOFERT Minister Zheng Tuobin reiterated that open- dier on duty at Tiananmen Square. ing to the outside world is China's consistent policy and that it will by Duan Jiwen remain unchanged despite the recent turmoil and riot in Beijing. lie said that China will continue to develop economic and trade relations with foreign countries (p. 6). Unless written by -Beijing Review staff, the opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily reflect the view of the Beijing Review editorial board.