Document #1343379
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Very little information is available on
demonstrations in the Fujian province during April, May and June
1989, since most foreign correspondents were posted in Beijing. An
article from The New York Times dated 23 May 1989, however,
indicates without specification that demonstrations were held in
Fujian during the spring [ Robert Pear, "Upheaval in China; Radio
Broadcasts Report Pro-Student Demonstrations Breaking Out All Over
China", The New York Times, 23 May 1989, p.A14.]. Details
are available only for a demonstration held on 18 May 1989, but the
event was reported to be a continuation of prior demonstrations,
and may well have been the most active day of a longer period of
unrest having brought people to the street for several consecutive
days [ "Fujian Journalists Support 18th May Student Demonstration",
Fujian Provincial Service (Fuzhou, 18 May 1989 at 1000
Greenwich Mean Time), reported by the British Broadcasting
Corporation Monitoring Service, Summary of World Broadcasts
FE/0464/B2/1, 23 May 1989.]. According to the source, the
government-controlled Fujian Provincial Service radio station,
nearly 20,000 people demonstrated to support Beijing University
hunger-strikers [ Ibid.].
The official source did not acknowledge
army killings, but reported that "a few students and armed police
were injured" [ Ibid.]. As a result of the 18 May demonstration, it
was decided that the provincial government and the students would
meet on 19 May 1989 [ Ibid.]. Later in the month, army units
stationed in the Fujian province stated that they firmly supported
the Party Central Committee and State Council's severe measures
against student unrest [ BBC Monitoring Service, "More Military
Support for Li Peng", Summary of World Broadcasts FE/0467/i,
26 May 1989.].