Possible treatment of a student allegedly sought by the authorities in connection with a demonstration in Guangzhou City in December 1988 [CHN0996]

The treatment of student demonstrators in China is dependent upon the context in which the demonstrations occur. As the attached articles indicate, such demonstrations are often used by factions within the Communist Party for the purposes of internal Party disputes. ["Under the Chinese volcano", The Economist, 3 January 1987, no page given.] Consequently, the treatment meted out to the students depends in many cases upon the outcome of internal Party struggles. As the attached documentation suggests, this treatment can range from indifference and tolerance, to minor reprisals such as the destruction of students' wall posters to arrests and beatings.

The present situation in the PRC involving student demonstrations in Beijing coincides with a power struggle at the very top reaches of the Communist Party. [Daniel Benjamin, "State of Seige", Time, 29 May 1989, pp. 20-30; and "Not from Guns", The Economist, 27 May 1989, pp. 11-12.] The apparent resolution of this conflict has prompted the conservatives to begin their crackdown on the students by making arrests and more pointed threats of political reprisals. ["Chinese soldiers warned to obey orders "to the full", The Globe and Mail, 25 May 1989, p. Al.] That the recent student demonstrations in Tienanmen Square were even permitted can be attributed to the presence of the international media, which was in Beijing to cover the Sino-Soviet summit. ["Upheaval in China", Newsweek, 29 May 1989, p. 22.] On other occasions, such as the 1986 demonstrations, the authorities have been remarkably tolerant of the students, in part because of internal factional disputes within the Communist Party. [Merle Goldman, "How China's Leaders Use Student Protests", The New York Times, 3 January 1987, no page given.] The context of the Guangzhou demonstrations is, therefore, a very important indicator of the possible treatment of those who participated. No information is available to the IRBDC at the present time regarding student demonstrations in Guangzhou City in December 1988.

The Chinese authorities have taken harsh measures in the past, however, against students participating in anti-government protests. In January 1988, The Christian Science Monitor noted that a U.S. educated Chinese student was sentenced to two years in prison for having posted anti-government slogans and helping to incite the 1986 student protests. [Ann Scott Tyson, "Student gets two years for "propaganda"", The Christian Science Monitor, 3 January 1988, page not given.] The charges, however, additionally alleged that the student had participated in a U.S.-based Chinese movement critical of the PRC government. In February 1987, a student at Sichuan University graduate who gave a speech to other students in which he attacked the Party's economic reforms, was sentenced to seven years in prison. ["Graduate sent to jail for 7 years", The Globe and Mail, 6 February 1987, no page given.]
ATTACHMENTS

Boorstin, Robert. "Chinese Protests: Tracing the Roots", The New York Times, 20 December 1986, no page given.

Howe, Marvine. "Ex-Graduate Student in U.S. Is Among Detained Chinese", The New York Times, 2 February 1987, no page given.

Tyson, Ann Scott. "Student gets two years for "propaganda"", The Christian Science Monitor, 3 January 1988, no page given.

Rusk, James. "Good-news stories on students show sharp shift in Chinese tone", The Globe and Mail, 6 February 1987, no page given.

"Graduate sent to jail for 7 years", The Globe and Mail, 6 February 1987, no page given.

Delfs, Robert and Cottrell, Robert. "Enough is Enough", Far Eastern Economic Review, 1 January 1987, no page given.

Rusk, James. "China's campus unrest appears over", The Globe and Mail, 9 January 1987, no page given.

"Under the Chinese volcano", The Economist, 3 January 1987, no page given.

Goldman, Merle. "How China's Leaders Use Student Protests", The New York Times, 1 January 1987, no page given.

Gargan, Edward. "Behind China's Protests", The New York Times, 3 January 1987, no page given.

U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1987. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989, 674-675.

"Chinese soldiers warned to obey orders "to the full", The Globe and Mail, 25 May 1989, A1.