Document #1086500
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.