The World - News from Aug. 17, 1987

China’s Communist Party ordered the resignation of eight prominent intellectuals, the second such purge this year. But one of the eight, Wang Ruoshui, the political theoretician and former deputy editor of People’s Daily, said he refused to resign. Asked if he expected to be expelled, Wang replied, “I don’t care.” Analysts say Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping may have sanctioned the expulsions to placate hard-liners in advance of the party’s crucial 13th Congress in October. In January, three intellectuals, including astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, were expelled from the party.