100,000 Mass in Beijing to Demand More Freedom : Largest Protest Since ’49
BEIJING — Tens of thousands of people packed a square today and cheered as student demonstrators waved banners demanding greater political freedoms and carried wreaths honoring a dead leader who favored reform.
About 20,000 students chanting for change marched hand-in-hand from their Beijing campuses to join the burgeoning demonstration in Tian An Men Square, where an estimated 100,000 people already had gathered by nightfall.
Students, workers, peasants and others mingled in the square and speakers openly called for an end to communism.
It was the sixth day of protest since the April 15 death of Hu Yaobang, a Communist Party reformer who was ousted from power--and whose demise many have been used as an occasion to vent anti-government feelings.
Roiling Masses
Chinese officials said the demonstration was the largest of its kind since the 1949 communist victory.
The roiling masses sat on the square and cleared a path whenever various groups carried wreaths and banners to a monument to revolutionary heroes. The monument was piled high with the wreaths, which honored Hu, and the banners that called for democracy and freedom of speech and press.
A confrontation with authorities appeared imminent. Shortly before 3 a.m., security forces were seen leaving 18 trucks that had pulled up on a street south of the square.
One student was heard telling a soldier standing guard at the Great Hall of the People next to the square, “If a confrontation occurs, please don’t beat the students.â€
Hu was to be officially honored Saturday by the Communist Party Central Committee in memorial services in the Great Hall of the People.
Access Will Be Limited
The Beijing government announced today that access to nearby streets and the hall will be limited, and it appeared likely that police would move sometime before the ceremony to clear the square.
In the square, speakers were defiant.
“I am ready to go to jail,†said a teen-age speaker who identified himself as a worker. “I love my country very much but I hate my nation’s administrators. Why aren’t the Chinese angry? We must unite.â€
The worker was one of several people who climbed the monument to address a cheering, clapping, electrified crowd.
In other parts of the square, participants of the rally suddenly shouted out, “I want to make a speech!†and immediately drew thousands who sat on the ground around them and cheered.
‘Historical Necessity’
Activist Ren Wanding told one such group of at least 2,000 listeners, “People are praying for the awakening of a legal system. . . . This is a historical necessity.â€
“Our hearts are stirred,†said a worker in an international trade office. “The speakers are saying what all the people want to say.â€
“Our leader is old. Maybe he is crazy. Many people hope he will die,†said a government worker, referring to 84-year-old senior leader Deng Xiaoping.
Police stood guard in front the Communist Party headquarters near the square that was the scene of confrontations between students and police earlier in the week.
The marchers, however, did not repeat their previous attempts to enter the red-walled compound.
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