China Students March for U.S.-Style Democracy

Hundreds of defiant university students marched through two college campuses and plastered buildings with posters Friday in a growing campaign for American-style democracy in China.

Three days after rare public demonstrations in support of democratic reforms erupted in at least two other Chinese cities, hundreds of students at two universities in the eastern city of Hefei, about 550 miles south of Peking, crowded around campus walls to read posters that included quotes from American patriot Patrick Henry and President Abraham Lincoln.

Posters were also reported on campuses in the Yangtze River city of Wuhan, where up to 7,000 people demonstrated on Tuesday, and in Peking.

The subjects of the placards, most of which were put up Friday, ranged from poor food in campus cafeterias to the Communist government’s failure to make good on promises of more democracy.

Wall Posters Torn Down

Authorities at prestigious Peking University late Friday tore down wall posters that had been put up earlier in the day, witnesses said. They said the posters supported democratic reforms.

“We had freedom, we had democracy, but it has all been lost in the darkness,” said one poster on a 100-yard-long wall at Hefei’s Anhui University. The entire wall was covered in black-ink-and-paper signs, and more were going up Friday night.

Similar posters were spotted at Hefei’s Industrial University.

One English-language poster said, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Another, taken from Patrick Henry, said, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

A United Press International reporter visiting Anhui University was detained for about an hour Friday night by school authorities, who said he had no permission to enter the university. The reporter refused demands that he write a “self-criticism” and was taken back to his hotel.

Origins of Protests

Foreign teachers at Anhui University said several posters put up during a Tuesday protest march by 2,000 to 3,000 students were taken down by authorities Wednesday.

The foreign teachers said the student unrest may have been sparked by rumors about three weeks ago of an argument over democratic reforms between visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wan Li and a professor from Hefei’s Science and Technology Institute. Others said the protests arose from student frustration at not having their own representatives in a local legislature.

Students said authorities did not stop them Tuesday from marching on provincial government headquarters, where they presented a petition to officials.

In Wuhan, 700 miles south of Peking, authorities confirmed that up to 7,000 students demanding democracy marched on a provincial government building Tuesday. The demonstration was peaceful and no arrests were reported.