Police in Beijing Foil Students’ Plan for Pro-Democracy Rally

Hundreds of policemen cordoned off Beijing’s Tian An Men Square on Wednesday, blocking off Chinese university students who had planned a pro-democracy demonstration there.

About 20 people, mostly students, defied the police and staged a brief sit-down demonstration in front of a museum facing the square. One of them was taken away by the police.

Rumors circulated Wednesday that the policy-making Politburo of the Communist Party had ordered a get-tough policy after a special meeting the day before.

The show of force, coupled with sharp warnings from the city government, succeeded in limiting other student action Wednesday to the campus of Beijing University.

‘It May Be Dangerous’

“All the students know of the announcement of the Beijing city government, so they do not want to go to Tian An Men Square because it may be dangerous,” said a student who attended an evening campus rally of about 500 students.

The city government’s announcement, which appeared in the press, emphasized that “all demonstrations without previous approval are illegal.”

The current wave of student activity began with protests concerning safety and other issues directly related to the off-campus slaying last week of a Beijing University student. It developed this week into the most dramatic display of student pro-democracy sentiment since a crackdown early last year ended a wave of demonstrations.

According to the New China News Agency, the city authorities “denounced a handful of people with ulterior motives who have taken the opportunity of this criminal case to concoct rumors and slander the reform and open policy in violation of the law, and (who are) sabotaging political stability and unity.”

One Man Arrested

The sit-down demonstration, which began about 5 p.m. in front of the National Museum of the Chinese Revolution and drew a crowd of about 200 onlookers, was broken up by the police after a few minutes. A man who students said is a teacher from Inner Mongolia was taken into custody.

The official newspaper People’s Daily, in an editorial Wednesday, argued that “China does not need and must firmly oppose a so-called democracy that disrupts stability and unity. Only in a stable society can the Chinese people concentrate on carrying out reform, modernizing the country and making all projects succeed.”