Chinese Students Bar Traffic, Taunt Police in Anti-African Protest

About 2,000 Chinese students chanted slogans, blocked traffic and confronted police in downtown Nanjing on Wednesday evening, calling for punishment of African students involved in a Christmas Eve campus brawl.

About 140 foreign students, mostly Africans, remained at a safely isolated suburban guest house, afraid to return to their campuses after a weekend of anti-African rioting that included rock-throwing attacks on foreign students’ dormitories.

A large majority of the students at the guest house were demanding that arrangements be made for them to travel to Beijing, according to an American tourist, Heather McMillen, who was with the group until Wednesday afternoon. McMillen said that besides her, a Japanese woman and an African man had left the guest house and returned to campuses in Nanjing.

Students Taunt Police

The atmosphere at Wednesday evening’s demonstration was almost festive, as rowdy students appeared to take pleasure in taunting police.

“Arresting students is not allowed,” some students chanted.

“Handle matters according to law,” went another chant.

The two sides in the confrontation had profoundly different perceptions of what caused the violent events of the past five days.

Many of the demonstrating students believed a rumor, apparently false, that an African student had killed an elderly Chinese gatekeeper in a Saturday evening clash at Hehai University.

A clash did in fact occur after Africans attempted to take two Chinese women to a dance without showing proper identification. But Chinese authorities have said that no one died.

The official New China News Agency said 11 Chinese and two Africans were injured, one of the Chinese seriously.

The demonstrating students believe that Africans are being allowed to escape punishment for actions that would bring quick and harsh punishment if committed by Chinese.

“Our country should deal with matters according to the law and not consider foreign relations or family connections,” said one of the protesters, a law student at Nanjing University, who declined to give his name. “If (Chinese leader) Deng Xiaoping’s son were to break a law, he too should be held responsible.”

The foreign students being held in isolation at the suburban guest house, however, believe that the Saturday evening clash was instigated by Chinese to punish particular African students perceived by Chinese at the school as persistent troublemakers, according to McMillen and another American woman, Elizabeth Chace, a student at Nanjing University, who spent about 20 hours at the guest house.

One of the African students made these allegations in meetings at the guest house Tuesday, first with other students and then with African diplomats, McMillen and Chace said.

Several American students at Nanjing University said that Chinese at the Hehai University gate Friday evening warned non-African foreigners not to come to Saturday’s dance because there was likely to be trouble.

Tensions have been high at Hehai University for several weeks, ever since authorities attempted to build a wall around the foreign students’ dormitory and the African students tore it down, according to the American students. Most of the protests since Saturday evening have had a strong racist tone, but Wednesday evening some students stressed that they are not anti-African.

“In the beginning it was ‘Down with the black devils,’ but we don’t support that,” said another man, who gave his name as Li Min. “Now we’re calling for the government to enforce the laws.”

Police Broadcast Warnings

Groups of dozens of police officers periodically charged through the crowds in an attempt to keep traffic lanes open. The police occasionally struck students with batons, and a Western journalist saw five protesters put into vans by police.

Police vans circled the area broadcasting warnings that demonstrations are illegal without permits. Such permits must be applied for five days in advance.

“Do not let yourselves be used by people with ulterior motives,” police said over the loudspeaker. “Preserve unity and stability.”

Shortly after 11 p.m., a large part of the crowd surged down a main street and began to scatter. It was not immediately clear what action police were taking, and some in the crowd seemed frightened. Some said that several students had been beaten by police.

By 11:30 p.m. the square where the crowd had gathered was quiet.