Chinese Youths, Troops Clash at Party HQ : Students Call for Freedom, Demand Talk With Premier

Thousands of Chinese students tried to force their way into the national Communist Party headquarters in the heart of Beijing today but were repulsed by lines of troops.

A massive crowd of students calling for democratic freedoms and demanding to speak with Chinese Premier Li Peng surged against the gates of the heavily guarded Zhongnanhai Compound, witnesses said.

About 5,000 onlookers cheered them on as they clashed with soldiers in scenes never seen in 40 years of Communist rule.

The unprecedented protest came on the fourth day of mounting unrest after the death of former Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, popular among students because he championed the rights of intellectuals. Today’s action followed student demands for democratic freedoms and rehabilitation of the former party chief.

Witnesses said scuffles broke out as the demonstrators confronted police guarding the gates but that the protest settled into a tense standoff between students and authorities shortly before midnight.

Unrest on Campuses

Hu’s death Saturday has triggered widespread unrest on Beijing campuses where students have spoken out against the forced resignation in 1987 of the reformist leader.

A large crowd of students also demonstrated early today at Fudan University in Shanghai, China’s biggest city, college sources said.

Although the demonstrations are the biggest spontaneous gatherings in Beijing in 13 years, diplomats doubted that the students would succeed in shaking the authorities as they did with nationwide rallies for democracy and freedom in 1986.

“This time is different. I do not feel the tension,” one veteran European diplomat said, remarking on the almost festive mood in Tian An Men Square.

Student protests in late 1986 contributed to Hu’s downfall at the hands of party hard-liners who launched a campaign against “bourgeois liberalization,” code words for Western political ideas.

Tribute Slated Saturday

So far the authorities have chosen to ignore the students and emphasize their own praise for Hu as a great revolutionary while glossing over the circumstances of his dismissal.

Two official newspapers with a reputation for being more liberal have even encouraged the students, though indirectly.

Senior leader Deng Xiaoping, once Hu’s close ally, has not made public comment on the death of his old friend.

Hu’s successor as party leader, Zhao Ziyang, is expected to make a speech in tribute at a special memorial service in the Great Hall of the People on Saturday.

Informed Chinese sources said up to 10,000 students could be invited to join the ceremony to take the sting out of their protests.