U.S. Says It Regrets China’s Restrictions on Freedoms

The United States said Friday it regretted that China had ordered military action restricting the freedoms of student-led anti-government protests.

“The United States supports freedom of speech, association and peaceful assembly in China as in the rest of the world,” the State Department said. “We regret that military action has been ordered with the aim of restricting those freedoms.”

The State Department also expressed hope that the dialogue promised by Chinese authorities in announcing the movement of troops into Beijing and Shanghai would be pursued.

Referring to that dialogue, the department said: “We hope that it will address basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press, association and expression which have been at the center of recent demonstrations.”

China’s leaders moved troops into China’s two largest cities today in a bid to halt the biggest anti-government protests since the 1949 Communist revolution, but the demonstrations reportedly just grew larger.

The troops will “protect the normal functioning of important departments and central organs” because regular police were no longer able to ensure order, President Yang Shangkun said.

But his announcement shortly after midnight only appeared to stiffen the demonstrators’ resolve and boost popular support for their demands for freedom and democracy.