Protesters Hold 2nd Rally at China Consulate in L.A.

More than 1,000 Chinese students and sympathizers converged on the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Saturday, chanting “We Want Freedom!” with clenched fists held high in response to a call for support from pro-democracy activists in Beijing and elsewhere in China.

It was the second such demonstration in Los Angeles since student activists began a sit-in at Beijing’s Tian An Men Square and coincided with demonstrations around the world. The demonstrators want political and economic reforms in China and the resignation of Premier Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader.

“This is in response to a call from Beijing to demonstrate the power of the people and their desire for freedom and democracy in China,” said Wang Youqi, 33, a student at Caltech and a leader of the Chinese Student Scholars Assn. “We want freedom of speech and freedom of the press no matter who is in charge in China.”

The demonstrators gathered Saturday morning at Sun Yat-sen Square in Chinatown before marching along a serpentine, five-mile route to the consulate on Shatto Place. They waved placards that said “Down with Deng Xiaoping” and “Down with the Communist Dictatorship.” Some of the marchers yelled Min zhu! (democracy) and Zi you! (freedom).

Dozens of students who participated in the protest vowed to camp out on the steps of the consulate overnight and begin a symbolic 24-hour fast as part of a worldwide fast in support of student activists in China who have staged life-threatening hunger strikes.

The Chinese students came from colleges and universities throughout Southern California.

“It’s exhilarating to be a part of history,” said Pei Huang, 26, who is studying applied physics at UC San Diego. “Democracy and personal freedom make a country great and strong--like the United States. That’s what we want for China.”

Among the boisterous sympathizers at the consulate demonstration was Stephen Yee, 69, president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assn.

“I feel good, good, good--we have to stop communism over there,” said Yee.