Troops March Near Beijing Protest Site : Arrival of Soldiers Seen as Sign of Move Against Students

About 300 army troops marched within a block of Tian An Men Square today, the clearest indication yet that the government is preparing to end the student-led movement for democracy.

National television showed hundreds of soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army fast-stepping out of the city railroad station about 1 1/2 miles from the square, which students have occupied since they began their protests more than six weeks ago.

Student numbers on the square have fallen to fewer than 10,000, compared with up to 300,000 at the peak of their drive for more freedom and an end to official corruption.

Beijing citizens, in a show of support for the students, blocked troops from entering the city after the government declared martial law May 20.

But residents have been subdued for the moment by a government propaganda campaign and warnings that participants in pro-democracy rallies face pay cuts and other punishment.

A city spokesman issued a stern warning today to foreign journalists, saying that they are banned from covering student protests and that all media coverage in the capital must receive prior approval by city officials.

Ding Weijun also said foreign journalists will not be allowed to invite Chinese citizens to their offices, residences or hotels “for interviews on activities prohibited” under martial law.

Journalists Warned

Beijing-based foreign journalists and hundreds more who have come to cover the protests had faced few problems until this week, when police warned at least two U.S. television networks and a Japanese network that their crews were violating martial-law regulations. They were told to cease all unauthorized reporting.

Police also summoned a correspondent for the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun for a warning, and today the British Broadcasting Corp. was called in.

The confrontation between the students and authorities took a strange twist elsewhere today when hundreds of students disrupted a pro-government rally in a village north of Beijing.

Thousands of farmers and workers, many ordered by local officials or employers to attend the rally, were silenced when their slogans of support for Premier Li Peng’s hard-line policies were drowned out by the students’ shouts for Li’s resignation.