Turmoil In China : Protests For Democracy : Despair, Anger Over Killings Engulf Beijing Residents

Bewildered Beijing residents, venturing out Sunday to view the damage or huddled nervously in darkened homes, despaired over a feeling that the clock had been turned back to earlier oppressive times.

Many were angered and sickened by the extent of the bloodletting early Sunday at Tian An Men Square. They railed at the government for its cruelty and for disgracing China.

“This is a crime that cannot go unpunished. We in China have let these things happen too often. There is never an end,” said Song Weiming, a resident of the Qianmen district, a block south of Tian An Men Square.

For many, there was a feeling of deja vu in the bleak appearance of Beijing a day after government troops gunned down hundreds of pro-democracy students and other civilians.

Back to Bicycle Bells

Motor vehicles all but disappeared from the streets, taking Beijing back to the days when the tinkle of bicycle bells was a dominant sound.

Few stores were open; the relative abundance that had enlivened Beijing streets in recent years seemed to have evaporated at a stroke. Commerce was limited to vegetable stands set up by traveling farmers.

Power went out in large sections of the city, making a gray and stormy afternoon even grayer. It was not clear whether the government had ordered a blackout or whether electricity lines had been damaged by the overnight violence.

“It’s like the Cultural Revolution,” said Zhao Lao, an elderly resident of the Hepingmen district less than a mile from Tian An Men. “Or worse, like war.”

Besides the concern over the disruption of daily life, residents appeared to be burdened by a fear of chaos and repression not known for almost 20 years.

Assault a ‘Great Victory’

Government rhetoric added to the atmosphere. Official Chinese radio referred to the massacre in Tian An Men Square as a “great victory,” saying that the violence was caused by a “gang of thieves bent on throwing the whole country into confusion.”

The army’s “heroic acts and glorious exploits have won fervent praise and strong support from the masses,” the broadcast concluded.

In strongly worded posters, the government also ordered residents to sit at home, an order ignored by many who wanted at least to escape the heat of their crowded homes.

“We hoped to leave behind the days when the Chinese people could be flogged and beaten like animals,” said Zhao Yi, Zhao Lao’s son, who works as a tailor.

Affluence and Fear

Zhao Yi lives in a hutong, the typical winding alleyway that is the characteristic style of old neighborhoods in Beijing. With the combined income of his two brothers and their wives, Zhao was able to buy a refrigerator as well as an electric fan and floor heater for his home, all goods available to many Chinese in the recent years of rising economic growth and consumption.

“But what does all this mean if they are shooting people outside your door?” Zhao asked. “Our government is completely bankrupt.”

A few doors down the alley, Liu, who said he is a stage actor, asked a visitor how it would be possible to emigrate to the United States. “I never thought this way before, even during the Cultural Revolution, when I saw my father beaten and humiliated just because he was a teacher,” Liu said, shaking his head.

“Now I see there is no hope for China.”

Smoldering Jeep Carcass

Just a block from the hutong at the corner of West Qianmen and South Xinhua streets, passers-by gaped at the smoldering carcass of an overturned jeep. Behind it, a pair of twisted buses that army tanks had pushed out of the way blocked the intersection.

Some of the street crowd walked up to touch the scorched jeep. One middle-aged man put his 3-year-old child in the seat of a bus and snapped his picture.

“Does this happen in foreign countries?” a young bicyclist asked a foreigner, observing the scene.

“Is America going to do anything about the killing?” asked another.

“What will happen next, do you think?” a third inquired.

Rifle Fire Echoes in Square

Just then, a sharp rat-a-tat-tat of rifle fire echoed down from Tian An Men Square. Sightseers and loiterers scurried for cover. It was the kind of scene played out all around the square: Groups of bicyclists and pedestrians would approach; some would yell at soldiers to go home; more troops would arrive and fire, spreading panic down the adjacent streets.

“This is too scary,” said a young father, clutching his baby daughter. “Now we do not know who is in charge. I used to follow these things but I just don’t know. I am confused, totally confused.”

Rain began to fall, and thunder punctuated the sound of gunfire. The crowd on Qianmen Street began to disperse, exposing a line of troops looking on impassively in their rain ponchos, rifles held across their chests.