Turmoil In China : Protests For Democracy : Scene at Clinic: A Chorus of Outrage and Cries of Pain

The trauma of bloodshed showed on the faces of hundreds of Beijing citizens waiting outside emergency clinics at the city’s hospitals Sunday.

“I was lucky,” said a middle-aged man outside the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in northeast Beijing, his arm in a sling after being hit by a bullet.

“Six came with me here in the ambulance. Four are dead, including a child and two lady students. All of us were shot about 2 o’clock this morning when we went outside our homes in Nanheyuan to see what was going on,” he said

Nanheyuan is a street close to Tian An Men Square, into which heavily armed troops and tanks moved before dawn to crush a seven-week student protest.

Doctors Reticent

A doctor at the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital said staff members have been ordered not to give information to reporters.

Citizens waiting outside were not so reticent.

“Now I know the real meaning of fascism,” said a student at the Petroleum University who left the square before midnight Saturday, escaping the killings.

“Two of my colleagues there when the soldiers moved in said they issued a warning that all should leave the square but did not give them enough time. A few minutes later they started firing into the air, then at the students.

Wants to Oust Regime

“We must overthrow this cruel government. We must have a general strike.”

A middle-aged man nearby added: “We want the United Nations to come and investigate who are these counterrevolutionary thugs the government keeps talking about.”

Official accounts blame the disturbances on counterrevolutionaries.

“The official news is all lies. Please tell the world of what the army has done. It no longer deserves to be called the People’s Army, it is the army of a few families,” he said.

In another hospital, a copper bullet was being extracted from the lower back of a man in his 50s, who grimaced with pain, his mouth full of gauze.

“He was cycling to work this morning as usual,” one of the staff said. “The troops opened fire indiscriminately.”

Displays Extracted Bullet

When the bullet was pulled out, a nurse showed it to her colleagues.

“This is the government’s present to an innocent worker. Is he a counterrevolutionary too?”

A more senior hospital official intervened and told a reporter to leave.

At a third hospital were two corpses. One was a student; grieving friends and relatives surrounded the other, a worker, and lifted his jacket to show the bullet wounds in the heart.

“He was going to work as usual,” said a colleague, fighting back tears.

“The soldiers were firing at anyone. (Premier) Li Peng is a murderer. He must be punished.”

Shock, Calls for Revenge

Reaction among bystanders outside was a mixture of shock and a call for revenge.

“We must punish this illegal government,” said one worker. “We should strike or at least work as little as possible. This will hurt China’s economy but it is necessary to get rid of this government.”

Another was more fatalistic.

“The Beijing people will never forget this day,” he said. “But what can we do? We earn little and have no power. The government has the guns.

“We must eat, so we must work.”