DATE=5/31/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-43539 TITLE=TIANANMEN ANNIV / CHINESE PROTESTS TODAY BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: TEN YEARS AFTER THE CHINESE ARMY CRACKDOWN ON THE 1989 TIANANMEN SQUARE DEMONSTRATIONS, MOST LEADERS OF THOSE PROTESTS ARE EITHER IN PRISON OR LIVING IN EXILE. CORRESPONDENT STEPHANIE MANN REPORTS ON THE REMNANTS OF CHINA'S DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT AND THE NATURE OF PROTEST IN CHINA TODAY. TEXT: THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS AND EVEN SOME GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN CHINA WHO ARE STILL PRESSING FOR POLITICAL REFORMS. FOR THE MOST PART, THEIR NUMBERS ARE SMALL, THEY ARE NOT WELL-ORGANIZED, AND THEY DO NOT ALL AGREE ON STRATEGY. MOREOVER, CHINESE AUTHORITIES USUALLY ACT SWIFTLY TO LIMIT OR STOP THEIR ACTIVITIES. // OPT // IN THE SECOND HALF OF LAST YEAR, SEVERAL PEOPLE TRYING TO FORM AN UNAUTHORIZED OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTY IN SEVERAL CHINESE CITIES WERE ARRESTED, AND SOME WERE SENT TO PRISON. IN RECENT MONTHS, POLITICAL DISSIDENTS HAVE BEEN DETAINED AND TOLD TO SIGN AGREEMENTS PLEDGING NOT TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES TO MARK THE JUNE 4TH, 1989, ARMY CRACKDOWN. // END OPT // ONE DISSIDENT IN EXILE, WANG DAN, IS HOPING TO GET ONE-MILLION SIGNATURES ON A PETITION DEMANDING THE GOVERNMENT REVERSE ITS VERDICT THAT THE 1989 DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT WAS AN ANTI-GOVERNMENT REBELLION. WANG DAN WAS ONE OF THE STUDENT LEADERS OF THE TIANANMEN SQUARE PROTESTS AND WAS NUMBER ONE ON THE "MOST-WANTED LIST" DISTRIBUTED JUST AFTER THE CRACKDOWN. HE WAS IMPRISONED IN CHINA UNTIL LAST YEAR, WHEN HE WAS ALLOWED TO LEAVE FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. HE IS NOW A STUDENT AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY (IN MASSACHUSETTS.) AT A RECENT CONFERENCE AT HARVARD, WANG DAN, SPEAKING THROUGH A TRANSLATOR, SAID IT IS IMPORTANT THAT BOTH THE PROTEST PARTICIPANTS AND THE GOVERNMENT RE-EVALUATE WHAT HAPPENED 10-YEARS AGO. // WANG DAN / TRANSLATOR ACT // RIGHT NOW WE HAVE BEEN ENGAGING IN REFLECTION, BUT WE HAVE HEARD NOTHING OF THAT SORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT, SO I THINK THAT IT IS RIGHT TO CALL FOR A THOROUGH REVERSAL OF THE VERDICT. // END ACT // ANOTHER ADVOCATE OF POLITICAL REFORM, DAI QING, DISAGREES. MS. DAI IS A JOURNALIST IN CHINA WHO OFTEN WRITES ABOUT SENSITIVE ISSUES AND QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT POLICIES. AT THE HARVARD MEETING SHE SAID, THROUGH A TRANSLATOR, A PETITION DRIVE IS TOO CONFRONTATIONAL AND PUTS THE SIGNATORIES AT RISK. // DAI QING TRANSLATOR // FIRST OF ALL, I AM OPPOSED TO THE PHRASE "THOROUGHLY, PROFOUNDLY REVERSE THE VERDICT." AND THE REASON I AM AGAINST THIS IS THAT I THINK THAT THE PROCESS OUGHT TO BE ONE IN WHICH THE LEADERS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE LEADERS OF THE STUDENTS BOTH START TO TALK TO EACH OTHER AND LEARN TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AND TO ARRIVE AT A KIND OF COMPROMISE, BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH CHINESE SOCIETY CAN REALLY MAKE PROGRESS. // END ACT // THE DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN DAI QING AND WANG DAN OVER STRATEGY ILLUSTRATES THE DIVISIONS THAT EXIST WITHIN THE CHINESE POLITICAL REFORM MOVEMENT. // OPT // ANOTHER POLITICAL ACTIVIST IN EXILE, WANG JINTAO, SAYS THE CHINESE PROTEST MOVEMENT SERVES AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE BY SHOWING THE WORLD THERE IS SERIOUS OPPOSITION ON CHINA'S POLITICAL STAGE. BUT MR. WANG SAYS THE MOVEMENT PLAYS A MARGINAL ROLE IN CHINESE POLITICS. // OPT // WANG JINTAO ACT // I THINK (IT IS) BECAUSE MOST OF THE POWERFUL POLITICAL FORCES AND GROUPS DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM AND HAVE NOT CONSIDERED THEIR ROLE. // END ACT // // OPT // MR. WANG WAS CO-FOUNDER OF A PRIVATE ECONOMIC RESEARCH ORGANIZATION IN BEIJING IN THE LATE 1980'S. THE GOVERNMENT ACCUSED HIM OF BEING A "BLACK HAND" SUPPORTING THE TIANANMEN DEMONSTRATORS AND SENTENCED HIM TO 13-YEARS IN PRISON. IN 1994, WANG JINTAO WAS ALLOWED TO LEAVE CHINA TO SEEK MEDICAL CARE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND HE IS NOW A GRADUATE STUDENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (IN NEW YORK.) // END OPT // FORMER WASHINGTON POST BUREAU CHIEF IN BEIJING, DAN SOUTHERLAND, SAYS IT IS NOT SURPRISING TO FIND DISAGREEMENTS AMONG THE CHINESE DISSIDENTS. BUT MR. SOUTHERLAND CAUTIONS AGAINST PASSING JUDGMENT EARLY ON THE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT. // SOUTHERLAND ACT // I DO NOT THINK THE SPIRIT THAT ANIMATED TIANANMEN IS DEAD, AND I DO THINK IT IS INTERESTING TO OBSERVE DISSIDENTS INSIDE CHINA SHOWING A GREAT DEAL OF COURAGE. ... IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH NETWORKING THEY DO, HOW THEY HAVE LEARNED TO USE METHODS OTHER THAN STREET DEMONSTRATIONS TO TRY TO ACCELERATE THE MOVEMENT TOWARD A MORE OPEN CHINA. // END ACT // MR. SOUTHERLAND -- NOW VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMMING AT RADIO FREE ASIA -- SAYS PRESSURE FOR CHANGE IS COMING FROM VARIOUS SECTORS OF CHINESE SOCIETY -- NOT JUST STUDENTS. HE POINTS TO SPORADIC UNREST IN RECENT YEARS BY WORKERS AND FARMERS, WHO HAVE STAGED PROTESTS OVER LAYOFFS AND WORKING CONDITIONS, AND AGAINST CORRUPTION BY LOCAL OFFICIALS. THE FORMER BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF FOR C-N-N T-V, MIKE CHINOY, AGREES MANY CHINESE ARE UNHAPPY ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT AND CORRUPTION. BUT MR. CHINOY -- NOW C-N-N BUREAU CHIEF IN HONG KONG -- SAYS THE DISCONTENT IS EXHIBITED IN SPECIFIC WAYS, NOT AS A BROAD CONDEMNATION OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM. // CHINOY ACT // I THINK IT PERHAPS IS A MISTAKE ON THE PART OF AMERICANS OR OTHER WESTERNERS TO ASSUME THAT JUST BECAUSE THERE WERE A MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STREETS 10-YEARS AGO THAT THERE IS A DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT JUST WAITING TO BURST FORTH. A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT DROVE PEOPLE INTO THE STREETS 10-YEARS AGO ARE STILL THERE -- ISSUES LIKE CORRUPTION, ISSUES LIKE HIGH-HANDED ARBITRARY ABUSE OF POWER BY COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIALS, CONCERNS ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT. THE DISCONTENT IS BEING MANIFESTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THOSE ISSUES ARE STILL THERE. // END ACT // MR. CHINOY SAYS CHINA'S GOVERNMENT HAS OFFERED PEOPLE A TRADE-OFF IN THE PAST 10-YEARS. THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT IN THEIR PERSONAL LIVES, HE SAYS, AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT CHALLENGE THE COMMUNIST PARTY. MIKE CHINOY SAYS THAT EXPANDED SENSE OF PERSONAL FREEDOM HAS PARTLY NEUTRALIZED THE OPEN POLITICAL CHALLENGE TO THE PARTY THAT ERUPTED 10-YEAR AGO. (SIGNED) NEB/SMN/RAE 31-May-99 11:56 AM EDT (1556 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .