IN CONFIDENCE.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTRE
DISTURBANCES IN CHINA
THE PRESENT SITUATION
1. On the night of 3/4 June units of the People's Liberation Army moved into Peking with orders to suppress the student demonstrations
by force. In the bloody violence which followed troops fired, often indiscriminately, into crowds who attempted to block their progress.
Many military and other vehicles were set on fire. Estimates of the
casualties vary but thousands are believed to have died; with many
thousands more wounded. The true figures may never be known.
2. The situation is still far from clear. The troops have secured their immediate objective, the clearing of Tiananmen Square, but resistance has continued and the armed forces have yet to consolidate their control of the capital, let alone bring any semblance of normality back to Peking's streets. The situation on 6 June was described by the Ambassador as quiet but tense. There are reports of clashes between different units of the PLA around Peking
but these have not so far been confirmed.
BACKGROUND
3. The immediate spark which set off the tragic chain of events was
the death on 15 April of a former leader of the Chinese Communist
Party, Hu Yaobang. He was widely believed to be sympathetic to calls for political reform in China and had himself been ousted from power following student demonstrations for greater democracy in the winter of 1986/87. The day after his death, posters began appearing on university campuses in Peking to honour his memory and on 18 April students first marched to Tiananmen Square, brushing aside. half hearted attempts by the police to stop them. Their numbers grew over the next few days, and on the day of Hu Yaobang's official funeral some 100,000 people turned out in Tiananmen Square chanting pro-democracy slogans and waving banners. The authorities hardly gave any reaction until 26 April when a very strongly worded editorial appeared in People's Daily calling for a firm stand against disorder and describing the events as a "grave political
AS 3 AAY
IN CONFIDENCE
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