CONFIDENTIAL
reinforced the doubts of those opposed to rapid reform, and will have made the reformers even more hesitant about embarking on the more radical reforms that many believe are necessary if a way out of the current economic problems is to be found.
C
Miss Marsden Mr Wo
25 April 1989
W√27/4
per Cammar
Enter pr
[CHINA : STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS]
ANR Merligtin
し
A NR Millington
1. As the Department points out, there is a marked contrast between the tone of press reporting about the student demonstrations and the Embassy's more measured assessments. Journalists in Peking have made the most of the events of the past ten days and some have undoubtedly exaggerated their significance; Sir A Donald is right to draw attention to the restraint which the Chinese authorities have so far shown in handling the situation. The warning carried in today's People's Daily editorial (Peking Telno 713) is, however, pretty strong stuff. The reference to a "planned conspiracy
which ... aims at negating the leadership of the Party and the Socialist system" and the description of the present situation as "a grave political struggle facing the whole Party and the people of all nationalities" suggests that the leadership now take the situation seriously and may be preparing for a crackdown of some kind, either against student leaders or those responsible for the rioting in the provincial capitals of Xian and Changsha, where there seems to have been some fairly serious violence. Next week's 70th Anniversary of the (anti-Japanese) "May 4th Movement" in 1919, an emotive occasion, is likely to be worrying the authorities. If they can get past that without any real trouble, they probably calculate that the agitation will die down. What is abundantly
clear is that they have no intention of making any concessions to the students' more idealistic demands for political reform.
Putink
26 April 1989
3
CONFIDENTIAL
TH 2AAB
RJT McLaren
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