Newspapers / St. Andrews University Student … / Nov. 2, 1989, edition 1 / Page 3
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Novswbcr 2,1989 The Lance Pages On Campus Students to Experience China Protestors in Tiananmen Square as photographed by Williams. Vihat is the price you muld be willing to pay? Your tears? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! your life? Carry your banner high Yell from the bottom of your aching soul- DEMOCRACY! FREEDOM! Be brave as you chant "Is it worth spilling Mood! ” Commit, commit, commit. What is the price If by chance you get caught You traitor to the Commu nist way One small silver bullet Through the back of your head Billed to your parents Aimed at the tears Streaming down your cheek. Lisa Gaw Michael Roberts Soon, another delegation of St. Andrews students will be encountering Chi nese culture. Last year's visitors were able to witness a part of history personally. What this year's delegation will experience is anyone's guess, according ^ to Dr. Tom Williams, Professor of His tory and advisor to last year's group. "I think the Chinese gov ernment has made it clear that it will not tolerate this type of insurrection," said Williams. "That obviously means executions, if neces sary." The students from St. Andrews were housed only ten minutes from Tian anmen Square, center stage for the Democratic protests, and were able to get first hand accounts of the actions there. One student. Lane Moore, was present on the initial evening of the stu dent demonstrations. Beijing was a city without a government for a while, according to Williams. The government had sent troops into the city as a control measure, but the troops did not attempt to enter the city. Martial law had been de clared, but there was no army to enforce the regula tions, Williams added. "Even after martial law had been declared, there did not seem to be a great deal of hostility between the troops and the people," he said. "It never seemed the two sides were confrontational," added Williams. According to Williams, the atmosphere in Beijing changed in late April of this year. 'Teople were as open, as free, as strident, as critical in public as they were in private," said Williams. He said that as an American in Tiananmen Square, "Crowds would gather around because everyone was so eager to talk to you. As an American, it was as sumed that you were sym pathetic to their cause, and that you could get word out." Williams said that his ini tial reaction was that the protest would soon be con tained, since China is a cul ture where people are al most afraid to talk politics. "A few hundred students on* the steps of Tiananmen Square demonstrating was a pretty dramatic step. It didn’t occur to you that within a month they would be in control of the city. The unbelievable kept becom ing reality," Williams stated. Will this year's delegation experience anything similar to last year's? Dr. Williams does not think so. "There's always a chance, but I can't see a similar movement oc- curing anytime soon. Deng is getting old, and there will be a power struggle after his I death. But whether this will arise from the streets of Bei jing is hard to say," he said. "Only fuhire events will tell how these events will be remembered in history," said Williams. "This is al ready a mass movement inside China, and that dis tinguishes it from anything that has happened before. It should be remembered as more than a tiny footnote in history," commented Wil liams on the student demon strations. ITfTTfiraiyhrffligSjli StiSonO gaBEUHi (^gnn An open forum with the visiting Soviets will be held on Nov 4 Please try to attend!
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