SITREP NO. 9: TIANANMEN SQUARE ON MAY 22:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 14102

CINCPAC FOR FPA FINNEY

E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI MARR CH
SUBJECT: SITREP NO. 9: TIANANMEN SQUARE ON MAY 22:
THE LONG VIGIL TO MORNING

REF: BEIJING 14054 AND PREVIOUS


1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY. ON MAY 21, ONCE AGAIN STUDENTS AND THEIR
SUPPORTERS WENT ALL OUT TO BLOCK AN EXPECTED ENTRANCE
BY PLA TROOPS INTO BEIJING. ONCE AGAIN, ROADBLOCKS
WERE SET UP AT ALL MAJOR INTERSECTIONS AND MANNED BY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DEMONSTRATORS. AND ONCE
AGAIN, THE ARMY DID NOT SHOW. THE SENSE OF VICTORY
WHICH THE WEARY DEMONSTRATORS CELEBRATED AT DAYBREAK
APPEARED LARGER THAN JUST ONE MORE NIGHT OF DEFIANCE,
THE NINTH NIGHT OF THE TIANANMEN OCCUPATION. A
WIDESPREAD VIEW AMONG DEMONSTRATORS WAS THAT AFTER
THIS NIGHT AND FORTY-EIGHT SURREAL HOURS OF
NON-ENFORCED MARTIAL LAW, THE PROVERBIAL "MANDATE"--
POLITICAL LEGITIMACY--OF THE CURRENT LEADERSHIP HAS
BEEN LOST. IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, OF COURSE, WHETHER
THE LEADERSHIP AGREES. WE HAVE JUST BEEN TOLD BY AFP,
HOWEVER, THAT THEY ARE RUNNING A STORY, WHICH WE
CANNOT/CANNOT CONFIRM, THAT LI PENG, HU QILI, QIAO SHI
AND YAO YILIN RESIGNED AT A CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING
LAST NIGHT. END SUMMARY.


3. ONCE AGAIN AT 1730 ON MAY 21, THOUSANDS OF BEIJING
RESIDENTS BEGAN STREAMING TOWARD TIANANMEN AND TOWARD
CRUCIAL TRAFFIC INTERSECTIONS. THE TENSION WAS
NOTICEABLY LESS THAN THE PREVIOUS NIGHT, SINCE THE
PREVENTION OF PLA ENTRANCE INTO THE CITY AT THAT TIME
GREATLY BOOSTED CONFIDENCE. STILL THERE WAS
UNCERTAINTY AND A SENSE OF IMPINGING CONFRONTATION. A
STORY--PROBABLY APOCRYPHAL--WIDELY CIRCULATING IN
BEIJING CLAIMED THAT THE AUTHORITIES HAD ISSUED AN
ULTIMATUM ON THE EVENING OF MAY 21 THREATENING
MILITARY ACTION IF TIANANMEN SQUARE WERE NOT CLEARED
(QINGLI GUANGCHANG) BY 0500 ON MAY 22.


4. THE CITY-WIDE NETWORK OF POPULAR-CONTROLLED
STREETS EXPANDED OVER THE PREVIOUS EVENING, AS BOTH
MORE PEOPLE GATHERED AT EACH INTERSECTION AND MORE
INTERSECTIONS WERE "OCCUPIED" AND POLICED BY
DEMONSTRATORS. THE ROADBLOCKS WERE WELL-ORGANIZED,
WITH LINES OF DEMONSTRATORS FUNNELLING CARS AND TRUCKS
INTO A SINGLE LINE AND HEADBANDED YOUTHS CHECKING THE
OCCUPANTS AND, OCCASIONALLY, THE ID'S OF VEHICLE
OCCUPANTS. THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THESE BEIJING
RESIDENTS WERE YOUNG WORKERS (LATE TEENS TO LATE
TWENTIES) OR UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS.


5. TIANANMEN SQUARE ITSELF WAS QUIETER AND THE CROWD
SMALLER THAN THE PREVIOUS NIGHT, LESS THAN 100,000.
THE STUDENT ENCAMPMENT POPULATION WAS DOWN
CONSIDERABLY, PERHAPS AS LOW AS 20,000. ALL
DEMONSTRATORS QUESTIONED EXPLAINED TO EMBOFF THAT THE
REASON FOR THE LOW NUMBERS WAS THAT MANY OF THE
STUDENTS HAD GONE TO JOIN ROADBLOCKS ON THE THIRD RING
ROAD TO "OPPOSE VIOLENCE WITH THEIR BODIES" (YONG
SHENTI KANG BAOLI). THEY INSISTED THAT THE TOTAL
"REGULAR" STUDENT POPULATION IN THE TIANANMEN
ENCAMPMENT REMAINED ABOVE 200,000 WHEN THESE ABSENT
STUDENTS WERE INCLUDED.


6. STUDENTS STATED THAT THEY HAD SWORN TO REMAIN IN
THE SQUARE IN THE FACE OF THE 0500 DEADLINE, THE
REPORT OF WHICH THEY CLEARLY BELIEVED TO BE TRUE. A
NUMBER OF DEMONSTRATORS EXPRESSED THEIR CONVICTION
THAT THIS NIGHT WOULD BE PIVOTAL (JINTIAN WANSHANG SHI
GUANJIANDE WANSHANG) IN THEIR STRUGGLE. THE CRY "DOWN
WITH DENG XIAOPING, DOWN WITH LI PENG" (DENG XIAOPING,
LI PENG, XIATAI) REGULARLY BROKE THE NIGHT AIR.


7. UNANIMITY WAS THE ORDER OF THE DAY, WITH A LOW
TOLERANCE FOR DISSENT AMONG THE DEMONSTRATORS. WHEN
ONE "RECENT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE" EXPRESSED TO EMBOFF
DOUBT THAT THE PLA WOULD TRY TO ENTER TIANANMEN SQUARE
THAT NIGHT, HE WAS VICIOUSLY CRITICIZED BY STUDENTS.
WHEN HE SOUGHT TO EXPLAIN HIS CONCLUSION LOGICALLY, HE
WAS FORCIBLY EJECTED FROM THE GATHERING. THE
DEMONSTRATORS DID NOT WISH ANY NOTE OF DISSENSION TO
ENTER THEIR DISCUSSION, PARTICULARLY IN THE PRESENCE
OF A FOREIGNER.


8. AT 0100, A DELEGATION FROM XINHUA CIRCLED THE
SQUARE BEHIND A BANNER PROCLAIMING "LET BLOOD FLOW TO
OPPOSE FORCE" (YIXUE KANGBAO). SHORTLY AFTER, ABOUT
1,000 MEMBERS OF THE RED-HEADBANDED "BEIJING RESIDENTS
DARE-TO-DIE BRIGADE" (BEIJING SHIMIN GANSIDUI) ARRIVED
IN THE SQUARE, FORMED THEIR OWN CIRCLE OF HANDS, AND
BEGAN EXHORTING AND ENCOURAGING EACH OTHER TO THE TASK
WHICH LAY BEFORE THEM, I.E., THE EXPECTED 0500
CONFRONTATION. THEY PROCLAIMED OVER AND OVER, "WE ARE
NOT AFRAID" (WOMEN BU HAIPA) AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO
SACRIFICE TO THE DEATH. THIS "BRIGADE" WAS FORMED ON
THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 20 AND, SAY MEMBERS, HAS A TOTAL
MEMBERSHIP OF OVER 3,000; MEMBERSHIP CONSISTS ALMOST
ENTIRELY OF YOUNG WORKERS AND UNEMPLOYED MALES. THE
"MOTORCYCLE BRIGADE" (MOTUOCHE DUI) REGULARLY ROARED
AROUND THE SQUARE. STUDENTS EXPLAINED THAT THESE 250
"PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS" (GETIHU) ARE NOT LIKE AMERICAN
MOTORCYCLE GANGS (BANG),FOR THEY SERVE AS IMPORTANT
SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION FOR THE
STUDENTS.


10. AT DAWN, THE MOOD BEGAN TO LIGHTEN AND TENSION
DISSIPATED. JUBILANT MARCHERS BEGAN PASSING BEFORE
THE TIANANMEN REVIEWING STANDS AND OF MOTORCYCLES
RACED THROUGH THE SQUARE, HORNS BLARING IN
CELEBRATION. AT 0521, THE STREET LIGHTS IN THE SQUARE
CLICKED OFF AND CHEERS OF VICTORY BROKE OUT.


11. AT 0550, THE LONG SILENT GOVERNMENT LOUDSPEAKERS
ENCIRCLING TIANANMEN SQUARE STARTED UP AGAIN.
"CITIZENS OF BEIJING," BOOMED THE ANNOUNCER, "BEIJING
IS STILL IN DISORDER." THE SITUATION, HE CONTINUED,
"MUST BE RESTORED TO NORMAL AT ONCE." THE
DEMONSTRATORS LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, STUNNED BY THE
CONTRAST BETWEEN HACKNEYED OFFICIAL LINE AND WHAT THEY
PERCEIVED TO BE THEIR MOMENT OF VICTORY. THE
ANNOUNCER CONTINUED WITH THE GOVERNMENT ORDERS: "YI
(FIRST)," BEIJING CITIZENS SHOULD RETURN TO THEIR
NORMAL ORDER OF LIFE. LAUGHTER RIPPLED THROUGH THE
CROWD, THEN JEERING BROKE OUT. "ER (SECOND)" ECHOED
ACROSS THE SQUARE AS THE CROWD TOOK UP THE CHANT OF
NUMBERS: CITIZENS SHOULD RETURN TO WORK; "SAN
(THREE)," STUDENTS SHOULD RETURN TO THEIR
UNIVERSITIES; "SI (FOUR)," ETC.


12. WHEN EMBOFF ASKED THE CROWD AROUND HIM WHAT THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT MEANT, MOST SAID, "IT MEANS NOTHING." AN
ELDERLY LADY SAID, "IT MEANS THEY COULDN'T ENTER THE
CITY" (JINBULAI). A MIDDLE-AGED WORKER STATED
SUCCINCTLY, "IT IS OVER. THEY ARE DEFEATED".
(SUANLE. TAMEN SHULE). WHEN THE BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT
WAS REBROADCAST, IT WAS AT ONCE DROWNED OUT BY
LAUGHTER AND JEERING.


13. EMBOFF RETURNED HOME THROUGH A DISORDERLY CITY.
THERE WAS THE INEVITABLE DEBRIS OF LARGE CROWDS; THERE
WERE STREET DIVIDER RAILINGS STREWN ABOUT, RIPPED UP
TO THWART THE PLA ADVANCE THAT NEVER WAS; THERE WERE
BUSES TURNED SIDEWAYS TO FORM ROADBLOCKS AT MAJOR
INTERSECTIONS; AND THERE WERE THE PEOPLE, WEARY BUT
CHEERFULLY GREETING EACH OTHER. "NI ZAO" (GOOD
MORNING, HOW ARE YOU),THEY CALLED OUT TO STRANGERS IN
VERY UNBEIJING-LIKE BEHAVIOR. MARCHING DELEGATIONS
SALUTED EACH OTHER WITH CHANTS, AND PEOPLE THANKED THE
DELEGATIONS. MANY CALLED OUT TO EMBOFF, WHOM THEY
TOOK TO BE A CORRESPONDENT, "PLEASE QUICKLY REPORT
THIS TO THE WORLD." AT EACH CORNER CROWDS GATHERED
AROUND SOAPBOX SPEAKERS. THE TONE WAS ONE OF
VICTORY. "TODAY IS THE PEOPLE'S DAY, TOMORROW IS THE
PEOPLE'S DAY, FOREVER IS THE PEOPLE'S DAY," PROCLAIMED
ONE STUDENT.


14. MAY 21-22 WAS MORE THAN JUST THE NINTH NIGHT OF
THE STUDENT OCCUPATION OF TIANANMEN SQUARE. IT WAS A
PSYCHOLOGICAL RUBICON; IN THE VIEW OF THE
DEMONSTRATORS, AT LEAST, THE AUTHORITIES "LOST." IN
THE MINDS OF MANY DEMONSTRATORS, THE LEADERSHIP'S
FAILURE TO CLEAR THE CITY LAST NIGHT WAS A DEFEAT
WHICH CONSTITUTED LOSS OF THE PROVERBIAL "MANDATE OF
HEAVEN."


LILLEY