PRC GOALS AFTER TIANANMEN: THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 21902

NSC FOR DOUG PAAL
USCINCPAC FOR FPA FINNEY

E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR
TAGS: PGOV CH
SUBJECT: PRC GOALS AFTER TIANANMEN: THE
OFFICIAL VIEW FROM THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE


1. CONFIDENTIAL ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY: ACCORDING TO A MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
OFFICIAL, THE PRC NOW HAS FOUR PRESSING GOALS:
COMPLETE ERADICATION OF "COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY
ELEMENTS"; CONTINUATION OF ECONOMIC OPENNESS AND
REFORM; POLITICAL EDUCATION OF THE MASSES; AND THE
WEEDING OUT OF CORRUPTION. ZHAO'S LAXITY AND
ACCEPTANCE OF FOREIGN PRINCIPLES HAD LED TO
COUNTER-REVOLUTION, A MISTAKE THAT THE NEW LEADERSHIP
WOULD NOT REPEAT. WELCOMING SECRETARY BAKER'S
MEETING IN PARIS WITH FOREIGN MINISTER QIAN, THE
OFFICIAL STRESSED THAT CHINA'S POLICY OF OPENNESS TO
THE OUTSIDE WORLD REMAINED UNCHANGED DESPITE EFFORTS
TO PUNISH THE PRC FOR EVENTS OF JUNE 3-4. WHILE THE
OFFICIAL REPEATEDLY STRESSED THE LEADERSHIP'S
DETERMINATION TO CHECK CORRUPTION, HE REVEALED THAT
THE GOVERNMENT HAD NOT YET DRAWN UP THE REGULATIONS
TO IMPLEMENT THE CAMPAIGN -- AND TACITLY ADMITTED
THAT THOSE REGULATIONS WOULD HAVE LOTS OF LOOPHOLES
WHEN THEY WERE FINALLY PROMULGATED. END SUMMARY.


3. ON AUGUST 8, POLOFFS MET WITH ZHANG YAOCHEN,
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF
THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE. ZHANG, A PRE-CRACKDOWN
CONTACT OF THE EMBASSY, HAD CAREFULLY PREPARED A
LENGTHY PRESENTATION ON THE STEPS THE PRC LEADERSHIP
HAS TAKEN SINCE THE TIANANMEN CRACKDOWN TO SOLIDIFY
COMMUNIST PARTY RULE.

CRUSHING THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION
--------------


4. ZHANG NOTED THAT THE CCP HAD WON A "DECISIVE"
VICTORY AGAINST THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ELEMENTS
WHO WERE TRYING TO OVERTHROW CHINA'S SOCIALIST
SYSTEM. THE AUTHORITIES HAD RESTORED ORDER
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AND THE SITUATION HAD
STABILIZED. STILL, THE GOVERNMENT HAD TO CONTINUE
ITS EFFORTS.


5. ZHANG SAID THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD NOT YET
ARRESTED ALL THOSE WHO HAD HELPED ORGANIZE THE
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY CONSPIRACY, ADVOCATED BOURGEOIS
LIBERALIZATION, LIAISED WITH HOSTILE FOREIGN
ORGANIZATIONS, OR ENGAGED IN LOOTING, ARSON, AND
MURDER. SO LONG AS THAT WERE THE CASE, MARTIAL LAW
WOULD CONTINUE IN BEIJING. ZHANG NOTED THAT CHINESE
PEOPLE WERE NOT NEARLY AS CONCERNED AS FOREIGNERS
ABOUT HOW LONG MARTIAL LAW WOULD REMAIN IN EFFECT.
ACCORDING TO ZHANG, MOST CHINESE VIEWED MARTIAL LAW
MERELY AS A MEANS TO ENSURE THAT THE SITUATION
REMAINED CALM.


6. ZHANG REFUSED TO ESTIMATE HOW MUCH LONGER IT
WOULD TAKE THE GOVERNMENT TO ROUND UP ALL THE
UNDESIRABLES AND WEAPONS. HE ALSO SAID HE DID NOT
KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD BEEN ARRESTED OR SENT TO
PRISON AND WAS NOT IN A POSITION TO ESTIMATE HOW MANY
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES REMAINED AT LARGE.

ECONOMIC REFORM AND OPENNESS TO THE OUTSIDE
--------------


7. ZHANG STRESSED THAT ALTHOUGH ECONOMIC REFORM HAD
LED TO SOME SOCIAL PROBLEMS, SUCH AS UNEVEN
DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, IT WAS THE ONLY PATH THAT
CHINA COULD FOLLOW. ECONOMIC OPENNESS MUST CONTINUE
IF CHINA WERE TO DEVELOP. ACCORDINGLY, CHINA WOULD
CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ITS RELATIONS WITH THE OUTSIDE
WORLD.


8. THUS, THE PRC LEADERSHIP WAS DISAPPOINTED THAT
"DISTORTED" ACCOUNTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA OF
THE TURMOIL IN BEIJING HAD LED SOME WESTERN COUNTRIES
TO IMPOSE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. IN CONTRAST, ZHANG
SAID, MOST OF THE THIRD WORLD HAD SUPPORTED CHINA'S
POSITION THAT THE TIANANMEN INCIDENT HAD BEEN
STRICTLY AN INTERNAL AFFAIR. SANCTIONS WERE DOOMED
TO FAIL, ZHANG SAID. HE NOTED THAT WESTERN NATIONS
WERE ALREADY RESUMING NORMAL CONTACTS WITH BEIJING
AND WERE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAD "REALLY"
HAPPENED IN BEIJING. ZHANG POINTED, IN PARTICULAR,
TO FOREIGN MINISTER QIAN'S MEETING WITH SECRETARY
BAKER WHICH, ZHANG ASSERTED, STRONGLY UNDERLINED THE
FUTILITY OF TRYING TO ISOLATE CHINA.


9. ZHANG MORE THAN ONCE REITERATED HIS DESIRE FOR
FRIENDLY SINO-U.S. RELATIONS. HE REGRETTED THE
CANCELLATION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S VISIT TO
CHINA, BUT SAID THAT THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE LOOKED
FORWARD TO CONTINUED CONTACT WITH THE U.S. ZHANG
STRESSED THAT, WHILE TWO COUNTRIES MIGHT DISAGREE ON
CERTAIN ISSUES BECAUSE OF THEIR DIFFERENT HISTORIES,
CULTURES, AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS, CONTINUED DIALOGUE WAS
NECESSARY.

EDUCATING THE MASSES
--------------


10. ACCORDING TO ZHANG, WHEN DENG XIAOPING HAD
BEGUN HIS POLICY OF OPENNESS TOWARDS THE OUTSIDE
WORLD, HE HAD INSISTED THAT IDEOLOGICAL TRAINING
WOULD HAVE TO BE EMPHASIZED IN ORDER TO INSULATE
CHINA FROM CORRUPTING FOREIGN INFLUENCES.
UNFORTUNATELY, ZHANG NOTED, ZHAO ZIYANG, WHILE HE WAS
GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE PARTY, HAD SADLY NEGLECTED
IDEOLOGICAL TRAINING OF THE MASSES.


11. THE NEW LEADERSHIP HAD LEARNED FROM ZHAO'S
MISTAKES AND WOULD RELENTLESSLY PUSH FORWARD WITH
IDEOLOGICAL TRAINING. THE TRAINING WOULD EMPHASIZE
THE FOUR CARDINAL PRINCIPLES: KEEPING TO THE
SOCIALIST ROAD; UPHOLDING THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE
PROLETARIAT; UPHOLDING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
COMMUNIST PARTY; AND UPHOLDING MARXISM-LENINISM AND
MAO ZEDONG THOUGHT. ZHANG NOTED THAT PROPAGANDA
MEETINGS WOULD HAVE TO BE A CONTINUOUS PROCESS. "THE
LESSONS THEY TEACH ARE FORGOTTEN QUICKLY."


12. ZHANG SAID THAT HE SAW NO CONTRADICTION BETWEEN
A PROFESSED POLICY OF OPENNESS AND A CAMPAIGN AGAINST
BOURGEOIS LIBERALIZATION. HE ARGUED THAT THE THE
LATTER WAS NOT INTENDED TO EXCLUDE ALL WESTERN
THOUGHT, BUT RATHER TO EDUCATE THE CHINESE PEOPLE SO
THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO ANALYZE AND REJECT
UNSUITABLE IDEAS.

ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION
--------------


13. ZHANG LAID GREATEST EMPHASIS ON THE CENTRAL
LEADERSHIP'S DETERMINATION TO WEED OUT CORRUPTION.
CORRUPTION, WHICH HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN A PROBLEM IN
POST-LIBERATION CHINA, HAD FLOURISHED UNDER ZHAO, WHO
LOOKED UPON IT AS "INEVITABLE" IF CHINA WERE TO
PURSUE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. IN CONTRAST, ZHANG
SAID, THE CURRENT LEADERSHIP REALIZED THAT
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ELEMENTS HAD USED THE
CORRUPTION ISSUE TO UNDERMINE POPULAR SUPPORT FOR THE
GOVERNMENT. CORRUPTION THUS HAD TO BE BROUGHT UNDER
CONTROL.


14. ZHANG MAINTAINED THAT ONE IMPORTANT REASON WHY
THIS ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN WOULD SUCCEED WHILE THE
1987 ONE HAD FAILED WAS THAT IT WOULD START AT THE
VERY HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT AND WORK ITS WAY
DOWN. PEOPLE WOULD SEE THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS
SERIOUS ABOUT FIGHTING CORRUPTION AND SPECIAL
PRIVILEGES AMONG HIGH-LEVEL CADRES, AND WOULD THUS BE
INSPIRED TO HELP IMPLEMENT THE CAMPAIGN AT LOWER
LEVELS.


15. ZHANG ADMITTED, HOWEVER, THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD
NOT YET PREPARED THE REGULATIONS NECESSARY TO
IMPLEMENT THE 7-POINT ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN WHICH
THE POLITBURO HAD ANNOUNCED ON JULY 28. FOR EXAMPLE,
IT WAS DIF FICULT TO DETERMINE WHO SHOULD BE AFFECTED
BY THE BAN ON HIGH-LEVEL CADRES' CHILDREN ENGAGING IN
BUSINESS -- AND INDEED, WHAT KIND OF BUSINESSES
SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE BAN. (NOTE: THE POLITBURO
ANNOUNCEMENT SINGLED OUT THE CHILDREN AND SPOUSES OF
MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL POLITICAL BUREAU, THE
SECRETARIAT AND THE STANDING COMMITTEE -- A
FORMULATION THAT WOULD NOT INCLUDE DENG XIAOPING'S
CHILDREN, NOR A HOST OF OTHERS WHO HAVE PROFITTED
FROM OFFICIAL CONNECTIONS.) SIMILARLY, THE BAN ON
THE IMPORT OF FOREIGN-MADE CARS ALSO COULD NOT BE
INTERPRETED TOO RIGIDLY. "THAT, TOO, COULD LEAD TO A
WASTE OF MONEY." ZHANG SAID THAT THE MINISTRY OF
JUSTICE, ALONG WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AND PARTY
ORGANIZATIONS, WAS STUDYING THESE QUESTIONS.

COMMENT
--------------


16. ZHANG'S REMARKS WERE A CAREFULLY PREPARED
PRESENTATION OF CCP GOALS DURING THE POST-CRACKDOWN
PERIOD. ZHANG SPOKE VIRTUALLY NON-STOP FOR ALMOST
NINETY MINUTES, NOTING THAT ANY QUESTIONS POLOFFS
MIGHT HAVE WOULD BE ANSWERED IN THE COURSE OF HIS
COMMENTS. READERS OF THE CHINESE PRESS WILL FIND
MOST OF HIS COMMENTS FAMILIAR. ZHANG, LIKE THE
PRESS, WAS LONG ON THEORY AND SHORT ON DETAILS AND
FACTS. HIS PRESENTATION, HOWEVER, MADE IT CLEAR
THAT THE PRC VIEWS THE ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN AS
KEY IN ITS EFFORTS TO REGAIN THE CONFIDENCE OF THE
CHINESE PEOPLE. THUS, WE WERE STRUCK THAT NEARLY TWO
WEEKS AFTER AFTER THE POLITUBRO ANNOUNCED ITS
SEVEN-POINT ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM, THE CAMPAIGN, AT
LEAST AS PRESENTED BY THE JUSTICE MINISTRY, CONSISTS
LARGELY OF RHETORIC -- WITH PLENTY OF LOOPHOLES FOR
WELL-CONNECTED CADRES AND THEIR RELATIONS.


LILLEY