Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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China As massacre continues, U. S. needs clearer stance The massacre continues in China. As the death toll rises to more than 3,000, the United states government cannot help but to take some type ot action against the Chinese government. President George Bush finally took that action Monday. Late though it was, it was definitely needed. He took several major actions. The most significant of these was to suspend more than $600 million in military related contracts with the China. Another major action was to suspend all scheduled talks between U.S. and Chinese military leaders. His reasoning was that he wanted to push for a return to "restraint" on the part of the Chinese government. Bush added that there was evidence of this "restraint" within the Chinese military ranks that have become more split. These measures did send the message, and it seemed for a while that the Chinese military began to use some restraint. Now, Chinese experts are saying that China is bound for an all out civil war. Bush must start redirecting foreign policy in the event of a civil war. He must make a definite stand for the democratic movement. China has plunged into a spiral of events that cannot be turned back. The people have had a taste of what it means to be free and to speak out against oppression. Hundreds of U.S. Chinese students who have called home and talked to relatives have said to the U.S. press that the massacre has created a hatred for the Chinese government. This hatred might cause a greater push for the ousting of hard liners President Yang Shangkum and Premier Li Peng. Thf> I I onvcrnmpnt shnnlH nrpnarp fr?r this pvmt hv nnt ctrarllino th<= fence. Bush should push for Yang Shangkum and Li Peng to step down and more openly support the pro-democracy movement. His steps not to withdraw the U.S. ambassador was a very smart move. The U.S. needs to maintain some influence in events and should not abandon the students who look to us as a model for freedom. The U.S., however, must not move unilaterally. The goverment must call on the United Nations to condemn the Chinese government. What ever actions the U.S. takes should be in concert with the other nations. But, the action must be a real stance for reform and democracy in China. The U.S. must support the student-lead movement for freedom. HERBLOCK'S CARTOON ''SHE LOOKS B4N<SER0US TO ME" <5>i?s97 Distributed by CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. 5777 West Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045 The Gamecock Best Non-daily Collegiate Newspaper, Southeastern Region Society of Professional Journalists, 1987-88 Editor in Chief MARY PEARSON " Y\ . \ News Editor RON BAKER t Features Editor CAREN CAMPBELL i K ? I Sports Editor f \ ?yr- \ I DEBRA JORDAN I I ^ \ I Photography Editor I J \/ I LES ALVERSON \\/ , ' Gamecock Advisor \ ERIC COLLINS Director of Student Media ed bonza yy Production Manager LAURA DAY Assistant Production Manager Campus Representive RAY BURGOS Terence Green Advertising Personnel Account Executives Advertising Manager Terrence Manigault MARGARET MICHELS Lorrie Yonas Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try l<> prinl iill letters received. i.ettcrs should be, at a maximum, 250 to .KM) word* long, f.uesl editorials should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the rixhl to edit letters for style or possible lihci. The Gamecock will not withhold names under any circumstance. 1 Students who \ By JAY CAI and WEIZHI XIE Since the early 1980s, the people of China have been demanding political reforms. They want to be treated as decent human beings. They want to be fi^e to speak out, and they want to have a voice in the running of their country. The students have been at the forefront of such effort. They poured into the streets again and again in protest and were surpressed again and again. April 1989, the students in Beijing went to the streets again, more determined and better organized than ever before. They demanded the Chinese government to have a dialogue with them so that political reforms could start. The government refused. The students began a sit-in at Tiananmen Square at the heart of Beijing and vowed not to leave until their demands were met. The government answered the peaceful protest with martial law. Army units were ordered into Beijing but were blocked by hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents who saw their fate linked with the effort by the students. A stand-off continued into early June. We, the Chinese students at USC held a rally to denounce the martial law and to support the students. And we contributed $1,500 to the students in Beijing. We hoped that the government would come to its senses, but we were wrong. On June 3, the Saturday night massacre began. Chinese studen By BIJM LIN Editors' note: Because today's guest columnists feared repercussion for their families in China, they did not want their mug shots used with their columns. On the early morning of June 3 in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the heart of the "People's" Republic of China people were caught up in a most incredible cold-blooded massacre by the "People's Liberation Army." The killing started so suddenly that the government statement, "the People's army will never hurt its own people," had hardly dried out in the previous day's state-run newspaper, again called the "People's Daily." Now can it be possible that people get slaughtered in a country where most big things are named with this seemingly sacred word, "people?" Indeed, it is the most absurd joke that the few senior Communist leaders have played not only upon its people, but also upon the human morality in general. Letters Chinese group the woundec m p . and the inc ask for support nd * I. many atroci To the editor: to suppress. On behalf of the people of China, Once agai we thank you whole-heartedly for much neede your support of democratic reform. people wi As the brutal government retaliation kindness, to the peaceful, unarmed young Please sen people continues, moral and finan- Committee 1 cial support is needed. Piotestors ii Your support is primarily needed payable to C to continue emergency medical care for the defenseless students in Beijing who arc victims of tremendous viola 31ood in the Water. gave lives did Fresh units of soldiers came, shooting at tl crowds with live ammunition while advancing. 7-year-old child on a sidewalk was shot and kille< A man who happened to look out from the windo was shot and killed. Tanks rolled over all barriers, including tl Chinese people, some of whom were already des and others whom were still alive. When crow< went for cover, bullets followed them. A your woman went up to the soldiers to say that they we the "People's Army" and must not hurt the pei pie. The soldiers shot and bayoneted her. When ambulances came to save the woundei they were fired on. Soldiers entered hospitals 1 prevent treatment of the wounded. Soldiers cc lected and cremated bodies in order to hide tl evidence of their brutality. In the early hours on Sunday, the final assault c the students in Tiananmen Square came. Beatir and shooting went wild. Hundreds of the studen are now reported missing, and the full extent of tl savagery may never be known. The Statute < Democracy and Freedom was destroyed. Tanl t speaks out a; ??II?? I II ^1?IMMIlll But, the sheer absurdity and cruelty of this bi joke simply has left any sane people totall speechless! A few years ago on the Beijing University Can pus back in China, I happened to see an America student reading George Orwell's novel 1984, whic is a satire on Communism. 1 asked her what sf thought of the book. She said that the story w< probably a bit exaggerated. 1 did not blame her, though 1 thought otherwise After all how could she, so accustomed to tl freedom in her land, possibly imagine that peop in certain parts of the world have been unable t speak out their own thoughts whenever they wai to? They must do exactly what the party wants thei to do and think in the same way the party tells thei to. If they venture to behave differently an cuituf ijir ^ children are some of the j Jenny Kaye Treasure, CSSPB *******? not die in vain U rolled over the tents where the students stayed and I crushed the students who were still inside the tents. The death toll is believed to be in the thousands. H Biifthe people have not given ujJ. Outraged and determined, the students and residents of Beijing le are still showing their defiance in every way, and A the number of casualties is still mounting. i. On last Sunday, we the Chinese students at USC w gathered to mourn the deaths our brothers and sisters who were the best of the youth of China. We le vowed to do everything we can so that our brothers id and sisters would not have died in vain and so that is one day China will be freed, ig re China has hope. The hope lies in the spirit and o- courage shown by the Chinese students, facing the massacre launched by the Chinese government, i, The hope lies in their deep love for their own counto try and in their unyielding struggle for freedom and il- democracy in the country of oriental despotism, le June 3 is another tragic date that will be added to the calendar of Chinese struggle for the control of >n their own fate, and the souls of hundreds of ig Chinese young students will rest in peace because ts we Chinese students promise that the noble course le they have opened up with their precious lives will f Ka firmK/ fnllnu/pH K\/ lie o mA millinnf r\f rkinaro ^? '-'v niun; iv/iiv/TTvw kjj UJ auu Miiwiuin wi v_miiV3V ks people. gainst massacre displease the party, then they are "thought || criminals" or "counterrevolutionaries," cases uni>1 que to a Communist regime like ours. J So far those young people slain on June 3 are ig simply labled as counterrevolutionaries because ly they had demanded something more than the government could give them ?freedom of speech, i- Maybe Communism, as its literal meaning imin plies, is not so bad after all. Maybe it has nothing :h to do with the June 3 Beijing Massacre ordered by le those few Chinese old men who have always is employed the title, "the loyal Communist fighters," to glorify themselves when they die of e. their old age. le At any rate, since a Communist society seems le still pretty remote up to now, and Communism :o seems a pretty abstract idea to me, I really do not it know much about it. However, I do know something about fascism, m Now what the Chinese goverment has done to its m own people, has puzzled me. What kind of sins are id they practising? Communism or fascism?