Page 237 - Communist Chinas Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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The students then announced that they were setting up the
Autonomous Students Union of Beijing. Workers soon began support-
ing the federation, and the Beijing Workers Autonomous Federation

joined it. This development seriously alarmed the Politbureau because
the federation was ceasing to be a simple student protest and was turn-
ing into a movement that people from all sections of society were join-
ing. It represented a threat to the communist regime, and the
Politbureau was terrified of losing its dictatorial powers. On April 26,
the government announced that it was banning all demonstrations. The
headline "It Is Necessary to Take a Clear-Cut Stand Against
Disturbances" in the government's official mouthpiece, the People's
Daily, showed that the Politbureau intended to make no concessions to
the protestors. The editorial which condemned the students' movement
as "turmoil" and called it a "conspiracy," angered the populace. The next
day, some 200,000 students from rallied on all main streets supported
by one million citizens.
On May 4, the students read a declaration calling on the govern-

ment to fight corruption, guarantee constitutional freedoms, speed up
economic and political reform, adopt a press law and permit the publi-
cation of private newspapers. Students from all over the country set off
for Beijing to support their colleagues in the capital. The people of
Beijing formed a huge wall around the square, and workers from vari-
ous parts of the country declared that they were backing the students.
The Chinese government feared, however, that acceptance of the stu-
dents' demands would mean the beginning of the end of their regime:
any rights granted to the students would have to be granted to other
sections of society. This was a grave danger to the communist regime,
which regarded people more as units of production, and thought it was
far more important for them to work than to enjoy these rights.
The hunger strike begun by the students on May 13 enjoyed wide

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar