Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE ~be w~~~iu ~tIQ PAID Ann Arbor, MI PERMIT NO. 13 Ninety- nine years of editorial freedom Vol. XCIX, NO. 6-S Ann Arbor, Michigan - Prof. . discusses youth as e 16,1989 19 Student speaks on China crisis chosen* people' BY DIMA ZALATIMO In comparing the Chinese and Palestinian youth movements, Political Science Professor Ali Mazrui told an audience at the Palestine Aid Society's fund raising dinner that the Israelis have elimi- nated a far bigger percentage of the youth in the Occupied Territories than the Chinese 27th army has in China. Speaking to an audience of about 200 students and community mem- bers last Friday, Africanist Mazrui said while the Palestinian Intifadah which started in December of 1987 was a revolt against "military occu- pation and a demand for self determi- nation, the recent Chinese revolt was * against corruption and dictatorship and a demand for a more open soci- ety in China." Mazrui reflected on the wider the- ories suggested by the Chinese and Palestinian movements. He said his- torically there have been various groups in society which perform de- cisive roles in changing social cir- cumstances. Mazrui said that while Social Darwinism singled out the fittest in a struggle for survival, racial Darwinism singled out a chosen race, Marxism singled out the cho- sen class, the proletariat, and the Jewish concept of a chosen people singled out a religious group, all these theories and ideologies have ignored the "chosen age grade." He said the historical role of the younger generation has been more convincingly demonstrated in the Third World than in the First and Second Worlds. Mazrui cited the role played by students and youths in bringing about social change in Ethiopia in 1974; in Iran under the Shah in 1978-79; in overthrowing President Ja'afar Numeri in Sudan in 1985, and in South Korea 1987-88 where students made major gains in See youth, Page 2 BY AARON ALIZADEH "We don't know of our future, we only know that today we must fight, and with your support we will someday overcome; we will win," said Xianghui Zhang, a University PhD student in Computer Engineering, and member of the Chinese Solidarity Movement. Zhang's talk last night, titled "China in Crisis," was presented as one in a series of talks sponsored by the Ecumenical Campus Center fo- cusing upon world issues. Zhang spent the first part of his talk discussing the development of the democratic movement in China. "In 1986 there were also mass demonstrations, the pro-democracy movement is not new to China," he said. Zhang said this year's student outbursts began with the April 15 death of Secretary General Hu; a Chinese government official known to have been tolerant towards the pro-democracy movement. On April 18, several thousand students gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn Hu's death. Zhang continued to outline the now well- publicized course of events, high- lighting the April 29th refusal by the government to accept student demands; the May13th hunger strike by 3,000 students; the May 20th declaration of Marshal law by Premiere Li Pend; and, on June 4th, the final culmination of the unrest, in which according to the estimates of the Chinese Red Cross, 3,600 people were killed, and over 10,000 injured. Zhang said that the student de- mands, contrary to popular belief, were not so radical as to call for the downfall of the government, or even immediate free elections. "The students called only for a limited democracy with the imple- mentation of basic human rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of associa- tion." The most dramatic part of the talk came when Zhang recounted the brutality of the June 4 massacre. "The Army prohibited ambu- lances from entering the square. Most of the injured were therefore taken to the hospitals by bikes. According to doctors most people were shot in the back, while trying to flee. Soldiers shot nine doctors trying to give blood, and entered hospitals and cut off oxygen sup- plies to those injured. They even burned the bodies in order to destroy the evidence." "The government is trying to rewrite history. Hitler's propaganda minister had a saying: if you repeat a lie a thousand times, that lie will become a truth." BILL WOOD/Daily Speak about destruction The $8.1 million demolition of Old Main, now nearly complete, was financed by Hospital Capital Reserve - essentially the profits which the $285 million Replacement Hospital has made. 'U' faculty offer insights on BY WENDY WORTHEN ageable irritant - the students did offered an explanation of what type Analyzing the political, eco- not challenge the system itself. The of "democracy" the Beijing students nomic, and intellectual implications protesters did become a fundamental have been fighting for. of the Chinese government's brutal challenge, however, when those at "At one end, some students want crackdown on the student-led democ- the top became divided as to how to to be treated as individuals with in- racy movement in Beijing, six fac- handle the problem," said Lieberthal. dividual rights. They want govern- ulty members from the Center for Economics Prof. Robert ment tolerance of independent stu- Chinese Studies spoke to a crowd of Dernberger, a former congressional dent organizations," said Monroe. 300 at Hutchins Hall on Tuesday. advisor on the Chinese economy, of- "(teCieepol)aemr Prof. Kenneth Lieberthal, director adio nteCieeeooy f ...(the Chinese people) are more of the CCS, was visiting China dur- fered his views on the role of eco- clear on the right to individual orga- ofg the CCSnwa vitinhnadcre - nomics. He said the hardline con- nization. For them, student organiza- Tiananmen Square. He opened the servatives who won control of the tions and free labor unions-plural- forum by discussing developments Chinese leadership now face extreme ism of organization- would be in the Chinese leadership since the economic problems, the most press- democracy." student protests began. ing being a huge decrease in foreign Political Science Prof. Leonard "The octogenarians at the highest exchange as other countries levy Woodcock, a former U.S. levels of China's government saw economic sanctions against China. Ambassador to China, gave a broader China "Corruption, nepotism, and infla- tion have become ever-more disturb- ing problems to the Chinese. The government was more divided than the outside world knew; power was invested in individuals, and under stress, the leadership became unsta- ble," said Woodcock. He said there is conflicting ideol- ogy between those who are survivors of the Cultural Revolution and the students who speak of democracy to- day. "An unbridgeable chasm separates elderly leaders from youth. Conservative elders of the Communist Party are intellectually