Students studying choked with people during the preceding weeks. we slept in our clothes, to be ready for evacu-
big_chm,aCteI, Early on the following morning we ation. In fact, the rumor about the army coming
Ostcrs on heard, via Chinese friends, very fragtnentary proved to be false.
P _ _ _ reports about shooting in Tiananmen Square and Almost a month earlier, we had made
Peking Umvcrslty the downtown area. These at first came entirely arrangements to leave Beijing on june 5 , and to .
campus from the government radio news service. Later in fly to Ljrumqi in far western China. Naturally,
the morning students began straggling back to after the events of the previous night, we were
the campus, and we heard also some of their in considerable doubt as to whether this would
accounts of the morning's events. However, still be possible. However, on the morning of the
there was nothing we could consider entirely Sth, a university car showed up for us as ~
reliable, and there were wildly varying estimates scheduled, and we managed without difficulty to
of the numbers killed. It was also uncertain at get from the Peking University campus to the
that moment how much fighting was still going airport, taking a circuitious route around the
on. Naturally, for the rest of the day, we stayed outskirts of the city. Our flight to Urumqi
pretty much under cover, on the university operated on time; indeed, at the airport every-
campus, as we had been ordered to do by the thing was very much "business as usual," with
government radio. In mid—afternoon there was a hardly a hint that there were troubles elsewhere
rumor that the army was on its way to occupy in the city. We spent the next two months
the campus, by force if necessary, and several of traveling in the wildest parts of western China,
the foreign students and faculty took precautions far from the turmoil of the eastern cities. People
to barricade their rooms. We did not do this, but in these western districts seemed, in general, to
be rather unconcerned about the problems in
I the east, but their was a conspicuous lack of
j tourists everywhere. It was not until the end of
l july, just before we left China, that we became
j__ _ _ , __}_ _, _,_,_ . ‘ 5. . _ ' _. _ aware that the U.S. Embassy had more or less
D". 5 w 5 ·.~5 _.' 5i _ ° 5 . '-v. I- •¤ . . 5· 5. {5...5 g»‘,` - -"" 5 l l
    5;,55.55 Q .;:_§" .5, ’( ,,55.5 _5  ., •     . 5, _ _· Q;. ,·g~f,g__ ,3* { ‘ · ordered all the American tourists to leave. Since
 v•·,. U`; ·' , •· I: ' ' ,- ·.".‘»i I i . » ·"· T- " ' . . . . .
j_;.·’!»*—5  _,..   2*, isi · .‘. ..;f » 7??.·.:;’·’:F  5   j",g·’YI_;_ _i$ we were traveling in remote mountain districts,
  "· ., ·’ »;.—‘ .: · . ·~.· ~ . .» .· •··· " 4. ’ -4-* ,-· ..j.· . . . .  
I w ·   ‘ _)]°_§‘·•,.;}·$.W,•! »;°r. ·_ ‘ » _· ·   i. ·Z t.·‘·· 'fi · 5 .51:; out of all communication with Beijing, we were
:.. · ·— , ·}•••._ .. --' v_ { . ’· ·‘ "',     ’ ' _ 5, .3.., _ 4 . _ _
 P5?  5yef5555:·5·{555_‘ A _ fg   ._55;l   —   55,55-5   .555,;: _.- never aware of any such ordei. 5
 §·;‘.‘$',‘:i   .. i.· ._»h· . 5·   GLS- * _2.· t ‘ ·· £,5.2L·» ·     4;*. 1·‘.·r Having remained strictly on the univer-
_ . • . · · -. ¢ *· V _t;' l.: _ . ' 5   5 • _j. L5" . 5 _ ' 5
j · @23*   M _- _ . _ 5 5i · '     5 .,   _ .-,   _·_z-:.5*6;,; Y:. sity campus from the first news of the shooting
5 1.     r.   .L_. 5.-·,   _,.v{;·5,5..._‘ Lg';   .5: 2 l .5   5....~'5··`-.3..*;% _ _ _  
j   ·_;:· _5   v_ , __.·_   ,,·i·. ·. {5,;.}   5. ·= ·`;·;;_ gy .   », until the time of our departure from Beijing, we
*., . ‘. '. . · * - , fw;   ' ‘ . aj   _ "·   .'_.· ¥,,T.:rZ§7;t¢- . .
..,~k“!¥°$     ~   1.   ‘ , - - -:1 j     ..\x -  . ¤t »i16f°" never received anything but fragmentary and
Z;. ~ z·‘ '. . [` _ ,-·· · .‘ ’ . " · 'L   ·'¤¤.3e ’  M   -· ‘ . . .
·*;55%¥; ¤.·—·_ _   · {qa.   5,jUf  _. :_ j · _ it,. 5 thoroughly unreliable information about the
·` ” . .;.5.  _:     ·. Q . ·q-·._.j`5 _ , _Z· ,.  ..   '°` ' scope and nature of the violence on Beijing and
, » ·.·:>·.e;: · ··· ,:;.1 ·,_ ;   . 1~ . _
. - .··;_;,§_·.···°;,‘- · ·   -,.·   .‘e· ; 4 { { :5-rv elsewhere — partly from the government televi-
: ¢_· • . 4 .;5'Qy'_¤,. jg i_ E. _ i ;_•   _ _
_\_*‘ L ’.j ·*Y’?•_~°.,.;·;,;e. ·- _ 5/* gv * hi, x   5 . _;·9 ° ·· 3* sion and partly through the student rumor-mill.
z'· ,,—“_1j·_'5.`.·1 t 1. ' · _ '5_•. • _
•q~...’ " ' · Q   , .·h’,t       { ‘ Thus, we were probably much less well-
j ,._~ °  ;45.» 1 lj ’·’ _ 5 -, hy. g   i · · , informed than were many people in America. lt
1*   _  ' 5 ·•_ ·,· . 55L5‘ _ 5 _
jj »‘ V £j°5jl|_,_'.__*¢r:;;,; ,, ..,.   __ -, ,_, was only very gradually, in subsequent weeks,
L_·__ _· . ..,5  2?¢‘1:·; ·» · ;Z··_· ' · _ _ _
l · .i.»_ , 5 =* ,_ I- . .4 .__$ ;·:.“‘_  >   ‘`,` Y Q2} ` n       ’ _ _ · .-5;; that we could piece together any kind of reliable
j f`· ,'?'°`° .   , .·   H {   f ’¤§'iY...`.1§»·   ,   picture of what really happened, and there are
r ·   , U gs 1 *_’ M',.   ..· L 5 5 l
lj.?   I , ‘ ° t; _   ,   many matters about which we are still in the
‘ » · I ‘  wi? wi.?) ·— ··   " . .
l `   ja .4., · S  [ , ` · ;;:’:: ~ i~‘ ·  ,,"§j?5 dark. One thing that now seems clear — though it
_ _  ·=*· °t _ _j ··‘ , 4 -A {   f j A; ',_;' ,   . ,   . has not been widely reported in the American
» ‘ · . ·· ., . .,.#r ‘ ., · ·     S -.    =; ·;w·r··’  · . . . . .
· " " ·.{ g ‘   ‘ 5  j-»=r -.   5?jt·__~_··' 5- 5 , press — is the majority of those involved, and of
5»    .;._     ~+;·°"   5 “ ` " those killed, on the ni ht of Iune 5-4 were not
{ ·$ · ._ . . »  __ { _, . . ·
D. L ,‘   - ‘*   · 5 I   students. Perhaps future historians will cease to
   ‘ *` ' Q.) ` *·\     —, " “ ‘ .   i ’ identify the 1989 movement primarily as a
.` ` . •- ~.,..   4 ` s uc en movemen , a iou >i cer ain i was ie
5 * =_* ‘ tlt tltlgl rlyt tl
j ‘5 _ ji   fr `   _Y 5 5 ·" student protests that initially triggered it. But our
 ll __ 'j§;‘ ' Z ` , hearts go out to all who died - students, non-
l . w 5 ’ · 5 5 ~ ¥_ ‘ j students, and soldiers alike - for they were all
j U " "¤’—i*. -f;~. .‘ · . I  victims of something beyond their control. We
4 ‘ ` ` hope sotne day that we may return to Beijing to
- . ,- -     see. in Tienanmen Square. a memorial to those
`  `-fi} ;‘ . . .
_ - . t   who died on june 5-4, topped by a replica of the
` · ». 5 ·   **‘ · "Goddess of Democracy" statue.
i ` ` *'=I · \\"i//fum )`. .·lzIan1s ix (l[}I`Q/i'SX()I' Q/‘(HIII7VU/PII/(1,L(l' in {be [K
(.h/lqtge rylirlx uml SCfL'II<.`('5.
lll KY r\l.l`\lX|`S