SPECIAL ISSUE: Documents of

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The June/July issue of October Review is a 100-page special issue (12 pages in color) devoted to reprinting the main documents of the Chinese Democracy Movement. It is published entirely in Chinese. Included are 30 pages of documents from the Copies of this special issue can be ordered from Socialist Action, 3435 Army St., Room 308, San Francisco, CA 94110. Send $5.00. (Contributions are SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1989 October Revier autonomous workers' movement.

the struggle welcome.) Proceeds will go to October Review. our salaries. Workers are very angry about corruption. Everything is based on whom you know. These bureaucrats look out for themselves only."

He told us that his wife is also a factory worker. We met her. She was friendly but nervous; she kept popping out to see if we were being observed.

The worker militant explained that the generation gap affects him and his wife. His father works and his mother is a farmer. They are both Communist Party members who criticize the party but believe it can be reformed. That is an illusion, a sad fairy tale, we were advised. "This apparatus is vast and oppressive. The bureaucrats are too entrenched. There is no mechanism for change or for freedom. The system has to be revamped and all these corrupt, privileged officials removed. "All the workers feel that there is no point whatsoever to work hard for these bastards. So we workers slow down everything. This has been going on for years. We sabotage (continued on page 10

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...Martial law in Beijing Help us finance the expenses (over $6000) of sending our six-member reporting team to China. Your donation will help Socialist Action continue to give the viewpoint of Chinese workers and students in their struggle for 10 SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1989 (continued from page 9) machinery, too. Whatever causes them grief and screws up their quotas."

We had a long discussion about capitalism and socialism, about the structure of power in the United States and the capitalist world. They invest here, we stated, because workers work for slave wages. If workers were paid properly, these investors would go elsewhere.

The subject turned to organizing. We discussed for nearly three hours and agreed to meet the next day, when Nat could come and join in. But the next evening, when we arrived as scheduled, his door was locked. A neighbor brought out a brief letter which read as follows:

"Mr. Ralph and Mya, I'm very sorry that I can't keep my word to meet you tonight for I'm told that somebody may be watching me. I feel very glad to get to know both of you. I hope we could be friends.

With best regards, Faithfully yours"

We were terribly disappointed, for this was a bright, militant workers' leader. We had looked forward eagerly to our evening with him and his wife. But we also knew they made the right decision.

A migrant farmer We learned that some distance away farmer migrants were living in the open under a make-shift canopy. We walked to the site and introduced ourselves to a young man. He was from Kiangsu Province.

The government had provided a little land for his family but it was not enough for him to feed himself. There was no extra money. All he could afford was rice. He had to leave school when in the fifth grade. His family couldn't afford to let him continue in school. They needed his help.

But he had to leave Kiangsu to survive. He came to Beijing to earn money. A friend, whom he met in Beijing, had come 2000 miles and brought a special tool all that way with which to shred cotton. His friend found some temporary work in another part of Beijing and so left the tool with him. It was a huge gesture.

His name is "Lo-ming" ' He is 18. People encouraged him to come to Beijing to try to earn money. He met many farmers in Beijing from distant provinces-Kiangsu, Anwhei, Hubei, Szechuan, Sikiang. They were idle, could find no work. Entire families had left the countryside.

"If there is someone helping you," he explained, "helping you to get a job, then it is possible to stay. Otherwise, you must know someone with a good connection.

"You can't find work in Szechuan or Kiangsu or Sikiang," Lo-ming pointed out. "Sometimes people take advantage and get you to work and never pay you."

He hadn't brought any money to Beijing. He had to borrow a little from other farmers in Beijing. "We have to depend on ourselves," he said.

During the first two days, a friend gave him food. A brother-in-law's brother in Beijing helped him for the first two days. Lo-ming bought his own rice. Sometimes he eats only rice. Occasionally, he buys vegetables and a little meat.

Most farmers work as part-time construction workers. Sometimes Lo-ming goes iwo to three days without work. He has no idea of his future. Maybe he'll go back to farming; maybe, continue what he is doing. He shreds cotton for stuffing material and quilts. Then he sells it.

His father died, his mother still farms. One older brother and sister are farming, but he thinks he can make more doing this than farming. When it gets dark, he sleeps. "When you have work, you work." When he doesn't, he walks around. In the winter, he'll go further south to warmer provinces—when he feels like it.

Now a second man came. He is 60, from Hupeh. A farmer, he left the land because he needed more money.

His name is "Li." He arrived a month before. He has two children. They are back home. He earns 118 yuan a month, same as when he farmed. He is getting old and can't see well. Land is limited. Only one acre. He can't make it on that.

He is a temporary worker, a night watchman. He sleeps in the open. His two children farm, so "if you have an extra person, you have one more mouth to feed."

I asked Lo-ming about the demonstrations. He replied that he was told not to go out because it was dangerous. He didn't think about the demonstrations because he didn't understand them. No sense caring about something if you don't know what it is about.

I asked Lo-ming, "Do you think the government can do something to give you a better life?"

"It's better now than before," he said. "It doesn't matter what you do; if you don't have education or more knowledge it is impossible to get a better job or to improve your life.

"In the countryside it really doesn't matter whether you have education or not," he told uS. "I would like to, but that is far beyond my hopes. I don't even think about it."

He lives by himself. Another family moved away. Now he is lonely. He walks around the neighborhood to try to feel better. Right now the most difficult problem is that he has no water. He uses a towel and wets it. Sometimes Lo-ming exchanges cotton for water.

He goes to a community bathroom but he can look all day to find a bathroom. Sometimes he has to go far to find one. He has one shirt and one pair of trousers. Clothing, he says, is not important.

When we tried to give him some money after thanking him for helping us by telling his story, Lo-ming became upset. He refused three times.

Our translator explained that he is our friend and friends want to help each other— just as he helped us by taking all this time to talk to us. Finally, he accepted. He was shy. He was grateful for an expression of actual interest in his life. His eyes were glowing as we embraced him and said goodbye.

In Tiananmen Square As we walked down Chang An Avenue, we read the banners in red with white letters that the Communist Party has stretched across luxury hotels and skyscraper joint-ventures.

The banners hung over groups of soldiers standing like statues with automatic weapons at the ready. They read as follows:

1) Insist on full support for the leadership of the CCP.

2) We demand full support for socialism.

3) Emphasize the civilized spirit which the Party has established.

4) Create orderly transportation and discipline in Beijing, the capital.

5) Full support to Jiang Xiamin to be our Communist Party General Secretary.

6) Support all decisions of the Party Plenum.

7) Salute the People's Liberation Army.

As we approached Tiananmen Square, we entered the Beijing Hotel-which was empty. In a large dark dining room, we came upon a group of 25 workers seated in front of a party official who was reading from the writings of Deng Xiaoping. He stopped to fire a question. The workers glared sullenly or looked at the ground.

We had to take pedicabs through Tiananmen since no pedestrian traffic was permitted. Tank tracks were still visible, as were the remnants of slogans on the pavement. Stony faced soldiers stared. Crowds of bicyclists came alongside us as they made their way across the huge area, first in front of Mao's portrait before the Forbidden City, then past the Hall of the People and the Monument to Revolutionary Martyrs.

As people bicycled by, we caught their eye. Several winked. A few flashed us the sign, lifting two fingers off the handle bars. We responded. We saw the simmering rage of the people of Beijing visible in the eyes of a population sullen but in no way subdued.

A party official Nor are young officials or Communist Party cadre immune. We were told that many loathe the leadership, identify with the population-and look for ways to show it.

Many of the party cadre enjoy relative advantages and might be expected to identify with the bureaucracy. It is a measure of the isolation of the party and its hierarchy that the spirit of revolt has entered its ranks.

We met one such official, "John," who sought us out. His views, he told us, were shared by many of his friends and colleagues: "The sons of officials have the privileges of their fathers conferred upon them. Fathers and sons are brazen and have no shame. They wine and dine everywhere in special restaurants, hold countless banquets. They consume in this way 48 billion yuan, far more than is spent on housing or education."

"Party officials buy things cheap," he said, "and sell them on the black market for big profits. They can buy television sets for $1000 and sell them for $6000. It's commonplace and it goes down the line for luxury goods or where there are shortages. The slogan 'Enrich yourselves' may have been aimed at big peasants, but it is the bureaucracy that is carrying out this party line most faithfully.

"It is hard to get licenses for things in China. Everything needs 40 to 50 stamps, and the people must bribe officials and their relatives with money, goods, and even personal services—if you know what I mean.

"Everyone knows it. Of course the young students are repelled. They are absolutely right to seek democracy. We all know China cannot modernize without it.

"Workers need to control"

"Then there is the generation gap. This generation is aware of the world; it needs change. Young people suffer to see China so corrupt, backward.

"The old cadre want order, stability and the old way—of having their word as law. But meanwhile, we are going backward. We have 300 million illiterates, conservatively speaking. Probably many more.

"Our workers need more chance at education. They need democracy to grow. It is reasonable. Democracy is even more important than abstract freedom of speech. Workers need to control, need real input in decisions. We don't need emperors and feudal lords, whether the dictator is called emperor or general secretary.

"It is only the beginning of the economic reform. For many workers and peasants living standards are better-but they are worried. Inflation, high prices, bribery, and corruption deeply anger them.

"The students care most about the political reforms, the workers about economic reforms and material improvement. But the workers clearly feel the economic reforms are wrong.

"They are angry about housing and working FUND APPEAL socialist democracy, Send your check toChina Appeal c/o Socialist Action 3435 Army St., Suite 308 San Francisco, CA 94110 conditions. So they really support the students. They were young and self-sacrificial. The gesture of the hunger strike really moved the people. And the corruption and illegal buying and selling which the students exposed-the workers strongly supported this feeling.

"If you want to get married and you need a TV, you can find the ads but there are no TVs in the market! People are fed up."

"The movement, of course, is just beginning and has weaknesses. Students lack experience and many, especially older people, retain a feudal consciousness. Students don't have social experience, while the old bureaucrats run things.

"When they die, things should shake up. Most of these leaders went through the Long March. When they speak, they think it's law. They impose dictates. Everyone has to say 'yes,' including other officials.

"We have these endless, boring statements of Deng read to us. We have to repeat his words and nod our heads approvingly. We went through all this for 10 years during the Cultural Revolution when Chairman Mao's thoughts were sacrosanct. The god's words were beyond criticism. Then all this was denounced, including the idea that the Emperor's words are holy.

"They had to do it then to prevent revolt, debunking all that slavish worship of the Emperor-god-ruler. Now we are going back to the same thing at a time when people no longer can tolerate it. So what can they expect but a bigger explosion?

"If we didn't pretend to listen, there would be no promotion. So we go through the motions. Frankly, none of us pays attention to them now. Everyone is bored. We talk about it among ourselves and say what rubbish it is.

"So you see what the students ask for is reasonable—an end to corruption and more democracy, no more special privileges (like buying cheap and then selling subsidized purchases on the free market.)

"All those party officials could have spoken to the students but they couldn't face them because they are feudal lords. They won't even consider that what everyone feels are reasonable demands."

"People want real socialism"

We asked John if young officials won't do the same as older ones. "Perhaps," he replied, "but they lack the same authority. The old former revolutionaries who were in the Long March carry some weight—in the army, with functionaries. They had some respect. It will be far easier to challenge the next generation of officials.

"We should keep in mind that the revolution has been good for people. Capitalism will not be better for China.

"Remember also that no one called for capitalist restoration. The students and workers sang the Internationale. They want political change. Most people in China care for socialism but want it better. They want real, democratic socialism—not feudalism dressed up as socialism.

"Beijing is not Lhasa. It is foolish to impose martial law on the capital, on Beijing. Many citizens tried to explain this to the soldiers. It is reasonable.

"Now one reason martial law was maintained is that 400 automatic weapons were taken by workers.

"The wages of construction workers are so low. Regular workers only earn two yuan a day. Income distribution is so unfair. My father has been a teacher for 24 years. In one year as an official I make five times what he makes. Who can accept this?

"Yet no one in the party can change this. Their privileges are too great. The Peoples' Congress is a rubber stamp. Even they just nod their heads. So they're all afraid to speak out so they won't be displaced. All this must go. The change will have to come from without, from the people."

We expressed surprise that a young official with much to gain from his position should feel this way and speak so boldly. "It is natural," said John. "We are not empty, like the old officials. We are not beasts."

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... Soviet Miners Socialist Action reporters talk to workers in Shanghai. Left (partly hidden) is (continued from page 1: “NOW calls pro-choice majority to march in Washington D.C”) which has the largest deposits of coal.

Miners in other parts of the country began to join in. By the last week in July, coalfields thousands of miles apart-from the Don River region, to central Asia, to the far north—were virtually closed down. Railroad workers had been asked to strike on Aug. 1.

Challenge to Gorbachev's reforms In all parts of the country, strikers raised demands similar to those of the Siberian miners-including demands for more political autonomy.

In an open letter to the Soviet government, the Siberian miners had demanded "that the population in Siberia and the Far East be supplied with food in accordance with dietitian's norms, that privileges to officials be abolished, and that a new national constitution be published for discussion immediately and adopted not later than Nov. T, 1990," the anniversary of the The great lessons of this unprecedented struggle have certainly not gone unnoticed. "We've shown a strike is the only way to get what you want," said one Siberian miner. The mere thought probably keeps Gorbachev awake at night.

Gorbachev's biggest nightmare is yet to come. Even as the Siberian strikers returned to work with a bushelful of concessions in their pockets, they made clear that "they weren't going to buy us off with a bit of sausage." They gave a deadline of Aug. 1 for the government to fullfill its agreement.

Strike leaders also indicated that they would not disband the strike committees. Another strike leader in the Ukraine called for "an immediate national congress of coal workers, with senior industrial managers to be excluded." (The New York Times, July 21, 1989) This could lay the basis for the formation of an independent national trade The government had its predictable explanation for the strike, blaming the "inertia of local authorities." Officials were Jim Henle. Center is Nat Weinstein.