China: Pro-democracy student demonstrations in Shanghai; arrest and detention in Shanghai, in particular members of Unity of Labour

Unrest was reported in Shanghai and other provincial cities during April 1989 [ Yojana Sharma, «China: Student Pro-democracy Protests Recalls Events of 1919», Inter Press Service, 2 May 1989.]. On 4 May, mass student marches in Shanghai were organized to support the pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing [ Guy Dinmore, «Student Protests Erupt in Five Major Chinese Cities», Reuters, 4 May 1989.]. The Shanghai marches were peaceful, and participants condemned the firing of the editor of the Shanghai World Economic Herald for his pro-democracy sympathies [ William Kazer, «Students Across China March for Democracy, Attack Deng», Reuters, 4 May 1989.]. On the occasion of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Shanghai on 17 May, a demonstration drew nearly 30,000 participants to chant for the resignation of the Shanghai Communist Party chief [ Dan Biers, «One Million Chinese Surge Through Streets to Demand Democracy», The Associated Press, 17 May 1989.]. At this time, seventy students went on a hunger-strike in front of Shanghai city hall [ Ibid.].

Following the crackdown on 4 June in Tienanmen square, thousands of protesters blockaded public transportation in Shanghai and conducted funerals in memory of those who died for democracy [ «Anger, Unrest and Demonstrations in Chinese Provinces», Reuters, 5 June 1989.]. On this occasion, the local authorities responded by issuing a harsh warning against leaders and plotters of anti-government activities, threatening those involved with severe punishment under state law [ Ibid.]. On 5 June, students in Shanghai erected barricades [ Yojana Sharma, «China: Could Erupt in Countrywide Rebellion», Inter Press Service, 5 June 1989.] and demonstrators wrote the word «blood» on wall-posters [ British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service, «Chinese Provincial Reaction», Summary of World Broadcasts, 6 June 1989.]. On 6 June, six people setting up a barricade on a railway line in Shanghai were run over by a train and killed [ «Protest Spreads to Other Cities», The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 8 June 1989, p.A15.]. In protest, the crowd of passers-by set a wagon on fire, beat up railway security personnel, and smashed vehicles elsewhere in the city [ Ibid.]. The authorities again warned the demonstrators against chaos and appealed to law enforcement organs to safeguard order by halting «sabotage» activities and punishing the malefactors [ Ibid.]. On 7 June, demonstrators were killed while attempting to block the entrance of a Beijing train in Shanghai railway station [ «Nouveaux troubles en province», Libération (Paris), 8 June 1989.]. According to the students, the train simply dashed at the human barricade [ Ibid.]. The official version, however, incriminates the demonstrators, claiming that they themselves set the train on fire and were thus responsible for the death of travellers [ Ibid.]. Foreign residents and diplomats in Shanghai started evacuating the city after the 7 June incident [ Ibid.].

On 8 June 1989, Shanghai Mayor Zhu Rongji announced on state television that he could not guarantee the safety of city residents, and many among the population feared that the army would be called into the city [ Jim Abrams, «Regional Leaders Urge Crackdown on Protests», The Globe and Mail, 9 June 1989, p.A11.]. On 10 June, labour activists were arrested in Shanghai for setting up an illegal union after Shanghai authorities warned students that illegal gatherings would be punished [Vergil Berger, «Crackdown on Dissent in China, 400 Arrested», Reuters, 10 June 1989.]. Railway lines were re-established by 14 June, but fear had halted further demonstrations [ Patricia Zhou, «Les Shanghaiens attendent dans l'angoisse», Libération, 14 June 1989.]. The United States Consulate in Shanghai was surrounded by people seeking visas to leave the country [ Kathy Wilhelm, «China Arrests More Students, Orders 2 American Reporters Out», The Associated Press, 14 June 1989.].

On 15 June, three people in Shanghai were sentenced to death for having started riots in the city in protest against the Beijing massacre [ Jim Abrams, «Three Chinese Reported Sentenced to Death; Scores More Arrested», The Associated Press, 15 June 1989.]. The families of those condemned were billed for the bullets used in the execution [ Peter Goodspeed, «Shanghai Court Condemns 3 to Death for Rioting», The Toronto Star, 16 June 1989.]. By 19 June, the people's militia had reportedly invaded the streets of Shanghai [ Olivier Weber, «Shanghai: des miliciens par milliers», Le Point (Paris), 19 June 1989.]. On the night of 26 June, a dynamite explosion killed 20 people on a train near Shanghai, but it remains unclear whether the incident was connected to the turmoil following the events in Tienanmen [«Dynamite Explosion Kills 20 on Night Train Near Shanghai», The Globe and Mail, 27 June 1989, p.A2.].

In August, some dissidents were still in detention or under close surveillance in Shanghai and the local police continued to refuse to acknowledge the number of people arrested since June 1989 [ Andrew Roche, «China's Purge Uneven, Some Dissidents Escape Jail», Reuters, 9 August 1989.]. A Chinese dissident, however, estimated that less than 100 intellectuals had been detained in Shanghai since June [ Nicholas D. Kristof, «Shanghai Journal; New Challenges for a City of Hope and Past Glory», The New York Times, 4 November 1989, p.4.]. Reportedly, calm was restored in Shanghai by September [ Elaine Kurtenbach, «It's Business as Usual in Shanghai After Spring Protests», The Associated Press, 6 September 1989.]. In late September, Shanghai's Wen Hui Bao published a detailed account of pro-democracy protests in the city, involving students from most of Shanghai's 51 campuses, and blamed the World Economic Herald for fomenting troubles. [ James Kynge, «China Blames Reformist Newspaper for Shanghai Turmoil», Reuters, 22 September 1989.] A nation-wide anti-corruption campaign during the fall of 1989 led to the surrender of 1,175 people in Shanghai alone [ «More Than 1,500 Confess to Economic Crimes in Beijing, Shanghai», The Associated Press, 2 November 1989.]. In December, during a renewed wave of investigation aimed at cracking down on the pro-democracy movement, it was revealed that the Shanghai police had spent October and November chasing down organisers and participants of «counter-revolutionary» activities [ Daniel Southerland, «Chinese Cast New Dragnet; Hunt for Protesters Too Slow, Party Says», The Washington Post, 3 December 1989.]. Punishment for those captured included prison terms of between two and eight years [ Ibid.].

No specific mention of a Labour Unit is currently available to the IRBDC in Ottawa, but it is necessary to note that labour in China is organized into State-controlled work units. It is reported that, during the June 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy in China, some leaders of work units protected their subordinates while others conducted re-education sessions and took a tough stance towards the workers [ Ibid.].