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            *  *  *   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t   *  *  *

                            Friday, May 28, 1993

                CND Survey Report on Readers' Attitude Towards
     Renewal of China's Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Trade Status with U.S.

Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
============================================================================
1. Introduction ......................................................... 30
2. The Survey ........................................................... 30
3. The Result .......................................................... 120
4. The Conclusion ....................................................... 30
Attachment: Full Text of the Survey Questionnaire ...................... 100
============================================================================

1. Introduction
---------------

Time flies and Chinese communities turn again their attention to another
controversial issue, which emerges every year around June 4th since that
day of 1989.  i.e., whether or not the U.S. government should or would
renew China's Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status, and if China's MFN
is to be renewed, should any conditions be attached to the renewal?

Since the normalization of Sino-U.S. diplomatic relation in 1979, many
privileges were exchanged between the two countries in a spirit of
cooperation.  Therefore, China joined the long list of the MFN countries.
However, just as for all other "friendly" Communist countries, this trade
privilege needs to be reviewed and renewed by the U.S. government every year
per the U.S. law.  It was barely a public-attention-catching issue before
June 4th, 1989.  Probably most ordinary people did not pay any attention to
it since China's MFN trade status seemed always being renewed mechanically
every year.

But, after the June 4th Massacre, this issue has become so disputed that it
has been brought up to the public attention again and again, especially when
the time for the annual renewal comes by (early June of each year).  It might
be simply a politician's game, but overseas Chinese communities just can't
ignore it easily and forever.  Gradually, ordinary people start observing,
thinking about, talking about and debating the issue.

For the past four years, CND has brought related reports to readers with a
great effort. This time, while continuing to report news from other sources,
we also turned to readers for a report of our own. i.e., how CND readers
think about China's MFN status.  Being a news medium run by volunteers, CND
as a whole takes no stand on such controversial issues. Regarding this MFN
issue, we respect readers' thoughts and activities as well.

2. The Survey
-------------

The CND survey of readers' attitude towards the MFN issue was conducted from
May 18th to May 25th, 1993, as a sampled survey. It took 8 days as scheduled.
We randomly chose 702 readers from our subscription list to enter this survey.
The intended population is more than 26,000 CND direct subscribers, a virtual
community spreading all over the world on the computer network.

A survey questionnaire was delivered to those randomly selected readers on
May 18th.  The questionnaire contains 9 questions, and a comment section (A
complete copy of the questionnaire is attached to this report).  On May 22nd,
a reminding message was sent to those who didn't reply to the survey by then.

By the time this survey was closed, we received 152 valid answers, and one
address was identified as unable to receive the survey message.  Thus, the
return rate for this survey is close to 22%, not counting a couple of
"comment only" messages.  This return rate is lower than the one for the
recently finished reader survey on Beijing's bid for the 2000 Olympics.

We speculate that at least several factors have impacts on this low return
rate.  Firstly, we had a very tight schedule when we started to plan this
survey. Secondly, being short of man-power, we only sent out one follow-up
message.  Thirdly, many readers might have left computer network for Summer
Break.  Fourthly, Mr. Clinton's decision on this issue was revealed on May
24th, which forced us to abandon a plan to extend the deadline for the
survey.

While we feel a bit disappointed for this relatively low return rate, we
appreciate very much the efforts of those who replied to the survey.  We
will strive to improve the return rate in future reader surveys.  We also
wish our readers, who are chosen to participate our future surveys, will
be more supportive.

3. The Result
-------------

Due to the tight time frame, we designed all questionnaire questions in the
binary fashion.  This would enable us to choose a small sample size and to
speed up the process.  In compensation, we provided a comment section for
people who would feel limited otherwise  (A summary of the responder
comments will be reported in a separate issue of CND-Global).  Several
responders questioned the flexibility of the question design, the point is
taken.

The following charts display the overall result of this survey. Please note
that the wording of questions is altered to fit into the space.  The lower
return rate influences the size of error margins in turn.  For this survey,
the error margins ranges between plus and minus 6-8%.  The statistics for
missing answer or (no opinion) are not included in the chart.  The
percentages may not be added up to 100% due to number rounding.

The first three statements tend to favor the unconditional renewal of
China's MFN trade status.  More readers agree than those who disagree.

                                                               (N=152)
+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+-------+
|                                       |  Agree   | Disagree | Error |
|  Questions 1, 2 and 3                 +----------+----------|Margins|
|                                       |  n  |  % |  n  |  % |  +/-  |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|The MFN status is a mutual arrangement |  98 | 65%|  53 | 34%|   8%  |
|for Sino-U.S trade. The U.S. government|     |    |     |    |       |
|shouldn't use MFN issue as a diplomatic|     |    |     |    |       |
|or political approach for conflicting  |     |    |     |    |       |
|issues between two countries.          |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|The MFN status is in the best interest | 128 | 84%|  24 | 16%|   6%  |
|of both nations, and suspending China's|     |    |     |    |       |
|MFN status will backfire on U.S. eco-  |     |    |     |    |       |
|nomy one way or the other.             |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|China's economy benefits from the MFN  | 124 | 82%|  26 | 17%|   6%  |
|trade status greatly, while losing the |     |    |     |    |       |
|status may drag back the economic deve-|     |    |     |    |       |
|lopment in China one way or another.   |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+

The next three statements tend to favor the conditional renewal of China's
MFN trade status.  More readers hold a disapproval attitude instead of
approval, except on Question #6.  Taking into the account of the error
margins for Question #6, however, the data reported here could barely break
even between "approval" and "disapproval".  We have several comments stating
against mixing political issues with trade issues.  Such comments to this
question may imply that readers recognize that trade deficit is an important
issue and accept the idea of using trade status to resolve trade issues.

                                                                (N=152)
+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+-------+
|                                       | Approval |Disapprvl.| Error |
|  Questions 4, 5 and 6                 +----------+----------|Margins|
|                                       |  n  |  % |  n  |  % |  +/-  |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|Improving China's human rights situa-  |  56 | 37%|  94 | 62 |   8%  |
|tion should be a condition for renewal |     |    |     |    |       |
|of China's MFN trade status.           |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|Stopping China's weapons exporting to  |  35 | 23%| 113 | 74%|   7%  |
|controversial areas in the world should|     |    |     |    |       |
|be a condition for renewing China's MFN|     |    |     |    |       |
|status.                                |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|Forcing China to open up more marketing|  88 | 58%|  62 | 40%|   8%  |
|opportunities to U.S. business in order|     |    |     |    |       |
|to reduce the trade deficit should be a|     |    |     |    |       |
|condition to renew China's MFN status. |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+

The last two questions asked for reader's speculation on the possible
outcome of U.S. government's decision on the MFN issue and readers' own
stand as well.  It is obvious that readers tended to believe Mr. Clinton
would attach some conditions for China's renewal of the MFN status, while
they supported the solution of unconditional renewal, if possible.  Please
note that our original questions also included an option of "Revoking
China's MFN status" for each question, but no responder took that option.

We received eight replies after Mr. Clinton's decision was reported in
May 25's CND-Global.  Among them, one still believed the result would be
unconditional renewal while seven believe the result would be otherwise.
We are not certain if CND or other media's reports of Clinton's decision
would have impacts on those 8 replies.  But since they wouldn't change
the general tendency of our data, we didn't omit their answers in our
statistics.

                                                                (N=152)
+---------------------------------------+----------+----------+-------+
|                                       |  U--MFN  |  C--MFN  | Error |
|  Questions 7 and 8                    +----------+----------|Margins|
|                                       |  n  |  % |  n  |  % |  +/-  |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|Your best guess for U.S. government's  |  54 | 36%|  96 | 63%|   8%  |
|decision towards MFN issue will be     |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+
|You think currently you could be best  | 107 | 70%|  44 | 29%|   7%  |
|described as a supporter of            |     |    |     |    |       |
+---------------------------------------+-----+----+-----+----+-------+

Due to the relatively low return rate, we are cautious not to jump into any
firm conclusions.  However, we believed that the data we collected were close
to the tendency of the intended population.  We made an informal checking by
comparing the 74 replies we received at the first day and all others, and
found that the pattern of these two sets of data are basically matched. This
encourages us to draw a single conclusion that this year about 2/3 of CND
readers tended to support the solution of unconditional renewal of China's
MFN trade status and 1/3 of readers support the conditional renewal of
China's MFN trade status.  Meanwhile, it is noticed that more than half of
the people might accept the idea of using the trade status as the leverage
for U.S. to solve trade deficit issue.

Question 9 asked responders for their geographical locations, please see
the end of section 4 (The Conclusion) for the result.

4. The Conclusion
-----------------

On May 24th, U.S. President Clinton reportedly made his decision on the
issue focused in this survey.  Here is the News Brief item carried in May
25's CND-Global.

     [AP, 05/25/93] WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has decided to renew
     favorable trade privileges to China for one year on condition the
     Communist regime improves its record on human rights, trade and
     weapon sales to radical governments, administration officials said
     Monday.  The president is consulting with congressional leaders on
     the precise wording of conditions that would extend most-favored
     nation status to China, said the officials, speaking on condition
     of anonymity.  China in recent weeks has freed some prominent
     dissidents to try to boost its image and improve relations with the
     United States.  (Forwarded By: Deming)

It is clear that U.S. government has less faith at Chinese government than
they did before June 4th, 1989.  This seems not a gospel for our readers
since 2/3 of them would expect a different outcome than that. For those
who support the conditional renewal, this turn may be a positive sign if
the conditions they supported are attached.

As we are finalizing this report, we received the following news dated
May 28, 1993:

     WASHINGTON (AP-DJ) -- President Clinton Friday extended for another
     year China's trade privileges with the United States, but attached
     provisions requiring China to meet new terms, including improvement
     of human rights standards.

     Clinton called the new terms "a new chapter in United States policy
     to China."

     Clinton announced an one-year extension of China's most favored nation
     -- or MFN -- trade status. The treatment allows countries to sell to
     the United States at reduced tariffs.

     "If the Chinese don't a make serious effort and meet these conditions,
     the president will certainly ... be prepared to revoke MFN. That's
     very clear," said Winston Lord, onetime ambassador to Beijing and now
     assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

     ... (For details, please see May 29's CND-Global)

Meanwhile, no matter how it develops, the MFN issue would still be an
important topic of next year as well.  In finishing this report, we hope
that next time we could do a better job in conducting similar reader
survey.

Finally, we would like to thank again the 108 responders from the United
States, 15 from United Kingdom, 11 from Canada, 4 from Australia, 2 each
from Austria, Finland, and Switzerland, 1 each from Belgium, France,
Germany, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Spain.  By putting them
together, we hope the voice of our readers are heard here.

China News Digest
May 28, 1993

Attachment:
----------

              CND Survey Questionnaire on China's MFN Trade Status
              ----------------------------------------------------

NOTE:     For question (1)-(3), if you agree with all the expressions in
          the question statement, your answer is "a".  If you disagree
          with any part of the expressions, your answer is "b".

[ ]  (1) It is said that since the MFN status is a mutual arrangement
     for trading between China and U.S., the U.S. Administration should
     not use MFN status as a diplomatic or political approach for
     conflicting issues between two countries.
     Your opinion towards this statement is,

          a) Agree
          b) Disagree

[ ]  (2) It is said that MFN status is in the best interest of both
     countries, while suspending the status will backfire on U.S.
     economy one way or the other.
     Your opinion towards this statement is,

          a) Agree
          b) Disagree

[ ]  (3) It is said that China's economic development is benefits from
     the MFN status at a great degree, while losing the status may drag
     back the economic development in China one way or the other.
     Your opinion towards this statement is,

          a) Agree
          b) Disagree

NOTE:     For question (4)-(6), if you agree that the condition is
          necessary or relevant, your answer is "a".  If you think the
          condition is unnecessary or irrelevant, your answer is "b".

[ ]  (4) Since June 4th, 1989, U.S. government becomes more concerned about
     China's human rights violation. Improving China's human rights situation
     is considered as an important condition to renew China's MFN status.
     Your attitude towards this motion is,

          a) Approve
          b) Disprove

[ ]  (5) According to various resources, U.S. government repeatedly
     complains about China's weapon exports to the third world countries.
     Stopping China's weapons exports to areas of conflict is widely
     considered as an important condition to renew China's MFN status.
     Your attitude towards this motion is,

          a) Approve
          b) Disprove

[ ]  (6) In the recent years, China quickly became the country with the
     second largest trade surplus with the U.S..  Thus, forcing China to
     open more marketing opportunity for American business is considered
     as an important condition to renew China's MFN status.
     Your attitude towards this motion is,

          a) Approve
          b) Disprove

[ ]  (7) Your best guess for U.S. administration's decision towards
     China MFN issue finally will be,

          a) Unconditional renew China's MFN status
          b) Conditional renew China's MFN status
          c) Revoking China's MFN status

[ ]  (8) After all considered, you think currently you could be best
     described as a supporter to the mainstream of,

          a) Unconditional renewal of China's MFN status
          b) Conditional renewal of China's MFN status
          c) Revoking China's MFN status

[ ]  (9) Please write in the square brackets the name of the country or
     area you are at when replying to this questionnaire.


[Comment Section Begins]

(Note:  Only comments, no more than ten lines, to be placed here.
        If you are not to include original message in your reply,
        please use the above and below delimiters to separate your
        answers from comments for our computer program to extract.)


[Comment Section Ends]

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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|                       Executive Editor:  Bo Xiong        (U.S.A.)        |
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+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Date:         Sat, 29 May 1993 01:01:59 -0400
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            *  *  *   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t   *  *  *

                               (News Global)

                          Saturday, May 29, 1993


Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
============================================================================
1. News Briefs (3 Items) ................................................ 36
2. Clinton Signs Executive Order Renewing China's MFN with Conditions ... 64
3. China Seeks Foreign Partners to Explore Tarim Oil Basin .............. 22
4. China Vows to Curtail Smuggling of Illegal Immigrants ................ 33
5. May 29, 1989: TianAnMen Protesters Dwindle as Food and Cash Run Low;
                 Government Tightens Curbs on Official Media  ........... 84
============================================================================

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. News Briefs (3 Items) ................................................ 36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


[UPI, 05/28/93] BEIJING -- China and Britain discussed a range of issues on
the future of Hong Kong, but neither side would elaborate on the content of
those negotiations as the fourth round of Sino-British talks opened
Friday. British negotiator Robin McLaren admitted that the two-day talks
would produce no agreement and that at least one further round would be
necessary. The two sides have been locked in a series of closed-door talks
for the last two months over 1994-95 elections in the British colony, one of
a number of friction-increasing issues that has led to recriminations
and name-calling. The talks are an attempt by the two sides to restore
relations after Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten incensed Beijing with a
proposal last October to broaden democracy in the territory.
(Forwarded By: A CND Reader)
                               ___ ___ ___

[AP-DJ, 05/27/93] CAPETOWN -- Volkswagen South Africa, a 100% owned
subsidiary of Germany's Volkswagen AG, said Friday it will export 17,000
Jetas to China. The 500-million-rand deal will see the cars exported over
the next 12 to 15 months, Volkswagen said, and will put on hold the
company's announcement last month that it would have to lay-off some 700
employees. China's car market is estimated at some 400,000 vehicles a year
compared to South Africa's estimated 179,000 cars for 1993. "The
consequences of the foreign exchange earnings for both Volkswagen and
the country are substantial," said Peter Searle, director of Volkswagen
South Africa.   (Forwarded By: Liu Jian)
                               ___ ___ ___

[JAPAN ECONOMIC NEWSWIRE, 05/28/93] FUKUOKA -- Yi Guosun of China downed
Ying Kan of Hong Kong in a final eighth-round match for his seventh win
against one loss Friday to win his first world crown in the 15th JAL Cup
World Amateur Go Championships. The 23-year-old Yi became the first Chinese
in three years and the 10th overall to win the annual tournament, held this
year at the NHK Fukuoka Broadcasting Center. Yi edged Soon Joo Seo of South
Korea, who also finished with a 7-1 record, on points under the Swiss
system. Forty players representing 40 nations participated in the four-day
tournament. The 16th meet will be held next May in Kyoto.
(Forwarded By: Liu Jian)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Clinton Signs Executive Order Renewing China's MFN with Conditions ... 64
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Deming and Liu Jian
Source: AP-DJ, 05/28/93

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton Friday extended for another year China's
trade privileges with the United States, but attached provisions requiring
China to meet new terms, including improvement of human rights standards.

Clinton called the new terms "a new chapter in United States policy to
China."

Clinton announced an one-year extension of China's most favored nation --
or MFN -- trade status. The treatment allows countries to sell to the United
States at reduced tariffs.

"If the Chinese don't a make serious effort and meet these conditions, the
president will certainly ... be prepared to revoke MFN. That's very clear,"
said Winston Lord, onetime ambassador to Beijing and now assistant secretary
of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Although there are no strings attached the current extension, in order to
continue its MFN status next year, China would have to make progress on
human rights, fair trade and nuclear non-proliferation issues.

"This is an attempt to begin to move the most-favored debate from the
center of our policy and construct a broader China policy," Lord said.

Clinton signed the executive order after meeting with congressional leaders.

Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, asserted that it was the first
time a president had sought to put human-rights conditions on a MFN renewal.

However, the language containing the conditions is not binding on either
the president or Congress, only asserting that the secretary of state not
recommend another MFN extension unless progress has been demonstrated by
China on the human rights and other fronts.

Friday's order was a middle ground.  It calls on China to:
    - Free political prisoners, but doesn't insist it release them all.
    - Recognize Tibet's "religious and cultural heritage."
    - Permit international radio and TV broadcasts into China.
    - Follow humane practices in the use of prison labor.

"I don't want to isolate China," Clinton said but he added that he also
wants to stand up for American values in China. He also voiced concern
about China's trade policies, saying Beijing blocks American goods.

The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $18.26 billion with China last year,
second only to the gap with Japan.

China is adept at dismantling foreign-bought weapons and incorporating their
sophisticated technology into home-grown weapons systems.

China thus can sell these weapons at a far cheaper cost to other
countries, which cannot afford Soviet, European or American weapons.

The order calls on China to free political prisoners -- but does not
insist it release them all.

It also calls for China to recognize "Tibet's distinctive religious and
cultural heritage," to permit international radio and television broadcasts
into China and to stop using prison labor to help produce exports.

The president in his statement voiced concern about China's trade
policies, saying it blocks American goods.

The United States ran a trade deficit of $18.26 billion with China last
year, second only to the shortfall with Japan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. China Seeks Foreign Partners to Explore Tarim Oil Basin .............. 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: Liu Jian
Source: DJ, 05/28/93

BEIJING -- The vice president of China's sole petroleum producer will visit
Belgium, Italy and Oman to seek partners in exploring the Tarim basin,
believed to have rich oil deposits, an official report said Friday.

Qiu Zhongjian of China National Petroleum Corp. is to leave Monday on the
18-day trip, the China Daily said.

Early this year, China announced that it was opening the Tarim basin, in
far west China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, to foreign exploration. More
than 60 foreign firms have applied and a round of bidding is expected this
year, the paper said.

Qiu's visit to Oman is expected to include technical exchanges and visits
to oilfields. Oman's Petroleum Development Co. is expected to share its
experience in working with Western firms and exploring for oil in the
desert.

The paper said the Tarim basin is expected to become the core of China's
oil production. Initial findings show promising oil reserves in the 73,000
square-kilometer (29,200 square-mile) basin, but the figures have been kept
secret.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. China Vows to Curtail Smuggling of Illegal Immigrants ................ 33
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by: A CND Reader
Source: JAPAN ECONOMIC NEWSWIRE, 05/28/93

HONG KONG -- China has vowed to step up border checks and intensify
antismuggling activities in an effort to stem the flow of illegal Chinese
immigrants flooding overseas, a pro-Beijing newspaper reported Friday.

Public security forces have decided to take tough action in response to
growing numbers of Chinese citizens who procure fake passports and travel
abroad, the Wen Wei Po newspaper said, quoting sources in Beijing.

Since 1992, Beijing's Capital Airport alone has reported more than 140
incidents of false passports being used, involving 338 people, Wen Wei Po
said.

Almost all of the culprits came from coastal provinces in east China,
including Fujian and Zhejiang, it said.  More than 90% of them were either
poor people or private entrepreneurs.

The desire of many Chinese citizens to escape overseas at virtually any
cost has spawned a huge smuggling racket which drew headlines in the United
States earlier this week when a ship containing 184 illegal immigrants
sailed brazenly into San Francisco Harbor and unloaded its human cargo.

Prices for such dubious passage to the West range from about 50,000 yuan
(8,780 dollars) to 20,000 dollars, Wen Wei Po said.

China's Public Security Bureau has now ordered regional forces to
coordinate their efforts in the fight against illegal migrants, the paper
said.

Countermeasures include moves to strengthen collection of used exit
permits to prevent them being resold and a publicity campaign directed at
citizens warning them that they risk being cheated by smuggling gangs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. May 29, 1989: TianAnMen Protesters Dwindle as Food and Cash Run Low;
                 Government Tightens Curbs on Official Media  ........... 84
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Compiled By Zuofeng Li from Reuters, the Boston Globe, the Chicago
        Tribune, May 29, 1989

BEIJING - A dwindling band of tired and hungry students kept up their sit-in
in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Monday, demoralised and confused about how
to continue their campaign for democracy.

About 300 representatives from Beijing campuses and provincial schools voted
on Sunday night with a show of hands to stay in the cluttered square until
June 20. The 300 delegates had been gathered at Beijing's Normal University
since Saturday night to decide if the 10,000 students still camped in
TianAnMen Square should abandon their sit-in after a mass rally Tuesday.

"It was a battle between the moderates who wanted to go home and the
hard-liners who felt that by vacating the square we would lose our last
pillar of power," one student leader said after the vote.

The delegates also voted to replace the leadership of their movement.  They
said the old leaders were tired and needed rest.

The number of students in the square fell to 2,000 by early morning on
Monday, probably the lowest since the occupation began on May 13.

Students had hoped to revive their movement with a million-strong march in
Beijing on Sunday, but only 50,000 students took to the streets in defiance
of martial law regulations declared by hardline Premier Li Peng on May 20.

The turnout was smaller than organizers had hoped for, apparently because
workers and public employees who had thronged by the hundreds of thousands
to earlier marches failed to appear in significant numbers.

"We were sternly warned not to attend," a schoolteacher said last night at
his home in a neighborhood in eastern Beijing.

"Everyone supports the students, no one likes the government," said a
39-year-old woman employed at a ceramics plant. "But there is strong fear of
punishment if we show solidarity with the students. "

Student leader Chai Ling told a midnight meeting that she was too weak to
carry on and wanted to step down.  The crowd apparently persuaded her to
stay on as a leader but her words dampened morale further, students said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese leadership, quietly mustering its forces for a
showdown with the liberals in its midst, has reportedly sent investigators
into ministries and public institutions to find out which public officials
joined the pro-democracy marches and under what slogans.

The government has put the state-run media under tight curbs. Journalists
said on Monday that soldiers from the People's Liberation Army had been
reinforced at the news agency's headquarters, though they were guarding the
offices rather than enforcing censorship.

A five-man media supervisory group, headed by Yuan Mu, spokesman of the
State Council -- the top government body -- has been formed to direct news
reporting, journalists said.

Internal supervision at each news organisation has also been tightened.  "We
now have five separate reviews before we decide on whether we can broadcast
a news item," said a television reporter.

Authorities also stepped up pressure on the students to end their occupation
of the symbolic heart of Chinese communism, saying they would not be
punished.

Television, radio and official newspapers said people from all over China
had written letters to the government expressing hope that students end
their protests.

Food and money were running low and students made impassioned speeches
through the night calling for strict regulations on spending and for an
effort to clean up rotting rubbish piled up next to ragtag tents in many
parts of the square.

"We are really low on cash," said a student in charge of finances. He said a
large amount of money promised from Hong Kong had not arrived and protesters
were rationed to one small package of bread a day.

"Our strength now is not enough. We need the workers to help us, without
them we will never overthrow Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng," said one man from
Daqing Oil University who was about to return to campus.

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