n139  2100  04 Apr 79
 
BC-EDIT-WALLPOSTERS Undated
c. 1979 N.Y. Times News Service
    The New York Times said in an editorial on Thursday, April 5:
                  'Goodbye, Wall for Democracy'
    Thursday marks the third anniversary of the mass demonstration in
Peking's Tian An Men Square, which became a symbol of popular
discontent with the Maoist regime. Deng Xiaoping, who now appears to
be the most powerful figure in China, was blamed for that disturbance
and purged. He was rehabilitated in 1977, and last fall, as deputy
prime minister, he presided benevolently over a resurgence of wall
posters that attacked his ''leftist'' opponents (identified with the
disgraced Gang of Four) and called for greater political freedom.
    But the much celebrated Peking thaw seems to have been overcome by a
sudden frost. In recent weeks, the authorities have cracked down on
statements ''against the proletarian dictatorship, against the
leadership of the Communist party, against Marxism-Leninism and Mao
Zedong thought.'' Wall posters may now only be put up at approved
places - which do not include Tian An Men Square - and those deemed
anti-government or anti-Communist may be prohibited altogether. The
government press now criticizes the early posters for raising the
question of ''defending human rights.'' Violators of the new
regulations are threatened with heavy sentences, and dissenters
report that one of their leaders, Wei Jingsheng, has been arrested
and charged with being a counterrevolutionary, a crime punishable by
death.
    An epitaph to public dissent appeared the other day on Peking's
''democracy wall,'' much used for last fall's tributes to freedom:
''Goodbye, wall for democracy . . . I hurried to you in the cold days
in November. You embraced me with a gray wall and looked at me with
gray eyes, and told me about 'friendship and hope.'''
    What accounts for the turnabout? Some observers believe that Deng
was surprised by the vehemence of the calls for democracy and feared
they might lead to a challenge to the party hierarchy and impede his
plans for modernizing the nation's industry, agriculture, technology
and armed forces. Others, more cynical, suggest that having succeeded
in undermining his political rivals, the Chinese chieftain no longer
needs to stir up the populace. Perhaps Deng feels that having made
his American connection, he no longer has to appear quite so
permissive. Or perhaps the crackdown is related to an internal power
struggle about which there have been some hints but few clues.
    Whatever the fate of the wall posters, however, the new regime is
embarked on a transformation of Chinese society that can only nourish
unorthodox lines of thought. By encouraging technological innovation,
opening relations with foreign countries, giving incentives to an
intellectual elite and sending students abroad, Peking has made a
sharp break with the past. Its ideas of ''democratic centralism'' may
be more centralistic than democratic, but democracy, even in small
doses, can have surprising effects. When people are permitted to
speak out, they may not always observe the party line. Democracy,
which the imprisoned Wei urged as China's fifth ''modernization,''
tends to be untidy and uncomfortable for those in power.
    
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