More arrests in sweep on ‘criminals’

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 9

More arrests in sweep on ‘criminals’

NZPA-Reuter Peking China rounded up more than 3000 people in a recent sweep against political dissidents and common criminals, according to a newspaper report that reached Peking yesterday. The “Xinhua Daily” said 3182 people were rounded up in the eastern province of Jiangsu alone in a three-day campaign that ended on July 15. The daily, published in Nanking, capital of Jiangsu, did not say how many of those arrested were common criminals, but it said 158 criminal groups had been smashed and 625 of their members taken into custody. Among those picked up by police were Xu Chong, described as a leader of an unofficial workers’ union in the eastern city of Hefei, and Qi Mingliang, a worker. They were arrested in a hotel in Nanking, the paper said. Both were alleged to have stolen unspecified “military goods” during the unrest in Peking last

month. Government officials have said that weapons were stolen from soldiers who moved into Peking to crush student protests on June 3. Also arrested was Cheng Mingia, described as the “minister of finance” of the unofficial student union in Peking. She was said to be carrying more than 21,000 yuan (about SNZ1000) when captured. The daily said some of those in custody had given themselves up. China has already reported more than 1000 arrests in three other provinces over the same three-day period in a drive against political dissent and crimes ranging from robbery to dealing in pornography. All of the arrests were disclosed in provincial newspapers and not the national press. Western diplomats said this was to avoid alarming foreign tourists and investors, already concerned over the military crackdown in which hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed.