Tiananmen Square Document 2: Cable, Government Arrests Student Demonstrators, 1985

While the first document downplays the importance of the November 20 demonstration, another cable, reporting the reaction of Chinese authorities in the subsequent five days, draws more significant lessons. In the cable, Embassy officials report information gleaned from an unidentified source that Chinese security forces have detained more than 100 students and arrested 23 suspected "ringleaders" involved in the demonstration. According to the source, "The authorities knew whom to look for because they had infiltrated both preparations for the demonstration and the demonstration itself." The fact that the authorities had been so concerned about controlling the demonstration, the cable concludes, "reflects the extent to which the Communist Party has lost the initiative on campus."

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Original source: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/index.html#d2