From: echeng@phys.psu.edu (Eddie Cheng)
Subject: Re: Patriotism is the Opium of the Mass (was Re: Chinese, Are You Jealous)
Organization: Penn State, Department of Physics
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 15:14:47 GMT

In article <BxFIz5.J9v@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> yawei@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (~{QG9p~}) writes:
>In article <(~{5K6,F=~})DENG.92Nov8180335@math12.bunny.rhic.bnl.gov> deng@bunny.rhic.bnl.gov (~{5K6,F=~}) writes:
>
>>Here's a story I heard about a candidate from our department in 1980. He
>>was assigned to a remote area after graduation, he flatly refused to report
>>to his job and went back to his hometown and started to make a living on
>>his own.
>
>I heard that's what happened to some of the Beida candidates as well. In 
>fact that's one of the things that I referred to in my last sentence above.

	There had been many rumors on "what happened to candidates afterwards"
going around.  It is very hard to track the candidates down in China's
situation (no independent press after the election campaign).  So here
I am offering something I had found out on some more prominent Beida
candidates.  (Again, just things I know.  Others please correct and
add.)

	Hu Ping, the sole winner of 1980, served out his term.  However,
when he graduated with a Master degree from Beida Philosophy Dept., the
Dept. refused to find him a job (which is the responsibility of the 
Dept. at the time, maybe even now).  Taking it as a fault by the Dept.
side, Hu decided to stay home babysitting his son for two years and
continued to draw a salary from the Dept..  Later he found a job in
the National Social Science Academy and published his essay "On 
Freedom of Speech" in Wu Han.  In 1987 (?) he came to Harvard as a
GongPai student studying government.  Later he joined CAD and became
its Chairman quickly.  He was then oustered from the Academy and
became an exile.

	Wang Juntao, then a student in Applied Physics, was offered a
job in a nuclear physics institute in TongXian, suburb of Beijing.
He quitted his job there after a couple of years to pursue his
interest in politics independently.  Later he joined Chen Ziming
to form their own private research institute.  In 1989, he and
Chen joined the democracy movement as moderates and were sentenced
to 14 (?) years in prison.

	Zhang Wei, then President of Beida student government and student
in economics, perceived as "offical candidate" for his moderate views 
but a very open-minded and able person, obtained a job in Tianjin city 
government.  He then became the top manager of newly-found Tianjin
Economic Development Zone.  In 1989, he resigned all his posts to
protest the 6.4 massacre and was under house arrest for a while.
Perhaps still jobless now.

	Fang Ziyuan (Ding Chu), one of the first candidates and a
radical reformer, found a job in Guanzhou government after graduation.
He was then active in the Special Economic Zones in Shenzhen and
Shekou.  Later he came to US and joined CAD and became exile.
Ironicaly, a couple of years ago, he was heavily accused and
investigated by his fellow comrades as a CCP-spy mainly because
he seemed not to have received any "punishment" for his election
role in 1980.

	Zhang Manlin, a famous and controversial female candidate,
went on to pursue her career in literature after graduation and
published a few popular stories.  One of them was adopted into
a movie "There is a Beautiful Place".

	Liu Juan, another female candidate, became a reporter in
Beijing Daily.  She was active in reporting the movement resisting
the Three Dam Project.

	Yu Dahai, then a physics student, graduated and came to
Princeton to study physics.  Two years later he gave up physics
and transfered to economics and joined CAD.  Now he serves as
CAS Chairman.

	[At the same time of Beida election, similar election campaigns
were done in about a dozen univerisities.  More remarkably is the
campaign by Liu Yuan, the son of late President Liu Shaoqi.  The
senior Liu was reinstated just months before Liu Yuan started his
campaign in Beijing Normal College.  Liu Yuan is now a prominent
"Tai4zi Dang3", or so was he labeled.]

>What happened in Beida was an isolated incident, it was not the norm in
>China, it wasn't even the norm in most other universities and wasn't the
>norm in Beida's later elections, -- you can't deny these facts.  I knew 

	Well, later in 1988, Li Shuxian won the election in the same
fashion of 1980.  She delivered a strong speech in the district 
congress later that year, appealing to spend less money on sports
and more on education.  That speech was warmly discussed on this
net back then.  Her term was interrupted by the 1989 movement
and her exile.

>that it also happened in a few other universities.  And I knew that it
>didn't happen where I was from.  The election in our area was later
>than Beida and Zheda (and Hunan U? -- not too sure), and the political 
>advisors were quick enough to warn any potential trouble makers before-hand.

	USTC had a very successful election in 1984 (?).  Of course there
are political advisors everywhere.  But the point is that once it is
done, they can't do too much about it.  But if the candidates gave up
under the pressure early, that would be the end.

>No, of course not.  But insuring that there will not be any organized
>opposition (while the incumbant party is highly organized) certainly
>guarantees that there will NOT be a fair vote.

	True.  But I tend to view the parties are products of the voting
system, not a precondition of it.



	 Eddie
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