Simply stated, the symbols read “Democracy, Freedom, Human Rights.”

These terms carry inherent meanings to citizens of democratic nations, and rarely, if ever, do these citizens have to fight and die at the hands of their own government in order to preserve their “pursuit of happiness.”

Such is not the case for those people in countries like China who, after days of fasting and peaceful demonstration, were crushed by armored personnel carriers and bullets from the People’s Army.

The slogan appeared on t-shirts around universities in China, posted on crosses that seemed prophetic to the memories of those who would soon die for just that—Democracy, Freedom, Human Rights.

What occurred in China’s Tiananmen Square has left worldwide scars, hatred and burning questions.

The scars were indelibly etched on those who died there, and hatred on those who experienced a different kind of death when their sons and daughters never returned from the infamous square.

owever, miraculously and in tribute to the strength of the Chinese people, they remain warm and kind to people from the United States—people who have, to some extent, exactly what some of the Chinese want.

These were some of the impressions left on Kathleen Huffman, an NIU graduate student in journalism, who was in China during and after the demonstrations.

Though most of her time in the country was spent in Shanghai, she was well aware of the growing desire among the Chinese for change. Change, she said, whose form was not well understood by most students.

“It is hard for the (Chinese) students to tell what democracy is,” Huffman said. “They would talk with us, and they had basic ideas as to what democracy is, but when we talked more and began to get more complex, we could see that they really didn’t have much of an idea about what democracy really is.”

Though a lack of knowledge toward the subject of democracy exists in the country, Huffman said that ignorance didn’t curtail the upbeat and excited atmosphere she encountered when she arrived in Shanghai on May 18.

“People were excitedly demonstrating, and we were very happy to see all the enthusiasm. We had seen the television coverage before we arrived, and we were very impressed with the students and were pleased with how peaceful they were,” Huffman said.

The demonstrations in Shanghai were very evident, though they were not as grand as those in Beijing, Huffman said. Still, the American group of 17 students and two teachers was warned to keep distance between themselves and the demonstrations.

“We were given the idea,” Huffman said, “that we shouldn’t get involved. They told us that for our best interests and for safety’s sake, we should stay away from the demonstrations. They don’t want foreigners to be harmed or to get involved with their politics.”

Huffman said she and her group never really feared for their safety until martial law was imposed in the country.

“We did become a bit frightened, but we were most concerned with whether we would make it to Beijing. We really wanted to see the demonstrations,” she said.

The group, led by Thomas Heaney, director of NIU’s Lindeman Center in Chicago, had heard about the massive demonstrations only through rumor and posters around town, which, Huffman said, “replaced the newspaper because the papers were not telling the truth.”

uffman said she felt the people in her group and other westerners were being used by the students as sources of information about the government and the demonstrations.

“We (the group) really were a matter of curiosity to them,” she said. The demonstrators also tried to spread the word of the demonstrations by any means possible, even asking the group to “Tell everyone in the U.S. what is going on,” Huffman said.

Through all the tribulations experienced by those involved in the demonstrations, an air of confidence still existed, Huffman said.

She said the personalities and past experiences of the Chinese people do not allow for feelings of greed since the opportunity for making choices has never really been offered by the government. Due to the reliance on each other for information, at least semi-truthful information, an outwardness among citizens has developed.

This characteristic, Huffman said, has kept the Chinese from developing some of the qualities which exist in the western countries, particularly greed and those things which accompany the lust for money and power.

Huffman said the average Chinese worker will make about 28 cents a month, and added that the lifestyle in China is very different. Housing, washroom facilities and kitchens are all shared.

After being in China, it is sickening to see the excesses we have here, Huffman said.

“Here, people are more concerned with owning a car, getting good grades and having a boyfriend or girlfriend,” she said. “There’s no competition there.”

“I was very happy there, it didn’t matter to me that people live the way they do. The people would give you the shirt off their back. They gave me presents. They gave me presents and they have no money. They have so much love. They don’t try to one-up each other there, ” Huffman said, “I didn’t want to leave.”

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