The tension builds, the standoff continues in China.
This is USA Tonight with Marvin Scott.
Good evening everyone. In China, what the protesters said was a government deadline to end their demonstrations slips by with no action.
But the protesters are bracing for trouble amid reports the Chinese troops are massing in the capital,
and columns of tanks are lining up in the suburbs of Beijing.
At least two hospitals have been alerted to clear bed space and the event trouble erupts.
The reported ultimatum from the government was contained in a note to the students who continue to keep their vigil in Tiananmen Square,
where 200,000 people remain stationed in defiance of the government's declaration of martial law.
As the 4 p.m. Eastern Time deadline passed, it was greeted by a spontaneous chorus of the Chinese national anthem.
While officials denied the government had set any deadlines, a statement by the army read on television said,
the military must firmly carry out the orders of the government.
A train packed with at least 1,500 troops arrived at Beijing's central station and was soon surrounded by students ready to block them from leaving.
The soldiers were armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
Thousands of residents have put up roadblocks as the only line of defense.
Sixty buses and trucks were drawn up in a line at the northern end of Tiananmen Square.
While banners declared, don't be afraid to die, one student leader said the students would offer no resistance should the tanks and troops move in.
Under the martial law decree, the army can shoot under any resistance.
Some reports indicate the soldiers have been prevented from hearing news accounts the past ten days
and are unaware of the situation and demands of the students for more freedom and an end to official corruption.
It is not known if the soldiers would actually move against their own people if given the order to do so.
Despite the worst political and civil crisis that hit China since the Cultural Revolution,
senior leader Deng Xiaoping and Premier Li Peng have remained silent and out of sight since martial law was imposed.
Tonight I spoke with a member of the Western diplomatic community at an embassy in Beijing who spoke on condition he not be identified.
Now mourning in China, he said there is a sense of relief that the troops did not make any moves during the night.
Everything he said appears to be calm at the moment. There is no transportation in the Chinese capital.
Roadblocks are everywhere. And our source told us representatives of the army have met with leaders of the uprising,
reportedly telling them the troops don't want any violence.
The source noted that it is still not clear whose side the army is on.
And he said U.S. officials in Beijing are maintaining a very low profile, saying nothing at all because as he put it,
this is an internal Chinese thing. And the diplomatic source went on,
the fear of violence appears to have abated for the moment, adding that there is growing belief that there is a power struggle underway
in China's leadership, which apparently is trying right now to decide just what to do next.
Because of a tense situation, the State Department has issued an advisory warning Americans to defer travel in China for at least the next three days.
The uprising there continues to draw support and is triggering demonstrations in many parts of the world.
The largest demonstration was held in Hong Kong, where up to one million people, one sixth of the Crown colony's population,
jammed the streets, demanding the resignation of China's leadership and shouting support for the pro-democracy demonstrators.
It was the largest political demonstration ever held in Hong Kong, which is scheduled to revert to Chinese rule in 1997.
In Japan, thousands of Chinese students studying there marched through the streets of Tokyo and staged a rally to show their solidarity.
They carried banners that echoed chants of long-lived freedom.
The theme was much the same in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, where more than 1,000 Chinese students staged a protest of support in the French capital.
They called for the resignation of Chinese Premier Li Peng.
And the aftershock of what's happening in China continues to draw reaction and support in the United States.
Drew Scott has more on that.
Down with Li Peng!
Down with Li Peng!
Down with the hostile government!
Down with the hostile government!
They wore armbands and headbands that said freedom and human rights.
Their chanting was louder than their march through Chinatown yesterday, and their signs read down with Deng Xiaoping,
and some were critical of President Bush, who has been low-key in his support to the Beijing students.
Some 200 to 300 students protested again here outside the Chinese consulate in New York and in at least four other cities.
Their message, support for the Beijing students and revulsion over the official government crackdown.
We call on the senior generals and the soldiers, realize the whole situation, and stand on the people's side.
The army must refuse to suppress the student demonstrations on any occasion.
I hope that the people will stay in the central part, no matter how they threaten them, they will stay.
They have to stay, otherwise they just lose a chance.
That's the only chance they can win in past 70 years or so.
On ABC's This Week program, former Secretary of State Kissinger said any crackdown by Chinese troops would send shockwaves to Washington.
Well, I think televised violence from the square will hurt severely Sino-U.S. relations,
no matter what the explanation is that is given because of the basic values of American society.
So I hope very much for that reason alone and for many other reasons that that can be avoided.
China expert A. Doak Barnett says some sort of violent confrontation will come soon.
I think what they'll try to do is use tear gas and various other methods, but it's not impossible that they will shoot.
If so, I think the consequences will be tragic.
While today's demonstrations were smaller than the ones held yesterday in Washington, New York, and three other cities,
these protesters say they will return to the consulate every day until the crisis is resolved.
In New York, this is Drew Scott reporting.
And when we come back, the President reacts to what's happening in China and in New York,
putting their best foot forward for a very good cause.
We'll be right back.
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Speaking on the student protests in China at Boston University's graduation ceremonies today,
President Bush said the U.S. supports democracy, but he urged the protesters not to let it come to bloodshed.
On the Soviet Union, Mr. Bush stressed that while Mikhail Gorbachev is making great changes,
the West must not let down its guard.
Also at commencement, French President Francois Mitterrand, at a press conference afterwards,
both he and Mr. Bush expressed hope the NATO allies could come to an agreement on short-range nuclear weapons
in Europe before next week's summit in Brussels.
Elsewhere, another leader is also looking for an agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir says he will resign unless his party backs his peace plan.
Shamir's plan calls for a trial period of Palestinian self-rule with a permanent solution to be decided later.
Meanwhile, the violence continues in that region.
Two Palestinians were killed, at least 25 wounded in clashes today.
The Army says it detained hundreds of Moslem militants in the Gaza Strip,
the largest such sweep since the Arab uprising began in 1987.
The Soviet Union is expelling eight British diplomats and three journalists from their soil.
That's exactly the number of Soviets the British government expelled for alleged espionage last week.
Is it more espionage or just a tit-for-tat style retaliation?
Martin Sixsmith of the BBC reports.
The British embassy staff selected by the Soviets are believed to correspond in rank and duties
to their Soviet counterparts expelled from London,
suggesting that Moscow's motives were based on simple retaliation rather than any evidence of wrongdoing.
The three British journalists, including BBC Radio's Jeremy Harris,
were certainly guilty of nothing except doing their job.
I'm really disappointed, I'm frankly. I mean, I'm disappointed in them if it doesn't sound dark.
None of them has been officially told why they're being expelled,
but they've heard via the embassy that they've been given two weeks to leave the country.
Well, I've seen nothing in writing, nor have I heard anything even orally from the Soviet authorities,
but I understand that we're accused of having engaged in impermissible activities,
whatever that might involve. I've not been told of any impermissible activities in the past,
and I certainly haven't engaged in anything other than legitimate journalism.
This is the largest number of mutual Soviet-British expulsions in four years.
Back in 1985, 31 people were ordered out by each side.
In America's largest city today, a unique fundraiser,
all in an effort to play catch-up with what threatens to become the most devastating epidemic mankind has known.
Shahab Sharifi reports on a massive walk to benefit victims of AIDS.
They filled the sidewalks of New York City.
They put on their most comfortable shoes to walk in honor of their loved ones, friends and coworkers who have died of AIDS.
We certainly thought about it, we talked a lot about it on the walk.
We thought next year maybe it would be nice if we had T-shirts with his name on it, things like that.
New York's fourth annual AIDS walk attracted more than 16,000 walkers,
who each raised money to benefit the gay men's health crisis,
one of the nation's first AIDS service organizations.
I didn't ask people for a dollar a mile, I ask people for $25 a mile.
Most people will say yes. It's a very relevant cause.
I pulled in $2,200 this morning.
The AIDS walk is 6.2 miles. It's considered the world's largest AIDS fundraising event.
Last year they raised nearly $2.5 million.
This year, more than $3 million were raised.
15% of the proceeds will go to other community-based AIDS service organizations.
Trying to catch up to an epidemic when you're so far behind is what's hard.
There are more cases every year and people need more services and we need to have educational programs,
or we're never going to catch up.
It's estimated that more than a million Americans are infected with the AIDS virus.
Nearly 100,000 Americans have been diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.
Of those, some 55,000 have died.
To put this number in perspective, almost as many Americans have died of AIDS than died in the Vietnam War.
Many of today's walkers believe that it's not enough to sit back and talk about the problem.
It's important to do something about it.
It's certainly a feeling of hope in some way that the goodness in people is being roused and called upon and that people are responding.
Quentin Smith and Alice Farley are responding by walking the 6.2-mile course on stilts.
The AIDS crisis has personally touched many of the people here.
Walkers who have lost loved ones and friends are taking each step in honor of those near and dear to them who have died from the disease.
He was really sick for about two and a half years and he just really kept his spirits up.
He never gave up and he just really went out to help other people while he was sick.
I just want to perpetuate that spirit that he had.
Thank you for your participation in AIDS Talk 1989.
As the walkers crossed the finish line, they were cheered by fellow walkers.
They were given cool drinks and serenaded by musicians who donated their time and talents to the cause.
It's time to unite.
Reporting in New York, I'm Shahab Sharifi.
And up next on the Health Feed, a possible link between the spread of AIDS and your age.
Be right back.
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Okay.
Josie, would you please read yours?
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As the ability to build a better vegetable increases, so does the chance of high-tech risks to our health.
Where is technology taking the American farm as we head into the 90s?
Rip King has this report.
At a time when public concern over pesticides and agricultural chemicals is on the rise,
public policymakers, economists, and investors have all begun to take a good hard look at the future prospects for American agribusiness.
And it's frustrating sometimes to the chemical companies, it's frustrating to economists, it's frustrating to policymakers,
because we don't really have a lot of information yet on what the costs and the benefits of moving away from pesticides really are.
But sometimes policy gets made just when events like this happen, and it forces the research establishment to learn more about some of the things that they have placed in a lesser priority.
Agricultural biotechnology, like its medical counterpart, is promising to revolutionize the life sciences in a big way, but just can't seem to say exactly when.
Tiny microbes that kill farm pests are being touted as new biopesticides of the future, as are genetically modified super seeds from the nation's biotech labs.
Nobody's waiting for the year 2000 anymore.
We have already developed commercially useful genetically engineered plants, food processors, specialty chemical companies, seed companies,
are all altering their business strategies for the future to incorporate this new technology.
But genetically altered crops like insect resistant cotton, industrial oil bearing rapeseed, as well as the better tasting tomato,
all appear to be much behind schedule, or at least well beyond original projections.
This has some investors a little nervous, and has some of biotechnology's biggest critics relieved.
Agriculture has already caused tremendous environmental problems.
Adding biotechnology as a tool of agriculture has the potential for exacerbating environmental stress.
On the other hand, biological pest control, the preferred method of environmentalists these days, seems to have its own shortcomings on the future farm.
This applied insect science that enlists natural predators and parasites to keep pests in check is equally in check unless more farmers adopt its use on a regional basis.
We're going to have to have new policies that either provide farmers with the incentives to cooperate,
or publicly fund programs that will take care of integrated pest management.
Otherwise, I believe we would have seen it happen a long time ago.
No matter what developments come from either gene splicing or future predacious insects, the public's outcry for safer food technology is a loud and clear one,
one that the public and the private sectors will not be able to ignore any longer.
In Berkeley, California, Rip King reporting.
Well, from talk of updating our farms to the latest technology in stars.
Reading the stars, that is, will explain right after these messages.
Stay with us. The USA Tonight continues.
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...an age-old interest, but in one Maryland suburb, it's hardly practiced like it was in olden times.
You might call it a sign of the times. Call it the facts of life.
Call it Mark Mooney reporting on one woman who uses the latest in communications equipment to bring the tale of the stars to your doorstep.
And it looks like that she is going to be in the mood on the 22nd.
So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to fax this to L.A.
Karen Herbst is known as the star faxer, the lady who will chart your life and fax you the facts, her predictive power positively preternatural.
Karen is also known as the seer of the suburbs.
30 minutes from Washington, D.C. in attractive element, very much like a character out of a Steven Spielberg movie.
Karen produces extraordinary energy.