PRIM MTAINISTETRANSCRIPT
OF INTERVIEW WITH PAUL LYNEHAM, 7.30 REPORT,
JUNE 1989
E 0 E PROOF ONLY
LYNEHAM: Prime Minister thanks for joining us. I know you
haven't had a lot of sleep lately. Did you ever expect that
the old guard would react with such verocity and bloodshed?
PM: There was always an outside chance. We've been
monitoring the situation continuously and closely. we have
very competent people there. They said in their reporting
that there was a chance that they thought it more likely
that there would be an outcome which was not of this kind
and speaking for myself I consistently hoped that the more
moderate and intelligent line of my very good friend Zhao
Ziyang, would have prevailed because this sort of process I
know must be anathema to him and he's fought against it,
he's obviously been shunted aside now
LYNEHA4: There are reports that he's under house arrest.
PM: Yes he's certainly out of action. There is no
certainty in the reporting as to his actual fate. Some of
the suggestions were that he could even be executed but I
just most profoundly hope Paul, that he survives not only
for the obvious reason that I want him to, but it's only the
line of Zhao Ziyang and those who think like him that can
provide a lasting resolution of these issues because Deng
and Li Peng may believe that what they've done has bought
this issue to an end, it hasn't and it can't and it won't.
LYNEHAM: They've got so much blood now. Are they going to
be responsive to international reaction do you think?
PM: They won't be, in my judgement, immediately responsive
to international action. Deng for instance some time back
said specifically that they would not be and I think he
speaks accurately in terms of immediate responses. But I
don't believe that in the longer term that they'll be able
to be unresponsive either to the pressure of international
opinion but more particularly to the weight of opinion
within China. The nonsense that's being spoken now by the
authorities about them putting down a minority section of
renegades is patently false on its face.
LYNEHAM: When they talk of the dregs of society.
PM: The dregs of society. It's not the dregs of society.
It's very hard to talk about your students, not only in
Beijing but around the country, as the dregs of society.
This is patently a nonsense and there is also evidence
available to us of a degree of hesitancy and indeed
revulsion in sections of the People's Liberation Army which
is not surprising. You imagine the feelings of these young
men in uniform being asked now and required to shoot down
their fellow citizens, citizens who have been acting
peaceably and not making unreasonable demands. Students and
people who are not questioning, in a sense, certain
fundamentals about Chinese society but expressing simply a
fundamental human desire for the freedom of expression and
the opportunity to participate. Now those things are not
going to be able to be put down in any permanent sense so it
will be a combination in my judgement of the pressure of
international opinion and the intrinsic impossibility within
China of holding this position.
LYNEHAM: Very quickly Prime Minister, there are about 1500
Australians in China tonight. Are they safe?
PM: There are more than that. Our best count is that there
is approximately 500 Australians in a sense who are
permanently there. That's a combination of those in the
Embassy and in other posts in China. Students and business
people, approximately 500 in that category and anything up
to 1500 tourists. So we're probably looking at about 2000.
Are they safe? I believe so. They obviously shouldn't take
risks in going out and exposing themselves to danger but we
have confidence in the capacity of our Embassy people there
to protect them.
LYNEHAM: Prime Minister, thanks for speaking with us.
PM: Thank you very much indeed.
ends