ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990                   TAG: 9003300246
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BEIJING                                LENGTH: Short

BEIJING ORDERS PUBLIC TO AVOID MAIN SQUARE

The Chinese leadership has ordered Beijing residents to stay away from Tiananmen Square in a secret document indicating officials fear a resurgence of anti-communist protests, Chinese sources said Thursday.

The order to avoid Tiananmen in the coming days was circulated at work, the sources said. A document read at meetings in work units and offices called the order "secret" and referred to a "tense situation," one source said.

In Beijing, security measures have been stepped up in recent days, including the return of night-time checkpoints instituted after the June military repression of mass pro-democracy protests.

Authorities are believed to fear traditional Qingming ceremonies in early April that commemorate the dead could see protests return as people honor those killed in the Tiananmen crackdown. - Deutshe Presse-Agentur 


 by CNB