508 { China’s Quest
Pressure on the GDR intensified still further in mid-1989 when thou-
sands of its citizens began passing through Hungary and Austria in search
of freedom and better lives in the FRG. Hungary had opened its borders with
Austria in May, and since controls over movement within the East European
socialist camp were relatively lax, GDR citizens could travel via Hungary to
Austria and then to the FRG, where a promise of citizenship and government
stipends awaited them. A trickle quickly became a flood. East Germans who
could not make it to Hungary began to rally at the FRG embassy in Prague,
also demanding transit to the West. At the same time, growing numbers of
people began showing up at an old and famous Lutheran church in Leipzig
(in the GDR) for a decade-long Monday evening assembly of dissidents. By
October 9, a huge crowd of perhaps one hundred thousand people filled the
square outside the church, ignoring warnings by internal security forces to
disperse or face violence.
As the SUP crisis deepened, it reached out to the CCP for support of pro-
letarian dictatorship. PRC and GRD national days both fell in October (on
October 1 and 7, respectively) and provided an occasion for mutual support.
SUP Politburo and Secretariat member Egon Krenz led the GDR delegation to
China. Krenz and Qiao Shi discussed the challenges facing the GDR. China
“fully understands” the current situation of the GDR, Qiao told Krenz, and
“supported the GDR Party and government in upholding socialism, safe-
guarding state sovereignty, and fighting against all activities aimed at sabo-
taging socialism.”^5 Hostile forces in Western countries were attempting to
bring about “peaceful evolution” to capitalism in socialist countries, Qiao
warned Krenz.^6
Yao Yilin led the CCP delegation to the GDR National Day celebrations.
Yao, it will be recalled, was one of two Politburo members who called for im-
position of martial law in Beijing when that issue came before CCP leaders in
May. During a series of meetings with GDR leaders from October 2 through
9, Yao reached a meeting of the minds on the importance of upholding social-
ism. He met GDR and SUP chief Eric Honecker on October 9. After the talks,
Yao reported that China and the GDR shared “identical views on a series
of major issues.”^7 Yao was “deeply impressed” by GDR “efforts to persist in
socialism.” Honecker, for his part, compared the situation in the GDR to the
“counterrevolutionary” activity in China before 6.4. In their joint statement,
Yao and Honecker said that the lesson of both the “counterrevolutionary riot
in Beijing and the current defamation campaign against the GDR” was that
“socialist values should be staunchly upheld.”^8
The SUP had made preparations to use military force against demonstra-
tors in Leipzig shortly after Yao left the country. Those preparations were
complete and orders ready to go out, but at the last minute, the operation
was cancelled. The party center feared that the SUP organization in Leipzig
that would have responsibility for carrying out the orders would refuse to