from the New York Times, 1999-May-11, by Erik Eckholm:

China's Government Widens Role in Anti-U.S. Protests at Embassy

BEIJING -- Chinese officials choreographed protests against the U.S. Embassy here on Monday, with a relentless procession of tens of thousands of demonstrators that lasted into the night.

The marchers, who protested the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during a NATO raid on Friday, were ushered by police officers to within 25 feet of the embassy. Many chanted "Down with American imperialism!" and sang the Chinese national anthem.

The protests were more controlled than those over the weekend. But young men continued to heave pieces of brick against the battered facade right over the helmeted militiamen, who were apparently under orders only to prevent an outright invasion.

In contrast to the situation over the weekend, when tens of thousands of spontaneous anti-NATO protesters roamed almost at will, the Beijing authorities had protest groups keep to a schedule and designated their route through the streets.

The governing Communist Party appeared to be attempting to harness public passions to its own use. On Sunday and Monday, government offices and social organizations in Beijing were reportedly ordered to hold meetings and issue denunciations of the embassy damage, which were duly reported by the press.

Most of the protesters on Monday were university students and faculty members, and some state companies were also allowed to send large delegations. Demonstrators said that as their organizations applied for permission to come to the embassy, the Public Security Bureau told them when and where to assemble.

High school students, workers and others who showed up on their own at the staging point were allowed either to tag along with an approved group or to wait until enough strays had gathered to form their own marching squad. As the night wore on, more agitated workers and other citizens streamed in, some of them defying police directions.

In a sign of how well the day's protests were staged, representatives of major official religious groups arrived and marched in sequence -- dozens of Buddhist monks, followed by a contingent of Tibetan monks, then Taoist monks, then Catholic, Protestant and Muslim leaders.

"Since I am a Chinese, why do you think I shouldn't come?" snapped a Tibetan monk in a scarlet robe when he was asked why he was marching.

While Americans have been advised to exercise caution, the U.S. Embassy has not ordered dependents to leave. International schools have closed. Because of safety concerns, American consular officials in Chengdu, where the official residence was burned early Sunday, and in Shenyang have moved into hotels.

At the American and British embassies, the government deployed thousands of troops from the People's Armed Police, a special anti-riot force under the military.

The American ambassador remained in the embassy for the third day, living on military rations.

In the afternoon the Chinese foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan, telephoned the ambassador, James Sasser. Tang relayed four demands to "U.S.-led NATO" regarding the bombing of China's embassy, which killed three Chinese and set off the anti-American explosion here.

The demands, as described by Chinese authorities, were these:

-- An "open and official apology" to China and the victims' relatives.

-- A thorough investigation.

-- Prompt disclosure of the results of the investigation.

-- "To punish severely those responsible for the attack."

In a telephone interview, Sasser said he had complained in return to the foreign minister that the state-run news media have not reported the regrets already offered by President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the ambassador himself.

Sasser has been stuck in the embassy since Saturday, along with two political officers, eight marines and two security officers. The American security officials decided it was too dangerous for those inside to move through the hostile crowds, which have never dispersed entirely.

At one point on Sunday, when a frenzied crush seemed in danger of overwhelming Chinese police guards, the Americans destroyed "extensive amounts of sensitive material," Sasser said.

Some demonstrators have been calling for a military response to the Belgrade bombing. But even the most temperate among the demonstrators, along with many people who did not march, are saying President Clinton has not done nearly enough to atone for the damage.

"We'll stop demonstrating only when America admits it made a mistake and apologizes," said Sun Qingqiang, 30, an official in a state aerospace corporation, as he waited his turn to shout at the embassy. Sun said he had heard on foreign radio broadcasts about Clinton's letter of regret but said, "Clinton's apology was fake, it was insincere."

Peng Weijun, a 20-year-old student of traditional medicine, cracked a brick from the sidewalk in half as he approached the embassy. "Even throwing rocks can't express my true feeling of anger," he said.

The state-run news media continued to stoke outrage, repeating that the bombing was an intentional criminal act. If anything, public passions seem to be intensifying.

With an angry fax, cultural authorities canceled the invitation for the Boston Symphony to perform this week in Beijing. Monday night, some cab drivers refused to pick up Americans, and in the embassy district, people gathered on street corners to discuss how China could exact military revenge.

Newspapers filled with inflammatory accounts of the embassy bombing and one-sided coverage of the conflict over Kosovo are selling out quickly. Many people spend their evenings avidly watching television news programs that have shown, for example, wrenching scenes of a Chinese victim's father in Belgrade sobbing as he handles his dead daughter's blood-stained quilt.

This evening's national news broadcast also showed chanting soldiers as a voice said, "The powerful army of the Chinese people will never tolerate the atrocity committed by the U.S.-led NATO."

Even before the bombing of the Chinese embassy, President Jiang Zemin was under strong pressure from the military and the public to take a stronger stance against the American-led air attacks in Yugoslavia, which China calls illegal aggression. But Jiang has few practical options and may be reluctant to destroy the improved relations he has cultivated with the United States.

China announced Monday morning that it was suspending its official dialogue with the United States over human rights and postponing high-level military contacts and consultations on weapons proliferation, arms control and international security. No mention was made of the negotiations on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, which are at a climactic phase.

Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russia's special envoy on the Yugoslav crisis, suddenly arrived here today for consultations. Russia and China are the strongest opponents of the NATO air attacks, and many Chinese say the United States has proved to an unreliable international partner, thus China must develop closer ties with Russia.

By general agreement, the champion of the day for creative visual effects among the demonstrators was the contingent of hundreds from the Central Academy of Arts. Ten years ago, in the pro-democracy demonstrations on Tiananmen Square, students from this institution erected the famous Goddess of Liberty.

On Monday, academy students carried a panoply of creative posters vilifying the United States. Some carried a giant replica of Picasso's 1937 antiwar mural, "Guernica," this one spattered with red paint. Others had made a giant cardboard Statue of Liberty with the face of Bill Clinton and with the figure holding a bloody bomb instead of a torch.