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Article: A Study Group Is Crushed in China's Grip; Beliefs Are Tested in Saga Of Sacrifice and Betrayal
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 23, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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On a Saturday morning in the summer of 2000, eight young people
met in a shabby apartment near Beijing University and started a study
group to debate the need for political reform in China. Some were
students. Others were recent graduates. Not one was over 30.
They were still friends back then, brought together by a shared
desire to change their country for the better. After lunch, the group
-- seven men and one woman -- took a stroll across campus, earnestly
discussing the nation's problems under the willow trees surrounding a
green lake.
Two days later, one of the students recorded the day's events on a
sheet of lined paper under his university's letterhead.
"I attended a meeting of the ...