Q: People generally think that the FDC in Britain will face greater difficulties than its branches in the United States and France. Is this borne out by your experience?

A: Yes, due to the Hong Kong problem the British government has to maintain a reasonable relationship with Peking and therefore seems more conservative. Yet there is not really a need for us to influence foreign policy and we do not want to create a bad relationship that will affect the prospects for new students coming to Britain.

Actually, the problem is our lack of manpower, financial resources and experience. There are fewer students here than in France and the United States. Moreover, 80% of them are sent by the government and can be pressurized through their grants. Most of them study science and there is no dissident tradition to build on. Sooner or later they must go back under a shadow, and although they agree with us, they do not dare to openly associate with us. On the other hand, the people who are willing to make a contribution usually have good intentions but are without money and experience.

Q: Apart from Chinese students there is the overseas Chinese community in Britain. What kind of support can you get from them?

A: Support from the overseas Chinese community could be our main reliable reasource; they could be a bridge between the FDC and British society and politicians; they could be our main financial supporters--at least it works like that in the United States. But we still have not worked hard enough in this area. The composition of the overseas Chinese community is unlike that of the United States because most of the students have only come here after "the ten-year period of reform" and very few have been able to stay on; if they do stay, the pressure to make a living leads them to prefer not to get involved in politics. This is unlike the United States, where the third generation have already established strong contacts and become the mainstay of the FDC there.

Most of the overseas Chinese here are from Hong Kong and work very hard in the restaurant trade. Because Britain is not very friendly towards immigration, although these people have been here for a long time, they still want to return home one day and do not want to cause any kind of disturbance in the meantime.

The other thing is that overseas one's sense of nationality becomes stronger and nobody is really willing to believe that their own country could use tanks and machine guns to kill its students. There is a Mr. Liang in Manchester who, although he saw so many dead bodies on television and so on, still insists that we do not know the truth and cannot make any judgments. Still, this is an attitude with which we can sympathize.

Q: Against this background, how do you plan to get support from these groups?

A: Again, we have not really started. After June 4 some young people asked Chinatown to go on strike and such actions created a bad image. Now that the passage of time has calmed things down, the FDC is working to communicate more and encourage our members to work in restaurants. This is not only to get money but is also to show that we are not trouble makers but sincere students.

The overseas students are themselves financially limited and are preoccupied with their work. Their only source of information is the People's Daily, so Simon Jones in Manchester, together with some overseas students from mainland China and Taiwan, has published Nahan magazine. However, their expenses are too high and after publishing two issues it is hard for them to continue.

On the other hand, such a theoretical journal does not appeal to students of science, so now we are planning to publish a smaller two-weekly newsletter which will be cheaper and more widely distributed.

Q: How about support from British people?

A: We have already started to contact industrial circles, especially the labour unions and enterprises doing business with the Chinese mainland. Most of them have had a tough time and tend to be sympathetic to the FDC, while at the same time needing to understand the mainland. So there is a mutually beneficial relationship. We also intend to make more contacts with journalists who cover the Far East.

Q: How many members does the British branch have at present and what is your attitude towards recruitment?

A: Now we have about seventy-three formal members and most of them are students from the mainland. About 20% of them are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the overseas Chinese community and British people. But this figure cannot really represent the numbers of our supporters as, in light of the "embassy's" restrictions, we do not encourage people to join formally because we want them to return to mainland China and become the mainstream movement there. If you support democracy, then you support the FDC and it is not really important whether or not you are a formal member.

Q: Without a large membership, how will you get funds?

A: I can frankly say that we can work almost without a budget. Until now, the main contribution has been ￡2,500 from the performance given by a group from Taiwan. Of course, the overseas Chinese community has given us some support.

All our outgoings are very tightly controlled. For example, when the committee comes to London to have a meeting they do not apply for expenses. In the British branch there is no problem over wasting money because we do not have any money. Of course, in the long run financial resources are very important. It has been suggested that we should set up some kind of business but this is still a dream for us.

Q: Can you briefly tell us about the role of the British branch in the FDC and what your short term plans are?

A: The Head Office in Paris decides policy. We lack manpower, finance and experience, but this is in fact our strong point because all our members are simply students and we do not carry any dead wood. Most of us have benefited from the ten years of reform which makes us seem more modest and tolerant. We believe that time is on our side, people are on our side and the present limitations and pressures will gradually disappear through our efforts. After all, the greatest disadvantage of old-people's politics is time.

We can use this period to calm down and learn how to practice democracy in preparation for the future. In our meetings, every four weeks, we invite a scholar to give us lectures on subjects such as democratic procedures, experience of the lobby system and the British political system. We believe that slow and careful learning is more important than holding demonstrations, because the problem is not the overthrow of Li Peng, which will happen sooner or later, but how to finish the feudal system and build up democracy. On April 20-23 we are going to have a conference on "The Process of Democratization in the Socialist Countries" in West Berlin so that we can learn from the experience of East Europe.

Q: I heard that after you became chairman you spent a lot of time communicating with the overseas Chinese communities in major British cities. How was that?

A: Yes, I have been to Oxford, Manchester, Birmingham and other cities to exchange opinions with scholars and students. I was surprised that they gave this "counter-revolutionary" such a warm welcome. It was very encouraging and they selected me as chairman because I am a bit older. This is Chinese tradition, you know, and they gave me this chance to be active. . . .

Q: To the members of the FDC you are very protective and try not to expose them to any risk, but your own children are still in mainland China. Don't you worry about bringing them trouble?

A: Frankly, who is not afraid and who does not have relatives on the mainland? Somebody must stand up. I am a bit older and if I am frightened then the younger generation will have to take even more risks. Anyway, time is on our side, we will bring democracy back. I believe we will be chosen by the people.

For these overseas intellectuals who have never had any experience of democracy to study it in its motherland, while East Europe has seen the dominocollapse of communism and even the Soviet Union has given up its one-party system, their struggle is obviously not only against dictatorship, but it is also a race against time.

[Picture Caption]

The British branch of the Front for a Democratic China was set up in London last year and has a membership of over 100.

Pro-democracy activists hope that the blood of their mainland colleagues has not been spilled in vain, and hope soon to see democratic reforms in mainland China.

Chinese students in London burn incense in memory of fallen pro-democracy activists at a memorial service marking 100 days since the Tienanmen Square massacre.

Short on information and financial resources, the British branch of the Front for a Democratic China finds it hard to support publication of its magazine "Nahan."

Shao Tsung-i (right) and Wang Ssu-yuan (left) were elected chairman and secretary-general, respectively, of the British branch of the Front for a Democratic China.

The British branch of the Front for a Democratic China was set up in London last year and has a membership of over 100.

Pro-democracy activists hope that the blood of their mainland colleagues has not been spilled in vain, and hope soon to see democratic reforms in mainland China.

Chinese students in London burn incense in memory of fallen pro-democracy activists at a memorial service marking 100 days since the Tienanmen Square massacre.

Short on information and financial resources, the British branch of the Front for a Democratic China finds it hard to support publication of its magazine "Nahan.".

Shao Tsung-i （right） and Wang Ssu-yuan （left） were elected chairman and secretary-general, respectively, of the British branch of the Front for a Democratic China.