Embassies Order Citizens Out of Beijing

Harvard officials continued to lead American academics' efforts to support China's embattled pro-democracy movement yesterday, while foreign embassies ordered their citizens out of Beijing after Chinese army troops sprayed a diplomatic compound with gunfire.

Foreigners crowded Beijing's airport, trying to escape a chaotic city where tanks and troops raced along main avenues firing at random. In Washington, the State Department urged all Americans "to leave at once" and has begun to charter commercial aircraft to help evacuate civilians from Beijing and Shanghai.

At Harvard, President Derek C. Bok yesterday organized a letter from presidents of 15 leading American universities condemning last weekend's student massacres in Beijing. Addressed to the chair of China's State Education Commission, the letter called on Chinese officials "to cease this violence and to refrain from sending troops into centers of learning which could only result in more bloodshed."

"Our institutions have tried to help in training a new generation of Chinese students and professionals," the presidents wrote. "It would be a new loss to China if they were deterred from returning home."

Also yesterday, the Harvard-based Coordinating Committee of China Scholars in the Boston-Cambridge area sent a telegram to President Bush suggesting limited political action. In a tersely worded message, the 11 leading academic experts acknowledged the importance of U.S.-China ties, but suggested granting automatic visa extensions to all Chinese students in the U.S., flying American flags half-mast at embassies in China, and giving "sympathetic consideration" to Chinese requests for political asylum.

The letter read in part, "We are convinced that a firm and ongoing commitment to the expansion of human rights in China is in America's best national interests."

At Commencement exercises today, Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence and other leading figures have pledged to wear white arm bands in mourning for fallen students in China.

But armed patrols with red armbands still march near Tiananmen Square, where the troops of the 27th Army crushed China's popular pro-democracy student movement, killing or wounding thousands of people.

Soldiers in one convoy chanted: "We love the people, we love the capital," then opened fire, scattering crowds. Several deaths of citizens were reported yesterday.

A major battle has yet to materialize between the 27th Army and supposedly rival military units on the edges of the city, but a witness said the 27th and 38th armies, based in Hebei and Beijing respectively, fought each other with automatic weapons early yesterday about 12 miles east of downtown.

Soldiers in Beijing sprayed bullets at a diplomatic compound and several other buildings in a foreign residential area, almost hitting two children of a U.S. embassy official. The embassy ordered the evacuation of all dependents of staff members, and thousands of foreigners went to the airport hoping to get tickets out.

Lawrence Sullivan, research associate with the John T. Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, said the chaos in China may reawaken the country's dormant xenophobia. "Just because we establish relations with China doesn't mean it disappears," he said, adding that in times of crisis China often tries to close off its society from contact with the outside world.

A signal of future breakdowns in relations could be China's condemnation of the United States for giving refuge to dissident Fang Lizhi, a well-known astrophysicist. China accused Fang, who fled to the U.S. Embassy, of attacking the communist system and said Washington was interfering in China's internal affairs.

In addition, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the U.S. decision to stop arms sales and military contacts in protest of the bloody crackdown was a "detriment to bilateral relations."

Many other nations also have imposed sanctions or frozen relations.

Ronald Dumas, the French foreign minister, declared in Paris that China was "on the verge of civil war" and the French Embassy staff would be reduced "to the indispensable minimum."

In other cities:

. Six people were run over by a train while manning a barricade near the Shanghai railway station Tuesday night. Shanghai radio said angry crowds set the train ablaze and beat 21 railway security officials who tried to put the fire out.

. Tens of thousands of people in the ancient capital of Xian blocked roads and held anti-government demonstrations. Xian radio said the unrest had "seriously wrecked the city's life."

. In Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, the provincial radio said 100 people were arrested after what it called a "gang of scoundrels" stormed city offices Sunday and beat up 300 security officials. There were unconfirmed reports that 20 people had been killed in clashes with security forces.