QUICKIE 8

‘Robocop’ to The Rescue

Beijing tries new tactics for protest control

WHO CAN FORGET THE IMAGES OF 1989, when country-bumpkin Chinese

soldiers in rumpled uniforms gunned down students on Tiananmen Square?

It won’t happen that way again. On the anniversary of the June 4 crackdown,

unrest is simmering across China, and Beijing has unveiled a modern new look

and tacit new rules for what is now the capital’s elite corps of antiriot police.

Here’s the strategy:

Buy peace if you can. When 2,000 metalworkers who had not been paid in

up to two years blocked highways and clashed with police in the “Rust Belt”

city of Liaoyang in May, authorities retreated. Quiet returned after the deputy

mayor promised that wages and pensions would be paid soon.

Let others do the dirty work. Since last summer, devotees of the banned

Falun Gong sect have come from all over China to stage silent protests in

Beijing. Now Beijing is asking provincial police to come to the capital and

round up their own locals.

Smother student protests with kindness. Last month 2,000 students

began protesting an alleged cover-up of the rape and murder of a female

student at Beijing university. Authorities banned a memorial service, then

reversed themselves and devoted a corner of the campus to commemorations.

If all else fails, scare ‘em. Last week Beijing unveiled black high-tech

armored uniforms, imported from France at up to $2,700 apiece. The

futuristic “Robocop” riot gear provides “head-to-toe protection,” according to

the state-run Beijing Evening News. They resist water, flame, “even Molotov

cocktails.” But if it comes to that, the new strategy has fallen short.

Newsweek June 12, 2000

01 De acordo com o texto,

a) as autoridades enfrentaram o protesto dos 2000 metalúrgicos com austeridade.

b) Beijing está pedindo que a polícia da província venha até a capital e prenda os manifestantes.

c) a China se recusa a utilizar métodos modernos de combate a motins.

d) a China pretende combater os protestos estudantis com violência.

e) o governo chinês bloqueou estradas para impedir os manifestantes metalúrgicos.

02 Segundo o texto,

a) as autoridades chinesas organizaram um serviço memorial em homenagem à estudante

vítima de estupro e assassinato.

b) a seita “Falun Gong” é bem vista pelo governo chinês.

c) o governo chinês pretende punir os rebeldes que se manifestaram contra a seita “Falun Gong”.

d) na comemoração de 4 de junho a paz reina no território chinês.

e) as autoridades dedicaram um local do “campus” para as comemorações

03 De acordo com o texto, 2000 metalúrgicos:

a) manifestaram-se contra as condições precárias de trabalho.

b) reivindicaram aumento salarial.

c) protestaram por não receberem salários há dois anos.

d) foram gravemente agredidos pelas autoridades chinesas.

e) protestaram contra a jornada de trabalho.

04 Assinale a alternativa que corresponde à voz passiva da frase “Authorities

banned a memorial service…”.

a) a memorial service is banned.

b) a memorial service has been banned.

c) a memorial service is being banned.

d) a memorial service was banned.

e) a memorial service was being banned.

05) Se na frase: “ the new strategy has fallen short.” Estivesse no plural, os itens sublinhados ficariam:

a) Inalterados

b) News strategies have

c) New strategys has

d) New strategies have

e) News strategies have