Press: Thrust Onto Center Stage

Reporters in Beijing scramble to cover a confusing drama

CNN Tokyo bureau chief John Lewis and his four-member crew arrived at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to spend another night covering the standoff between Chinese demonstrators and government troops. Decked out in ponchos and straw hats to protect themselves against the rain, the crew surveyed the scene as tens of thousands of protesters continued to defy the martial-law edict ordering them to disperse. Exhausted after working two straight days with little or no sleep, Lewis and his colleagues curled up on the square's wet pavement and went to sleep. At sunrise, as Lewis awoke, he found dozens of amused Chinese demonstrators taking...

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