Soviet Viewers Get Glimpse of Beijing Protest

MOSCOW — Soviet television news on Monday was 30 minutes into a drab report on President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s visit to China when it switched from reporting formal greetings to film of 150,000 demonstrators.

The report did not explain that the protesters in Beijing’s Tian An Men Square are seeking democratic reform, even though that is one of Gorbachev’s stated goals for the Soviet Union.

The first half-hour of coverage featured several minutes of reporters’ backs and Gorbachev’s plane arriving in the distance, and more than a minute of the Soviet national anthem.

But cameras then focused on masses of demonstrators packed into the square. However, since nearly all of their signs were in Chinese, it was difficult for Soviet viewers to understand the point of the protest.