World

Defending the introduction of capitalist reforms, Deng Xiaoping once said it did not matter whether cats were black or white so long as they caught mice. Now the Chinese leader is determined that his cats will be red. Four months after his crackdown on the prodemocracy movement, the first tocsin for a "purification" of the Communist Party has been sounded. The Beijing municipal party headquarters announced that all its members must reregister by the end of 1990, and those deemed "hostile and antiparty" will be purged. Diplomats estimate that as many as 50,000 of the party's members in the capital might be expelled. Party officials elsewhere fear the campaign will soon include all 48 million members nationwide.