Hu Ping (胡平), a research student of philosophy, focusses in his "electoral program" on the freedoms of expression and of the press. He says these are "the most basic rights of citizens", and "enjoying them has not yet won everything, but without them everything else would be lost." The level of democracy also depends on the development of productive forces, therefore it needs to be unfolded cautiously. But China's low economic level must not prevent the society creating a solid base for Democracy. The most important instrument that already gives a lot of power to the people even under such limited circumstances, he adds, is the freedom of expression. Hu Ping presents himself as a prudent theorist and critic of the system.

Wang Juntao (王军涛) from the Technology and Physics Department, was already a key figure in the 1976 Tiananmen Movement. He is closely linked to the Communist Youth League (and later becomes an alternate member of its Central Committee), and reformist Party Secretary General Hu Yaobang will at some point receive him for a personal discussion. 

In his political treatises Wang delivers a very critical judgement on the Cultural Revolution and other deviations in party history. He wants to fight corrupt cadres, and democratize the political system. Mao, he says in one of the electoral debates, was not a Marxist but a dictator, because he never implemented the kind of democracy practiced by the "Paris Commune" (of 1871) although Marx had repeatedly praised it.

Xia Shen (夏申) is a particularly active candidate who writes numerous treatises, publishes his own campaign Magazine "The Citizens" (Gongmin 公民) and organizes several rallies and meetings. He makes known his opinions on many diverse topics, though his arguments often sound a bit complicated. He claims in a pre-election interview that "Marxism is only part of the outstanding cultural heritage of mankind", Marx has died more than a hundred years ago, the world has greatly changed since, one cannot find all the answers with Karl Marx any more, but people could ask how Marx would have dealt with a specific problem.

Although himself a Communist Party member, Xia says in response to a question, that party interests do not stand above people's interests – if he were elected, he would in the first place follow the interests of the people. He also says: "We have to diversify power, give it back to the people, democratize political and economic power, and liberate thought."

The candidate Zhang Wei (张炜) from the Economics Department, supports close ties of the intellectuals with workers and peasants - just as Mao has repeatedly demanded. Zhang presents himself as an advocate of moderate reforms. He is the chairman of the university's Student Council and therefore more than the others a candidate of the political establishment. Nevertheless he also speaks of "reforms", "democracy" and fighting "bureaucracy", and in his electoral platform he says that democracy could not be exchanged for "temporary stability" or "economic prosperity".

A marginal anecdote: Zhang was supported by Li Keqiang, who was a student at the Economics Department at that time, and later became prime minister, as Chen Ziming writes in his account of the 1980 elections. (Chen Ziming: Xianzheng de mengya. 1980 nian jingxuan yundong [Keime des Konstitutionalismus. Die Wahlkampfbewegung 1980]. 2 Bände. Zhenxiang Chubanshe. Hongkong 2013, S. 601) You can find Li Keqiang's name on a campaign poster supporting Zhang Wei. 

Liu Juan (刘娟) does not write lengthy treatises herself, but she publishes a number of surveys and research studies on the situation of female students at Peking University, on health issues and some practical problems of campus life. Her motto for the elections: "Everything for the free development of human beeings".

Other candidates who caught some public attention are Tian Zhili (田志立), Yu Dahai (于大海), Yao Liming (姚礼明), Yi Zhigang (易志刚), Lu Jingli (卢敬利), Yuan Hongbing (袁红兵), Xue Qiliang (薛启亮) and Yao Liming (姚礼明) as well as the two female contestants Liu Wei (刘卫) und Xu Xinxin (许欣欣).

Pluralist Elections at Other Academic Institutions

There are a number of other academic institutions, where electoral campaigns unroll in a similar way as at Peking University, notably at Tsinghua University (清华大学), at the Beijing Normal College (北京师范学院), at the Chinese Academy of Science (中国科学院), at Shanghai's Fudan University (复旦大学) and at a number of other colleges in Wuhan, Guiyang, Qingdao and Changsha. A few other activists of the Democracy Movement win seats for local assemblies, such as Chen Ziming (陈子明) in Beijing or Fu Shenqi (傅申奇) in Shanghai. But also in their institutions such pluralist elections - accompanied by open and profound debates on the big issues of Chinese society - remain a one-time event.

In 1982 the National People's Congress passes a new by-law that limits the possibilities of future elections. Public electoral campaigns cannot be held any more, and candidates are now explicitly required to be "devoted to socialism".