. >> reporter: robert scalapino is director of uc berkeley asian studies. he says for the first time in memory young students are winning the support of some of china ease workers. because not only is there corruption in china there's also a 35% annual inflation rate. and extremely low wages. >> scalapino says that in the past when china was a more closed society the people may have been more patient and may have had more faith in their leaders but no more chinese masses are now learning about what's happening in other parts of the world and the patient is running thin. >> outside influences come in. and the students know about democracyization in south korea and they want it themselves. >> reporter: the people of poland, the people of china and the people of the soviet union all seem to want the same thing, democracy. >> i think you can say as i would call it democracy is in trouble everywhere because of the promises in the past have simply not been realized. >> reporter: for nearly seven weeks the protest grew what started with a student hunger strike spr