China, 1986-1989

           The Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, led by Mao Zedong, encouraged millions of students to “wage war” against the old ways of thinking and tradition. After Mao’s death Deng Xiaoping initiated new economic reforms which raised hopes that new political reforms would take place. These reforms began to raise hopes regarding political reforms, this can be seen as older communist party official Hu Yaobang began to favor reform. After his death on April 15, 1989 students began to gather initially to mourn and a call to address reform. Eventually, posters were displayed at universities addressing larger political issues such as freedom of speech and the press and democracy.

          On April 18 hundreds of students from Peking University and People's University sat in front of the Great Hall of the People and announced seven demands of the government:

1.  Affirm as correct Hu Yaobang's views on democracy and freedom.
2. Admit that the campaigns against spiritual pollution and bourgeois liberalization had been wrong.
3.  Publish information on the income of state leaders and their family members.
4.  End the ban on privately run newspapers and permit freedom of speech.
5.  Increase funding for education and raise intellectuals' pay.
6.  End restrictions on demonstrations in Beijing.
7.  Hold democratic elections to replace government officials who made bad policy decisions.

          As can be seen in Document 30, Government Representatives Meet with Students, an attempt by the government to appease student protestors is seen, however it “is not the official form of dialogue demanded by the broad masses of students” and that “no party and state leaders were present”

The People's Daily Editorial issued on April 26, 1989, with the headline "IT IS NECESSARY TO TAKE A CLEAR-CUT STAND AGAINST DISTURBANCES" shows how the leading party saw the protests:

"Some abnormal phenomena have also occurred during the mourning activities. Taking advantage of the situation, an extremely small number of people spread rumors, attacked party and state leaders by name, and instigated the masses to break into the Xinhua Gate at Zhongnanhai, where the party Central Committee and the State Council are located. Some people even shouted such reactionary slogans as, Down with the Communist Party. In Xi'an and Changsha, there have been serious incidents in which some lawbreakers carried out beating, smashing, looting, and burning."

          The editorial had the opposite of its desired effect. Instead of forcing students into submission by threat of force it enraged and antagonized the students against the state. More students joined in the marches.

          Students began their hunger strikes on May 13, two days prior to the state visit by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Student leaders organized the strikes on the square as a way of publicizing their demands, as the welcoming ceremony for Gorbachev was meant to take place there. By the afternoon of 13 May, some 300,000 were gathered at the Square and the hunger strike gained widespread sympathy and earned the student movement the moral high ground that it sought. Students also began to sing the socialist national anthem, The Internationale, as they marched into the square.

          The Chinese government requested that the students leave the square, stating that Gorbachev’s welcoming ceremony would no longer take place at the square, due to the fact that the protests would be a sign of internal conflict. The welcoming ceremony was then held at the airport, effectively removed the bargaining power of the students.

         The sino-soviet summit took place at the Great Hall as protestors stood in place at the square. The student protests embarrassed the members of the Chinese government as the meetings with the soviet leader were meant to mark a new history of relations between the two governments; this in turn caused many of the more moderate Chinese leaders to lean towards a more conservative path. The student hunger strikes gained momentum as hundreds more joined those in Tiananmen Square and smaller demonstrations began to take root in over 400 other cities.

          Martial law was declared on May 20. On June 1, Li Peng issued a report titled ‘On the True Nature of the Turmoil’, which stated the necessity and legality of clearing Tienanmen Square by referring to the protestors as terrorists and counter-revolutionaries.

          On the evening of June 3, state-run television warned residents to stay indoors but crowds of people took to the streets. Troops began firing upon protestors, using expanding bullets in order to create more damaging wounds. The killings infuriated city residents, some of whom attacked soldiers with sticks, rocks and molotov cocktails, setting fire to military vehicles. 

           Suppression of the protest was immortalized in Western media with video footage, such as the “Tank Man”.

 

           The Chinese government's response was denounced, particularly by Western governments and media. Certain countries, such as India, decided to minimize the coverage of the massacre so as not to jeopardize relations. Other countries, such as East Germany and Czechoslovakia supported the actions of the Chinese government.

          The party returned to a conventional Leninist mold and re-established firm control over the press, publishing, and mass media. The Communist Party of China forbids discussion of the Tienanmen Square protests, and has taken measures to block or censor information. Textbooks have little, if any, information related to the protests. Following the protests, officials banned controversial films and books, and shut down a large number of newspapers.