![]() ![]() The idea was to stabilize the economy and stop inflation, which was one of the immediate causes of growing dissatisfaction in the spring of 1989. ![]() Also, in the economic sphere, there was a downturn in the economy, and there was a stop to any kind of economic reform. It abandoned any kind of political reform. Deng Xioaping and the elder leaders of the party took things back in their own hands.įor two years the Communist Party restored rather traditional policies in terms of political control. All the reformist leaders were expelled or arrested or demoted. And a very conservative reaction within the Communist Party leadership. Jean-Pierre Cabestan: Well, first of all repression and reassertion of order. ![]() What happened right after the government crackdown on the protests at Tiananmen Square? Today, the effects of the crackdown are clear in China’s top-down political system and the Chinese Communist Party’s obsessive repression of dissent.įRONTLINE spoke with Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University and author of “China Tomorrow: Democracy or Dictatorship?,” to understand how the events of thirty years ago have influenced the Chinese Communist Party today. On June 2, Chinese Communist Party elders gave orders for the military to clear the Square with force - crossing into uncharted authoritarian territory. Still, they didn’t want to overthrow the one-party system, then led by de facto head Deng Xiaoping, and several government officials had advocated for a peaceful resolution to the protests. The Beijing Consensus invented this idea that there has to be a trade off.Even after the People’s Liberation Army soldiers opened fire into crowds of civilians in Tiananmen Square on the morning of June 4, 1989, it seemed that some didn’t believe the bullets were real.įor weeks, students had gathered in the Beijing square, demonstrating for more political freedom and less corruption in the Chinese government through sit-ins and hunger strikes. There really is no trade-off needed between civil liberty and human dignity, and being fed. TS: On the contrary-if, of all the options in 1989, China had not chosen the worst, China would be a lot better balanced development. QZ: So do you think that without the crackdown and loss of political legitimacy, China wouldn’t have been as ambitious about economic reform and development? And the government made a pact with the elite population in China: ‘We know we don’t have political legitimacy, but allow us to achieve economic legitimacy. ![]() So Deng had to use his personal charisma-he launched his Southern Tour soon after-to launch nationalism, government-centered patriotism and macroeconomic reform. QZ: How does the youth of today compare with that of your generation?īut when you think about the Chinese miracle, there’s a very interesting period that was very conveniently forgotten: a period of stagnation in the economy from the summer of 1989 to 1992. had succeeded so thoroughly that they suffocated not only civil liberties, but economic development. It’s similar to movements after ours: Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and also Occupy Wall Street, which changed national dialogue. Such a large scale protest can not only can happen, but it happened from within. ’89 established a firm and visible nonviolent principle. TS: 1989 and the June 4th massacre symbolize the continual struggle throughout modern history- can an ancient civilization and culture and polity transform itself with only military, or technology, or economic advances or can it take a more humanistic approach with balanced development that includes civil liberties, democratic institutions. QZ: Why is the legacy of Tiananmen important today? Even though we can’t discuss it and have different opinions, those collective memories can’t be killed. I’ve seen time again, both inside and outside China that an apathetic general population develops fervor for change very quickly. But I stopped worrying about it five years ago. I spent a lot of time going around giving campus speeches, writing in English and Chinese, all of that to keep the memory alive because I was so worried that such powerful systemic lies would put such a legacy away. ![]()
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