Chapter 7: China from 1986-1989

This chapter focuses primarily on the Tiananmen Square incident, and the people’s struggle to achieve victory over the strict Chinese government.

               

                The Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 engaged students into new world views. Students warred against “old” traditions, theories, elders, etc. However, this was short lived, because it ended when Mao Zedong died in 1976. This event presented a brief space for dissent to take place.

               

Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping soon became the new leader. He planned to enact economic reform and create an opening to the West; therefore increasing the hope that political reform would come.

June 4^th marked a major turning point in Chinese history. After about a month and a half of peaceful protests, soldiers began fighting back, killing hundreds of students and allies in Tiananmen Square. This chapter explores the revolutionary tactics and struggles of the Tiananmen Square incident.

                

               Fang Lizhi’s speech, Democracy, Reform, and Modernization, inspired many student protests. In this speech, the key to understanding democracy was pointed out to be recognizing every individual’s rights. If the people truly wanted reform, it was crucial to set a democratic mentality and spirit. Also, the intellectual realm of the people had to be independent so as to not rely on authorities like the government.

                When the government representatives met with the students in 1989 about the protests, the government already had a plan set in mind - to defuse the discontent present among the students. However, the question didn’t fall as to what the government aimed to achieve, but that of what the students hoped to gain from the meeting. The entire community of students wanted to promote democracy, punish anyone guilty of embezzlement, make the reform stronger, and to overcome the corruption in the Chinese government.

                Throughout the meeting, it seemed as if the government officials were disregarding the students’ questions. They never really gave a complete answer, and they seemed as if they were trying to get around the question without giving too much away. They also kept referring to the students in a parental way; they would call them China’s children, and would continually say that the government loves its children. It all seemed like a façade to me, honestly. I couldn’t take the officials seriously, and neither could the students. I believe that this meeting only caused more problems than it fixed.

                The Hunger Strikers’ Announcement brought about many important points through a persuasive ritual. They defined a hunger strike specifically as a ritual, and some claim that they are fasting for a certain amount of days, while other proclaim their fasting until death. So, either way, this was a form of self-immolation for a very strong cause. This was said to be an “ambiguous weapon.” Even if their demands listed include some form of compromise, this extreme form of protest seems to prevent such a response.

                The strikers noted that “democracy is the most noble meaning of life; freedom is a basic human right,” (Kenney 171). However, the price for such a thing is one’s own life.

                The strikers’ reasons for this hunger strike was to protest

• ·         The indifferent attitude of the Chinese government towards this strike
• ·         The hindrance of their higher learning
• ·         The government’s incessant differences in their reports of this strike, and their label of the strike as a “chaotic disturbance.”

The strikers’ demands were that

• ·         The government to conduct dialogues with a delegation of Beijing institutes of higher learning
• ·         The government should give this strike a proper name, a just and impartial review, and should affirm that this strike is a patriotic and democratic movement by the students.

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The Tank Man

               

 This movie was an eye-opener into the devastating events of the Tiananmen Square incident in China, as well as the long term effects resulting from it.

                The Chinese government is very strict, and monitors pretty much everything that its citizens say or do. During the Tiananmen Square riots, any form of evidence that showed what was happening was completely banned and eliminated. Reporters who filmed the riots or took pictures of them were immediately searched and their documentations were confiscated. However, some brave souls who were able to hide their evidence got away from the Chinese police with heart-breaking evidence of the horrible event.

                I think that having actual video proof of the event really makes me feel connected towards the event. I am able to form a better picture of what was going on, and it’s as if I was there with the children rioting or the reporters filming. Just being able to see the torment in the people’s eyes and the heart-wrenching cries of those hurt immensely heightens the actuality of the event. It makes it seem more terrible and adds a higher sense of sympathy for the people.

                I found this image, and thought that it related so much to the idea behind this video.

                It doesn’t take an army to change a nation; all it takes is one man with an idea and some courage. That one man stood alone in front of all those tanks. He had no armor on – all he had were what seemed to be grocery bags. And even still, he made an effort to take a stand and say enough is enough.

                This “Tank Man” provided the initiative the rioters needed to persevere. Just this one man’s insane amount of courage was enough to spark something in thousands. I think that was the part that got to me.

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The PDF file, The Progress of Protest in China, really brought to my attention that the Tiananmen Square riots were headed up by kids. These were children that went to school, hung out with friends, and had homework, just like any other kid around that age. They were not much older or younger than me, and I think that really shocked me. I’m 18, but I’ve never been a part of a big revolution. Yet, these kids can be able to say, “Yeah, I was 16 when I was a part of this riot group, and we completely changed the nation because of it.” I think that’s pretty cool.

It also really stuck out that yes, these were kids, and these kids led one of the biggest revolutions in Chinese history! And they were KIDS.

Kenney, Padraic. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End : A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print.