Contents. Historical Background to the Tiananmen Square Protests

Transcription

1 Contents Foreword 1 Introduction 4 World Map 10 Chapter 1 Historical Background to the Tiananmen Square Protests 1. Peaceful Protest in Tiananmen Square Grows and Leads to Violent Oppression 13 Itai Sneh An organized commemoration for a dead protest leader in Beijing s Tiananmen Square on April 15, 1989, turned into large demonstrations by students demanding democratic reforms. The Chinese government eventually cracked down harshly on the demonstrators. 2. Student Demonstrations Began Several Years Before the Tiananmen Square Incident 16 Paul Theroux American novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux journeyed through a newly opened China by train in the mid-1980s. There he found that student demonstrators were demanding democratic reforms as early as Students Bring a Goddess of Democracy to Tiananmen Square 23 Nicholas D. Kristof As the momentum of student protests in

2 Tiananmen Square began to wane in late May 1989, leaders revived enthusiasm by bringing into the square a sculpture resembling the Statue of Liberty. 4. The World Reacts to News of the Tiananmen Square Crackdown 29 Robert D. McFadden News of the Chinese government s violent crackdown against the Tiananmen Square protests, and of thousands of possible victims, inspired both official protests from Western governments and demonstrations among communities of overseas Chinese. 5. Tiananmen Square Was the Flashpoint of a Nationwide Movement 36 Michael Fathers and Andrew Higgins Pro-democracy demonstrations, and government crackdowns against them, were not limited to Beijing, but arose across China. As in Tiananmen Square, university students were the most active demonstrators. 6. Most of the Victims of June 1989 Died Outside Tiananmen Square 43 Robert Marquand Detailed research suggests that most of the student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square left in a peaceful, orderly fashion, although the Chinese government s anti-democracy crackdown resulted in many casualties elsewhere. 7. The Tiananmen Square Crackdown Was a Key Moment in Modern China s Development 52 Jonathan Fenby Writing nineteen years after the event, a British journalist examines how the

3 Tiananmen Square crackdown was an important moment in contemporary China s attempt to meld a restrictive, one-party political system with a mostly free-market economy. Chapter 2 Controversies Surrounding the Tiananmen Square Protests 1. China Must Join the Wave of Reform Movements in Other Communist Countries 61 Wang Dan One of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square democracy movement writes in March 1989 that Chinese leaders should adopt a multiparty political system and other democratic reforms. He notes that such changes were already underway in Eastern European Communist nations such as Hungary and Poland and could be useful models for China. 2. Democracy in China Is Rising Up from the People 65 Fang Lizhi A Chinese reformer writes, four months before the Tiananmen Square demonstrations begin, that ordinary Chinese people are beginning to call more strongly for democratic reforms despite decades of being dependent on their government. 3. China s Student Demonstrators Were Inspired by Bad Elements 74 China Daily An article published in Beijing s Englishlanguage newspaper on June 23, 1989 fewer than three weeks after the massacres claims that the demonstrators had a faulty under-

4 standing of China s brand of communism. Although their intentions were admirable, their demands for democracy were premature. The article s authors do not mention the violent end to the demonstrations. 4. China s Economic Liberalization Will Likely Lead to Political Liberalization 79 Chris Patten The last governor of the British colony of Hong Kong, which was returned to China in 1997, claims that China s economic development will ultimately require its authoritarian government to adjust. To support this view, he cites a Chinese leader who was ousted from power for encouraging leniency over the Tiananmen Square demonstrators. 5. After Tiananmen Square, China Embraced Economic Reforms 86 Joseph E. Stiglitz The Nobel Prize winning economist argues in 2002 that China, in contrast to ostensibly democratic Russia, experienced great economic growth in the 1990s by speeding up a transition to free-market practices. He notes that this has not led, however, to greater political freedom. 6. Newly Released Documents May Shed Light on the Tiananmen Square Crackdown 93 Daryl Lindsey The controversial publication of the Tiananmen Papers in 2001 showed the world the ways in which China s leaders decided to respond decisively and harshly to the pro-

5 democracy demonstrations of spring Many questioned, however, the origin of the documents upon which the Tiananmen Papers were based. 7. The Tiananmen Papers Are a Fabrication, Say Chinese Leaders 108 John Leicester An American reporter notes how, in reaction to the 2001 publication of documents describing the involvement of China s leaders in the 1989 crackdown, official Chinese government sources claim the documents are fakes. In addition, they assert that any crackdown was necessary to maintain stability and order. 8. In an Olympic Year, Tiananmen Square Serves as a Symbol of a New China 113 Kevin Johnson Beijing, China s capital, served as the site of the Summer Olympic Games in Tiananmen Square, at Beijing s heart, was one of the city s major destinations for visitors. 9. China Must Learn the Truth 118 Tiananmen Mothers Nearly twenty years after the crackdown, in an open letter to the Chinese government, an organization formed by mothers of Tiananmen Square victims asks the government to fully investigate the event and to make public the findings. The authors ask that those responsible be held accountable. 10. On the Twentieth Anniversary, Tiananmen Square Is Remembered Everywhere But China 125

6 Los Angeles Times Reporters for an American newspaper describe the events in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 2009, which are conspicuously absent any remembrance of the protests or crackdown of Chapter 3 Personal Narratives 1. A Man and His Wife Make the Decision to Escape 131 Zhang Boli One of the student leaders at Tiananmen Square recalls the massacres as well as his decision to abandon Chinese communism and escape Beijing along with his young wife. 2. A Student Mourns the Tiananmen Square Victims but Remains Optimistic 139 Anonymous A 20-year-old university student remembers watching the horrific scenes in Tiananmen Square the night of the massacre, as well as his harrowing attempt to escape, along with fellow protesters, the soldiers gunfire. 3. An American Journalist Escapes the Tiananmen Square Crackdown 146 Harrison E. Salisbury A journalist and China expert who maintained a diary of his experiences in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations notes his amazement at the death toll in and around the square, as well as the apparent chaos in the streets afterward.

7 4. A Chinese Soldier Remembers Tiananmen Square 153 Christopher Bodeen A young Chinese soldier who took part in the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and who was one of the few such soldiers to speak out against the events, remembers not only his participation, but the ways in which the incident changed his life. Chronology 159 For Further Reading 162 Index 165