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THE PRC…
Xiaoping takes over control of China soon after Mao dies
(1978) (rules until 1992)
 His rule turns China in a slightly different direction; begins
to open the country a bit more

 Eases strict economic controls of the government
 Allows students to study abroad
 Welcomes foreign investment
**But still maintains a tight grip on power, and stifled
attempts at real reform and democratization

Jiang Zemin (90s) and Hu Jintao
(2000s)
 Both continued to increase the role
of China on the world stage
 Both tried to modernize China’s
economy, and introduced reforms
that would make it more of a freemarket

But China remained a
communist political system,
with one-party control,
centralized planning, and mostly
government ownership of the
means of production

Reforms of Deng Xiaoping had created two dissatisfied
groups
 Urban workers – reforms had gone too far
▪ Caused unemployment and lower wages; wanted less reforms
 Intellectuals/students – want more reforms
▪ See other Communist nations (Russia) opening up;

But peasants were happy with Deng’s leadership
▪ Had seen their incomes rise during the 1980’s as a result of government
programs.
▪ But they were too far removed from the cities to be supportive of the
government during the protests

Means “Gate of Heavenly
Peace”
 One hundred acres in all

One of the most heavily
monitored central squares in
the world
 Cameras, speakers for crowd

control
…”Could accommodate all 30
teams of the NFL plus 190 other
teams, each playing separate
games. Or, if you put a mountain in
the middle, you could hold the
Winter Olympics there instead.”

Students march to Tiananmen in 1987 to demonstrate
against policies of government
 Police are ready, and they club students
 Students are beaten and carried away

Chinese official HuYaobang prevents many students from
being jailed, and arranges for buses to take them back to
campuses
 “Hard-liners” not happy with Hu; he is ousted from his position

Students who were involved in the protests were assigned
to terrible jobs in bad locations after they graduate…

The death of Hu Yaobang
 Former Sec. Gen. of Communist Party
▪ Popular reformer in government
▪ Became a scapegoat for the government; criticized by state
editorials after his death
 His death on April 15th, 1989 provides students with an
opportunity to gather…
▪ …To mourn his death
▪ …To call on the government to reverse its criticism of his actions
while in office

Protests grow…
 Students join amidst claims of clashes between police and protesters,
and reports that Chinese media was distorting the events

Takes on more of a pro-democracy slant as the numbers grow
 Students demand more democratic representation, student union
organization, and end to corruption

May 4th: approximately 100,000 students march in Beijing
demanding media reform and negotiations with the
Communist leadership
 Sparked by State-run newspapers calling previous marches “an
organized conspiracy to sow chaos”

May 13th: Large groups of students in the Square start a
hunger strike
 Supported by hundreds of thousands of other students and
protestors in Beijing and other Chinese cities
 Daily marches and protests begin to occur in Tiananmen Square

May 20th:Martial law declared in Beijing
 Military attempts to enter the city, but soldiers are inexperienced
and reluctant to use force against the protestors blocking their
path
A statue of the Goddess of
Democracy is erected in the
Square
 Communist leaders remain
split on their plan of action

 Some want to use the military
to crack down on the protestors
 Some want to take a softer
approach with the protestors

PLA soldiers and tanks sent into the
Square to disperse the protestors
 Units more experienced and from other
regions of China

Soldiers use deadly force to disperse
protestors
 Tear gas, AK-47s, flamethrowers, APCs

Estimates of civilian deaths vary
 400-800 (CIA)
 2600 (Chinese Red Cross)

About 10,000 injured

Government and PLA arrest the supporters of the
movement
 Ban the foreign press from covering the event and the
aftermath
 Strictly control the Chinese media coverage as well

These moves cause widespread international
condemnation
 The international press struggles to make sense of what
went on, and to report the events to the world…