Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

The 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests (Tiananmen Square Massacre or June 4th Massacre or 6/4 incident), were a series of student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the People's Republic of China, between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. The protest denounced China's economic instability and political corruption and was violently suppressed by the PRC government.

Background

Since 1978, Deng Xiaoping had led a series of economic and political reforms which had led to the gradual implementation of a market economy (called Socialism with Chinese characteristics) and some political liberalization that relaxed the system set up by Mao Zedong. By early 1989, these economic and political reforms had led two groups of people to become dissatisfied with the government.

Related Topics:
Market economy - Socialism with Chinese characteristics - Mao Zedong

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The first group included students and intellectuals, who believed that the reforms had not gone far enough, since the economic reforms had only affected farmers and factory workers at that point, - the incomes of intellectuals lagged far behind those who had benefited from reform policies. They were upset at the social and political controls that the Communist Party of China still held. In addition, this group saw the political liberalization that had been undertaken in the name of glasnost by Mikhail Gorbachev. The second group were those, including urban industrial workers, who believed that the reforms had gone too far. The loosening economic controls had begun to cause inflation and unemployment which threatened their livelihood.

Related Topics:
Intellectual - Communist Party of China - Glasnost - Mikhail Gorbachev - Inflation - Unemployment

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In 1989, the primary supporters of the government were rural peasants who had seen their incomes increase considerably during the 1980s as a result of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. However, this support was limited in usefulness because rural peasants were distributed across the countryside. In contrast to urban dwellers who were organized into schools and work units, peasant supporters of the government remained largely unorganized and difficult to mobilize.

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The trigger for the protest was the death, due to illness, of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Hu Yaobang, who was ousted in February 1987. Hu had been seen as a liberal with a common touch, and his ousting in response to student protests in 1987 was widely seen to be unfair. In addition, the death of Hu allowed PRC citizens to express their discontent with his successors without fear of political repression, as it would have been extremely awkward for the Communist Party to ban people from honoring a former General Secretary. Another current in follow-up to the protests was anti-foreigner sentiment, particularly amongst students who believed foreigners were given more rights than native Chinese (see Nanjing Anti-African protests).

Related Topics:
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China - 1987 - Nanjing Anti-African protests

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In Beijing, a majority of students from the city's numerous colleges and universities participated with support of their instructors and other intellectuals. The students rejected official Communist Party-controlled student associations and set up their own autonomous associations. The students viewed themselves as Chinese patriots, as the heirs of the May Fourth Movement for "science and democracy" of May 4th, 1919. The protests also evoked memories of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1976 which had eventually led to the ousting of the Gang of Four. From its origins as a memorial to Hu Yaobang, who was seen by the students as an advocate of democracy, the students' activity gradually developed over the course of their demonstration from protests against corruption into demands for freedom of the press and an end to/reform of the rule of the PRC by the Communist Party of China and Deng Xiaoping (a Party elder who ruled from behind the scenes). Partially successful attempts were made to reach out and network with students in other cities and with workers.

Related Topics:
Universities - May Fourth Movement - May 4th - 1919 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1976 - Gang of Four - Hu Yaobang - Corruption - Freedom of the press - Communist Party of China - Deng Xiaoping

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Although the initial protests were made by students and intellectuals who believed that the Deng Xiaoping reforms had not gone far enough, they soon attracted the support of urban workers who believed that the reforms had gone too far. This occurred because the leaders of the protests focused on the issue of corruption, which united both groups, and because the students were able to invoke Chinese archetypes of the selfless intellectual who spoke truth to power.

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