Tiananmen Square, 1989: developments in China

China is one of the world leaders for today. The leaders of the Communist Party of the country have for many years been very unpleasant to recall and comment on events that entered the national and world history under the title "Tiananmen Square-1989".

Reasons for the revolution: version number 1

Clearly understand and determine the essence of the processes that led to the emergence of protest moods in the Chinese student society is quite difficult. There are two versions of the reasons.

The essence of the first is that the liberal reforms carried out since 1978 in the Chinese economy and political system have not been completed. Supporters of the continuation of radical changes in the West European and American pattern believed that the logical conclusion of liberalization was the gradual removal of the CP of the CPR from total control over the country. Students advocated the strengthening of democracy and the protection of human rights. The USSR and the restructuring undertaken by the USSR President Gorbachev were the benchmark, a model supported by supporters of this view of China's development.

Version # 2

A part of the Chinese youth went to Tiananmen Square (1989) to defend the ideal of China's development, which was defended by Mao Zedong. They believed that the development of private property, business and other capitalist factors would be disastrous for the development of a great state.

For supporters of these views, democratization was needed as an instrument of influence on the national government. In their opinion, market reforms could lead to violent unrest and social cataclysms. People were afraid of changes in the traditional Chinese society of peasants and artisans.

Course of events

Events in Tiananmen Square in 1989 occurred according to the principle of the Maidan in Ukraine:

• For protests was chosen a large free territory in the Chinese capital;
• A tent town was created;
• There was a certain hierarchy among the participants;
• Material support was provided by sponsors from the Communist Party.

The revolution began on April 27, 1989. At first the protests did not differ in mass character, but the total number of participants gradually grew. The social structure of the protesters was heterogeneous. On the square, there were such sections of the population:

• Students;
• Workers of factories and factories;
• intelligentsia;
• Peasants.

In late April and early May, all protests were peaceful. The tent town lived its ordinary life. Of course, the official authorities of the country could not tolerate this protests in the capital for a long time. 4 times the Chinese Communist Party appealed to the people with a request to disperse, but these words were never heard. Unfortunately, the demonstrators made a mistake. It consisted in the fact that they did not comply with the order of the authorities. Very many people paid for disobedience with life.

On May 20, a meeting of the leadership of the Communist Party and Beijing took place, at which it was decided to introduce martial law in the city. At that time it was already clear to the whole world that the armed dispersal of the action was being prepared. The country's leadership could not make concessions to the protesters, since this could shake the might of the ruling party.

Tiananmen Square (1989) was crowded with people. Thousands of protesters expressed the protest mood of Chinese society. On June 3, a military operation began to disperse its citizens. At first, the authorities did not want to use serious weapons, so unarmed soldiers of the National Liberation Army of China tried to enter the square. The protesters did not let them in, so the top decided to use tanks to shoot and disperse the demonstrators.

In the evening of June 3 tanks appeared in the city. They made their way through the barricades. The militarized organizations of the protesters entered into open confrontation with the tank units of the PLA. By destroying caterpillars, the machines were rendered harmless, and then set on fire. About 14-15 tanks were liquidated. As early as June 4, events in Tiananmen Square (1989) began to develop according to a more violent scenario:

• The shooting of peaceful demonstrators;
• Confrontation of people and soldiers;
• Ousting people from the square.

Number of Revolution Victims

The official investigation of the events of 1989 in Beijing has not yet been conducted. All information from Chinese sources is classified.

According to representatives of the State Council of China, civilians were not shot at all, but more than 300 soldiers of the Chinese army were killed. The version of the authorities is quite understandable: the army behaved culturally, and the protesters killed soldiers.

A representative of Hong Kong in an interview with foreign journalists said that, according to his information, about 600 people were killed. But there are also more horrifying statistics, in which thousands of victims of the shooting in the square are featured. The newspaper "New York Times" published information from the organization "Amnesty International." Human rights defenders received data that the number of victims of the June 4 events reached 1,000. The number of deaths under the version of journalist Edward Timperlake varies from 4 to 6 thousand people (both among protesters and among soldiers). Representatives of NATO spoke about 7 thousand victims of the tragedy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR - already about 10,000 people killed.

Tiananmen Square -1989 left a bright bloody trace in world history. Of course, it will never be possible to know the exact number of victims of those clashes.

Effects

Strangely enough, but the events of spring and summer of 1989 had a long-lasting positive effect for the country. The overall strategic and real results are as follows:

• The imposition of sanctions on the part of Western countries was short-lived;
• The political system of the country, headed by the Communist Party of the PRC, was strengthened and stabilized;
• Liberalization and democratization of economic and domestic policies continued;
• Increased economic growth;
• For 25 years the country has become a strong superstate.

Lessons for the future

All world totalitarian leaders of the 21st century should remember China 1989. Tiananmen Square has become a symbol of the unshakable will of the people to live better. Yes, people did not have the task of overthrowing power, but in any other country, protests may have completely different purposes. It is worth listening to the people and taking into account its interests in the process of building the economic and social policy of the state. Tiananmen Square in 1989 is a symbol of the struggle of ordinary people for their rights!