1. Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher
POL 324: Asian Politics
Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher

2. Tiananmen Uprising

3. Tiananmen Background Decade of significant economic reform
Resistance to economic reform; ambiguity for political reform
“Liberal” Hu Yaobang ousted in 1987

4. Tiananmen Background
Deng Xiaoping for “limited” political reform (CCP control)
CCP Old Guard remembers GPCR and Red Guards

5. Tiananmen Background
Rising expectations plus dissatisfaction among Chinese
Gorbachev’s reforms in USSR and EE (break-up just beginning)

6. Tiananmen Background Spontaneous (chaotic) movement
CCP majority did not understand nature of the situation

8. Tiananmen Timeline March 1989 Protests and crackdown in Tibet
April 15 Death of ousted reformer Hu Yaobang; demonstrations begin
April 26 People’s Daily (Deng) attacked students as anti-party and anti-government
May 4 Gen Sec Zhao Ziyang supports students in a speech
May 13 Students begin hunger strike
May 15 CCP humiliated during visit of Gorbachev
May 19 Martial law declared

9. Tiananmen Timeline
May PLA moves toward Tiananmen, then withdraws
May 30 Goddess of Democracy appears
June 3-4 PLA troops begin to enter square; civilians killed
June 9 Deng Xiaoping on TV to defend actions of CCP
June 23 Zhao Ziyang officially replaced as General Secretary by Jiang Zemin
Nov. 29 Jiang Zemin becomes Chair of Central Military Commission as Deng gives up final post

10. What Price did China Pay?

11. What Price did China Pay?
Western sanctions imposed
US cuts military sales
World Bank stops loans
UN resolution condemns China

12. What Price did China Pay?
Japan supports new loans at G-7 meeting in summer 1990
World Bank and Asian Development Bank follow soon after
Most sanctions lifted by end of 1990

13. What Price did China Pay?
ALMOST NOTHING

14. Was Tiananmen Violence Inevitable?
1) Hard-liners and elders
2) Students became too extreme
3) Slowness of reformers
4) Goals of movement?

15. Hard-liners and Elders
CCP faction who had long opposed Deng’s reforms
Elders remembered chaos of GPCR
Deng becomes hard-liner from early stages of crisis, Deng extremely cautious on political reforms
Some evidence that Deng was “manipulated” by hard-liners into martial law

16. Students Become Extreme
Radical and moderate student leaders emerge
New leadership arrives from outside Beijing
On a couple of occasions, moderate student leaders try to convince everyone to leave Tiananmen Square
Many students leave before final assault

17. Slowness of Reformers
Zhao Ziyang leaves for trip to North Korea in early phases
Reports that Zhao and others sought to seek extraordinary meeting of NPC to oust Li Peng
What “tools” would reformers have used to combat hard-liners?
Perhaps more impossibility of task rather than late action

18. Slowness of Reformers Ultimate constituency of one – Deng Xiaoping
Evidence that Deng took hard-line position early on in events; question of timing and nature of crack-down

19. Goals of Movement?
Better university conditions to unclear calls for democracy
Not able to topple CCP, so what could realistically be achieved in short-term?
What would be “reasonable demands” ?

20. Goals of Movement?
In unlikely scenario of CCP collapse, who would have taken power?
In EE and USSR ( ), there were “other forces” waiting to take power

21. Aftermath
Thousands of individuals arrested or detained following massacre
Estimates of executions from dozen to hundreds

22. Aftermath Many student leaders escaped or exiled to West
Events are relatively unknown in China today
Internet blocked on references to “Tiananmen Uprising, “June 4 Incident,” etc.

23. After the massacre, a student leader said, "The government has won the battle here today. But they have lost the people's hearts."

24. Make a rather strong case that the Tiananmen Square Uprising and Massacre has had very little impact on the cause of political reform/democratization in China

25. One-time unique event which actually helped the CCP to strengthen its control over Chinese society, in the long-run

26. Paper Assignment

27. The End