The 1980s & Tiananmen Square Flashcards
Summarize the contents of “The People’s Republic Of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited” by Louisa Lim in 8 points.
- Chen Guang, a military photographer at the time of the 1989 student protests, tells of the events leading up to the aftermath. A Chinese soldier, he was tasked with capturing the crackdown. Lim uses soldiers’ recollections to show the events from their perspective, including Chen’s memory of the ground floor of the Great Hall of the People “turned into a makeshift hospital” and his conflicting feelings when he saw it.
- Lim interviews Zhang Ming, a participant in the protests who spent seven years in jail afterwards. He describes his decision to participate, his contributions to the protest and the mindset of the protesters. After “organizing massive student marches and a boycott of classes”, the decisions Zhang made during the protests would shape his life. Lim also focuses on the contributions of commercialism and economics to the amnesia surrounding the protests. She interviews Chen Ziming, an intellectual sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment as “one of the black hands behind the student movement”. According to Chen, a number of student leaders have benefited from compromise and fear political interference in their businesses: “They won’t even admit to being student leaders”.
- Lim encounters Wu’er Kaixi, who provides insight into the mind of a protest leader and recalls his involvement in events such as the hunger strike. He says that the hunger strike was his idea, a “deliberate strategy to escalate the movement”. Wu’er describes his struggles, ideas and life since his exile from China, his feelings towards those who remained behind and were imprisoned, and appeals to China’s leaders to be allowed to return to his motherland.
- The author explores the amnesia and censorship which the Chinese government has instilled into its young people, and how it has affected their knowledge of the Tiananmen Square events. Feel Liu, age 22, tells Lim about what he was taught in school about the protests; from a teacher’s perspective, the subject was “best left untouched”. Lim shows young people a photo of Tank Man and asks them if they have ever heard of him.
- She writes about Zhang Xianling, mother of student protester Wang Nan (who was killed during the June 4th massacre). Her attempts to cope with the death of her son and learn the truth behind the deaths of many other students led to the creation of the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of relatives of those who were killed on June 4, 1989. Tiananmen Mothers seeks justice and shed light on the circumstances around their children’s deaths. Zhang recalls the days before the massacre and the events leading to her son’s death.
- Lim explores the concept of patriotic education, interviewing party members about the protests, life after it and the desire to move past it. This includes China’s attempt at “ideological re-education”, one of the largest such attempts in modern history. Textbooks were rewritten to “change the prism through which the past and present were viewed”.
- Bao Tong, former secretary to Communist Party general secretary Zhao Ziyang, talks about the decisions which led to the crackdown from the perspective of political leaders such as Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang. Lim describes Tong’s life after his release from prison; he is not yet fully free, since he is closely monitored by the government. Tong, however, is relatively unconcerned; this has become his normal life: “I’m totally used to it, if they’re not with me, I feel lost”.
- Lim paints a portrait of Chengdu, a city in southwest China, after the protests with “memories, declassified U.S. diplomatic cables, diaries, hastily written reports of the time, contemporaneous photographs, and Chinese government-approved accounts”. Interviews present the crackdown in Chengdu on protesters of the June 4th massacre in Tiananmen Square. Dennis Rae describes mourning wreaths and signs carried around the city, its “panicked urgency” and the injured people in the local hospital
What are the economic results of Deng Xiaoping’s reform ?
China is more open economically, though they keep their central single party.
Politics and economic revolution have been delinked.
- communes are gone.
- lifetime employment is gone.
- roof prices are gone.
The country faces a phase of economic liberalization which:
- increases efficiency
- causes economic growth, workers become rich
- some dislocation brought about by uncertainty
Why is 1984 a formatting year of liberalization for China, economically ?
1984 comes along with more autonomy.
There is a: - reduction of subsidies
- costal cities and zones take off economically (after liberalization)
- the state invests in infrastructures (investments that spur economic growth)
How is the political development of China in the 1980s received by the elite and what is Deng Xiaoping’s reply ?
There are tensions and backlash from more conservative (more communist) factions.
These individuals are worried about the difficulty to marry social control and economic liberalization.
Deng Xiaoping answers that balance is possible since this cohabitation works as a spectrum.
What is the Southern Tour and how did it influence the Chinese economy in the 1990s ?
The party congress was going to take place in 1993.
In preparation, in 1992, the party visits economic zones and prepares speeches etc.
During this period the party and president promote the use of markets by communist individuals.
This gave a second wind to the market reforms and lead to things like 1) standardized budgeting 2) taxes.
What is the democracy wall and why was it influential ?
On a way in Beijing, protestors were writing, pasting, drawing various forms of criticism of Deng Xiaoping.
The president says this is a good thing (still loyal), so protestors keep going and even intensify the practice.
The party then cracked down and jailed prominent leaders, showing the party’s fears concerning pollution.
What is spiritual pollution and why is the party so concerned with it ?
Spiritual pollution is any form of ideology or belief which steers individuals away from the party’s ideology and practices.
What caused corruption to be such an issue in the Chinese economy in the 80s ?
Six years into the reform, inflation is very high, corruption becomes a big issue as the regulatory system had not caught up.
The fact that the state is also privatizing lots of their assets grants many opportunities for corruption.
What are the Student Protests of 1986 and why are they so important?
Students began protesting both 1) extremely high inflation rates and 2) issues of political representation in 1986.
150 campuses see protests and demonstrations take place.
The party cracks down but cannot succeed without using measures of dictatorship, a challenge since they had previously called the students’ concerns irrelevant.
Highlight: a student in Shanghai asked Jiang Zemin who elected him. The politicians then asked for his name and address.
What are the events that lead to the Tiananmen Square ?
April 15th 1989 Hu Yaobang passes away. He was very well liked by the students, seen as a reformer with a relax attitude within the party.
He was fired in 1986 due to this attitude, party thought he was letting the students get away with too much at the time.
People gather in Beijing to mourn his passing (initially, was a loyal protests).
According to the People’s Daily, on April 26th, forces must stand against turmoil as there are, in the crowds, people with evil motives.
April 27th: more people gather to the Square, demand a dialogue with the leadership about democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of press etc.
Zhao Ziyang agrees to speak with them. Does not go well, the protests are divided into factions and disorganized.
The leadership does not agree with his innitiative as it shows division within the party.
Why was the party disagreeing with Zhao Ziyang’s initiative to discuss with the students of Tiananmen Square ?
The leadership does not agree with his innitiative as it shows a separation within the party.
Deng Xiaoping wants to be tough with the protestors.
Zhao then decided to quit, but the president did not let him because it shows division with the CCP. He is instead fired.
He is also put on house arrest.
Explain how the Tiananmen protests began intensifying in May of 1989.
Martial law is declared by the CCP.
250 000 troops try to enter Beijing, but are blocked by residents and convinced to turn back as much of the population knows someone at the square and wants to protect them.
By the end of the month there are 300 000 protestors in the square.
What occurred on June 3rd and 4th 1989 in Tiananmen Square ?
The party rallied troops from outside the city who had no ties to Beijing.
Between 600 and 1200 people were killed during the army’s marching on the Square.
3000 - 5000 people remained in the Square. After negotiations, the party let them go.
The party regained control and began arresting individuals.
Highlight: the man crossing the street and placing himself in front of the tank repeatedly who has never been identified.
Who is Liu Xiaobo ?
One of the people who was arrested following the events of Tiananmen Square. He was a professor, writer and militant.
He later got the Nobel Peace Prize from his prison cell.
Along with him, there were 600 arrests and 45 executions.
This happened across the country, though more was known about Beijing because journalists were already present to report on a conference between China and the USSR.
What was Deng Xiaoping’s reaction to Tiananmen Square ?
The president speaks to the troops and convinces them they did the right thing by obeying the pary.
He 1) states that no one should doubt the party 2) this shows a need to train young people in the ideology of the party and nationalism.
