Sunday, April 5, 2015

RECAPITULATION:- CHINA'S STRUGGLED MARCH TOWARDS MODERNIZATION

SOURCE:
http://ibguides.com/history/notes/the-struggle-of-power-following-the-death-of-mao-zedong-hua-guofeng-the-reemergence-of-deng-xiaoping-and-the-defeat-of-t









Indian Modernization


The first one took place in 1757 when the British East India Company heavily bribed the Bengal Nawab's army in 1757 writes an American Historian. The second time it happened was around 2002 when India lifted its trade barriers  and the Chinese goods entered India with Indians wholeheartedly welcoming it.
What were the consequences? Just the same in 2002 as it happened after 1757. Indian workers lost their jobs - no more textile industry of which India had mastery. India's Global Trade share was 27% but it plummeted after this.


What happened after 2002?  Most of the manufacturing industries in India were brought on their knees where they shifted their manufacturing to China thereby  India became the raw material supplier ( coal, iron ore ) just like it happened after 1757 - export of raw cotton to England's textile industry.


Now, there is fierce competition for fewer jobs remaining in India.
Who has gained ? 
 The coaching institutes while the country is going down. The banks are making money by advancing loans to younger Indians who may or may not get jobs.
This is the
 'Maya Jaal'
created by the Indian Government who do not admit defeat in the battle in 2002.
                                                          By    

                                                          Anonymous Indian



                                                                                                                                             excellent observation. Indian politicians should read this












                                                          VERSUS













       CHINA'S  STRUGGLED MARCH TOWARDS MODERNIZATION



RECAPITULATION


Some extracts from

                             War and Gold
                                      By
                           Kwasi Kwarteng.



In 1853, Japan learned how far behind the world it had fallen when Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into its harbors. After a resulting civil war, Japanese officials toured the globe to learn the advancements of the world and bring them back to Japan. In 1975, Deng Xiaoping, who had assumed power after the death of Mao Zedong, did the same for China: 
 
"To understand the transformation of China, it is perhaps instructive to consider the experience of Japan at the end of the nineteenth century when, under the Meiji restoration, a deliberate plan of modernization was initiated.


From December 1871 to September 1873, fifty-one Japanese officials travelled by ship and rail to a number of different countries to study the ways of the world. They returned to Japan to implement the lessons they had learnt. Likewise in China, one hundred years later, many separate 'study tours' took place. Senior Chinese officials were similarly eager to learn from their travels and to introduce reforms in their home country. Deng himself had embarked on a five-day visit to France in 1975. He had taken with him a number of technical bureaucrats, in the transport and industry sectors. The tour was not so significant in terms of what Deng learnt. Rather, it converted him to the whole process of tours, which he undertook with enthusiasm, while encouraging other study groups to travel abroad. It was some months after Mao's death before foreign travel could be organized, but in 1978 Chinese officials, under Deng's encouragement, began to make those visits. They were exhilarated by what they saw. 


French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac (left) welcomes Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to Paris on May 12, 1975


"As Deng himself observed towards the end of 1978, the 'more we see, the more we realize how backward we are'. Prominent Chinese bureaucrats and other technocratic figures visited such diverse parts of the world as 'Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, and Western Europe'. It was obvious to them that China had to change. Japan, in particular, was a source of interest. The Japanese recovery after the disaster of the Second World War showed the Chinese how a 'strong central government' could direct an economy rapidly to catch up with the West. In a report to the Politburo on Japanese economic progress since 1945, Chinese officials recounted with awe and admiration how the Japanese 'had boldly introduced foreign technologies, made use of foreign capital, and vigorously developed education and scientific research'. A trip to Western Europe, undertaken in May 1978, made an even more profound impression.
 A visit to the United States was out of the question, given the dispute over the Republic of China on Taiwan, which until April 1979, the United States recognized officially as the only legitimate Chinese government.


"Deng's reforms have been characterized as essentially pro-capitalist. The story often told is one of China, a country ruled by avowed Communists, turning its back on Mao Zedong and Karl Marx and embracing the freemarket capitalism of the West. This, of course, is a simplification of what happened. The type of capitalism which China adopted was distinctive and, in many of its features, differed widely from the capitalism preached by the neo-liberals who dominated US and British administrations in the 1980s. The key to understanding China's impressive economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s starts inevitably with the state. China did not grow like neighboring Hong Kong, as a free-market trading area, whose political economy was governed by the 'invisible hand' of Adam Smith. While free-market impulses were given some leeway, China's path to success was dictated by the state. In this way, China represented a triumph of 'mercantilism', ... [first described by] Eli Heckscher, the Swedish economic historian ... in his two-volume work Mercantilism, first published in Sweden in 1931. Very simply put, mercantilism was a system [used in the previous centuries] which sought to boost exports in order to gain gold, which would form the basis of a state's power. 'With a large population and low wages,' wrote Heckscher, 'it was hoped to effect a large export surplus of manufactures and a large import surplus of gold and precious stones, and this desire became itself a part of the state's policy of power.'

"To many critics and observers of Chinese economic policy, particularly in the United States, Heckscher's account perfectly summarized Beijing's approach to economic development."






The struggle for power following the death of Mao Zedong, Hua Guofeng, the reemergence of Deng Xiaoping and the defeat of the Gang of Four

2.1.1 Events Before 1976

  • Mao was the leader of the People's Republic of China since it was created in 1949
  • He introduced the Great Leap Forward in 1958
  • The Great Leap Forward was a policy which was put in place to modernise the Chinese economy by mobilising its population, most of the population was placed on communes where they had to help with industrialisation and increase productivity, due to the lack of China's resources the plan failed and caused wide spread famine
  • Due to the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural revolution that resulted from this failure Mao's reputation and position in the Party was damaged, although the Chinese population still had a lot of respect for him especially the youth as they had grown up with the communism propaganda at school as well at home
  • Liu Shaoqi succeeded Mao in 1959 and became the new Chairman of the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping became the General Secretary of the Party, even though Mao was no longer the at the head of the government he was still Chairman of the Communist Party 
  • The new leaders of the Party wanted to find solutions to fix China's economy however these went against Mao's revolutionary policies which he had insisted upon to catch up with the West and compete for leadership in the communist world with the Soviet Union
  • One of the solutions implemented by Liu to restore the economy was to allow peasants to cultivate on small plots and make crafts which they could then sell at markets
  • Mao was against this return to capitalism and wanted to keep a revolutionary focus, even though many leaders still respected him, a lot of them questioned his leadership which angered him
  • Mao turned more and more to his wife for support and she became his confidant 
  • In 1965 Mao created the Red Guards (revolutionary youth), initiating the Cultural Revolution
  • The Red Guards would go to Universities to look for students who where not loyal enough to the Party, some Party members where removed from their positions, other were put under house arrest, and the people who were not loyal enough outside the public eye where treated with violence
  • The situation got out of control quite fast, the Red Guards confused the revolution with violence when Mao had said "learn revolution by making revolution" 
  • In 1966, Mao realised that his campaign had failed and he had to put an end to the violence by breaking up the Red Guards
  • The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ended in 1969, a new constitution was adopted and Lin Biao was named as Mao's successor
  • The People's Liberation Army and the Party congress where put in charge of the country however they where told that this was only temporary and that once stability had returned they where to go back to answering to the Party instead of controlling it, however two thirds of them where military staff and so the question was how to remove them from the leadership of the Party
  • Mao wanted to remove Lin from his power which was mot easy
  • According to official Chinese records, Lin was planning a coup against the government however the plan was uncovered 
  • Lin and his family fled the country but died in a plane crash that they had boarded in Mongolia in September 1971
  • The power then went back to Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai
  • These two grew weaker with age and so new potential leaders started to emerge. These included the Gang of Four (Jiang Qing and her supporters) Hua Guofeng (a new member of the Party) and Deng Xiaoping.

2.1.2 The Gang of Four

  • Mao's wife, Jiang Qing started to get involved in government matters in the 1950s when she started to work with the Ministry of Culture
  • She wanted to create opera and theatre which put the Communist Party in good view 
  • Her involvement in politics increased more and more from then on
  • She controlled the media to great extents in the hopes to control national culture
  • In addition she had a lot of propaganda at her disposal which helped her political position
  • Many members of the Party were worried about the influence Jiang Qing had on Mao, especially during the Cultural Revolution
  • The Central Cultural Revolution Committee was formed in 1966, Jiang Qing was first vice chair woman 
  • The Committee also included Jiang Qing's closest friends from Shanghai, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen
  • Together these three with Jiang Qing would become known later on as the Gang of Four
  • Yao Wenyuan was Mao's chief propagandist
  • Zhang Chunqiao was deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee
  • Wang Hongwen was the union leader
  • During the Cultural Revolution the Gang of Four wanted to eliminate bourgeois influences and the revisionist ways 
  • They also wanted to eliminate the Four Olds which were Culture, Customs, habits and thought
  • Jiang Qing managed to keep her position of power after the Cultural Revolution was over
  • Jiang, Zhang and Wang became members of the politburo in 1969
  • When Lin died, the Gang of Four seized the opportunity to increase their power within the government and wanted the Cultural Revolution to keep going
  • Mao who had previously relied on his wife as his confidant started to lose trust in her, he felt like she was controlling his access to knowledge and people
  • The two then separated and would only meet on appointment
  • Mao was judgmental of the Gang of Four but still used them against some of the members of the politburo to prevent any small group from gaining too much power

2.1.3 Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai and Hua Guofeng


  • There was a more moderate and down to earth group in the politburo 
  • Deng Xiaoping was the leader of this group and was against the Cultural Revolution which the Gang of Four were so keen to reinstate, he also wanted to introduce some degree of capitalism within the Chinese economy
  • Zhou Enlai was the Premier and supported and protected Deng Xiaoping, they both wanted order to be restored within the country
  • In early 1973, during the course of the power struggle Zhou died
  • Mao was to choose who was to succeed Zhou
  • Zhou's own choice would have been Deng
  • The Gang of Four tried to have Zhang replace Zhou's position as premier
  • Mao eventually named Hua Guofeng as Premier
  • Hua Guofeng was not well known and had been top security official from Mao's home province 
  • The leaders of the Party were not exactly enthusiastic about Hua being named as Premier but they did not object either

2.1.4 The Qingming Festival 1976

  • The festival was in Beijing
  • Started on March 29 th and ended on April 4th
  • The population took advantage of the festival to publicly mourn Zhou and support Deng and indirectly criticize Mao and the Gang of Four
  • The government was not expecting this and was by which means to react
  • Hua and Mao agreed that the government was to discretely remove the flowers and poems that had been written, the day after the end of the festival
  • By doing so the hope was to lower tension and prevent a conflict from taking place between the government and the people
  • However instead of preventing a conflict it started one as when news about the removal of the flowers and poems spread through Beijing, the population started to protest
  • The people marched to the square carrying anti-Mao message banners 
  • The decision was taken to go ahead with the removal of the flowers and poems and subdue the protestors using violence
  • Protestors were arrested, beaten up and it is said that some were beheaded in the square
  • The population was once again repressed under Mao's leadership
  • Mao then accused Deng of leading the protests and so Deng was removed from his position in government and was suppose to be investigated for political mistakes
  • However Deng fled from Beijing and found refuge in Canton under the protection of General Ye Jianying
  • He stayed in Canton until the death of Mao

2.1.5 Mao's Death and the Defeat of the Gang of Four

  • Mao was suffering from Parkinson's disease and grew weaker and weaker in time
  • On the 9th of September 1976 Mao succumb to the disease 
  • Mao had wanted Hua to succeed him but all the others were waiting for Mao's death before trying to take over the power
  • When that day arrived the Gand of Four seized the opportunity to take over by using the influence they had over the media, urban militia and universities
  • However they did not realise Hua's strength and the support he was to get from politburo members and the military 
  • After Mao died, Jiang altered some of Mao's writings to make it appear as if Mao had wanted her to succeed him, this was exposed however she still remained in a strong position
  •  In the politburo meeting Jiang argued that she should succeed Mao as Hua was incompetent to do so
  • Hua argued on the other hand that succession should be dealt with as it had been in the past, that is the vice chairman should succeed the chairman until the next session of the Central Committee 
  • Hua had support from many people including the defence minister Ye Jianuang
  • The Gang of Four quickly realised that they were losing power and so decided to carry out a coup on October the 6th 
  • The Gang of Four was to get military support from Mao's nephew and political commissar of the Shenyang Military Region
  • The plan was to take the power by force from the government and assassinate some of the politburo members including Hua and Ye
  • When Jiang realised that even with the support of Mao's nephew the Gang lacked weapons, she tried to recruit some members of the politburo to help her with military support however her plan back fired as these decided to tell Hua of her plans rather than joining her cause
  • When Hua found out about Jiang's plans, he held a meeting and together with Ye, Chen and other allies they agreed to launch a pre-emptive strike by safeguarding Beijing and arresting the Gang of Four
  • On the 5th of October Hua called an emergency meeting of the politburo for midnight, when Zhang and Wang arrived they were arrested
  • Yao and Jiang were arrested later at their homes as they had not gone to the politburo meeting
  • The Gand of Four was expelled from the Party and was awaiting trial, it lost all its support as well as its power
  • After this Jiang was portrayed as a power hungry woman who had exploited the death of her husband 
  • The population had lost all respect for Jiang and her reputation was destroyed
  • There was still great respect for Mao and so if his wife appeared in a photo with him, she was blacked out and this was done so that people knew that she had been removed from the photo
  • The Gang of Four finally went on trial, Jiang and Zhang initially received the death sentence but this was then changed to life imprisonment, Wang received life imprisonment as well and finally Yao received 20 years imprisonment

2.1.6 Events After the Defeat of the Gang of Four


  • The actions of the Gang of Four where condemned
  • In addition to being Premier, Hua was made chairman of the Party and Military Commission
  • Deng was reinstated by Hua to the politburo and was made vice-chairman of the Central Committee once again
  • Hua decided that China should focus on industrialisation again
  • Deng was in charge of the four modernizations which were agriculture, science and technology and industry and national defence
  • Deng had important economic and political power again
  • Within the Politburo three power groups emerged
  • Nine members supported Deng
  • Nine members supported Hua
  • Three members supported Ye
  • Even though Ye had fewer supporters he held the balance and this made him the decision maker
  • There was tension between the groups however the Congress called for unity, stability and cooperation
  • Hua adopted a policy which was called the Two Whatevers: We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decision Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave
  • This was not a popular policy for those who wanted to move away from the Maoist era
  • When Hua found himself implicated in the crimes of the Gang of Four as he had the position of head security and premier when the worst atrocities of the Gang where committed he gave up his position
  • He resigned as Premier in 1980 and in 1981 he resigned as Party Chairman and chair of the Military Commission 
  • He was succeeded by Zhao Ziyang, Hu Yaobang and Deng respectively
  • Hua admitted to his mistakes and so he was allowed to take the position of vice-chairman until this position was abolished in 1982, he remained a member of the Central Committee until 2002








      DENG'S  FOUR MODERNIZATIONS  



SOURCE
http://ibguides.com/history/notes/china-under-deng-xiaoping-economic-policies-and-the-four-modernizations

China under Deng Xiaoping, economic policies and the Four Modernizations

2.2.1 China under Deng Xiaoping

  • Deng had full control of the Party and the government by 1982
  • He wanted to make important changes so that China could compete West
  • He also thought that it was important to start separating the government from the Party as he wanted to put in place policies which would differ from communist ideologies
  • The goal was to modernise China so that it could compete with the West in consumer goods and industrial production
  • Even though Deng wanted to put in place Western policies he was still a communist and made sure that the political system remained communist


2.2.2 The Ten Year Plan

  • Hua Guofeng announced the new Ten Year Plan in 1978
  • The plan focused on economic sectors with a heavy industry
  • The goal was to reach a level at which China would be able to support itself and compete with the West
  • Deng was put in charge of these political changes
  • The opening up of China to the West by Mao and Zhou was very beneficial to the plan as it provided some of the capital needed for the plan
  • The plan focused on China's development, especially steel production
  • Goals where set for natural resource extractions (oil, petroleum, coal and non ferrous-metals)
  • In addition the plan included extensive infrastructure development which involved electricity, rail roads and water transport
  • The plan proved to be too ambitious and the government could not afford the costs so in 1979 the goals of the plan were modified
  • The plan would focus on the Four Modernizations: agriculture, industry, science and technology and the military 


2.2.3 Open Door Policy

  • The Party introduced the Open Door Policy in December 1978
  • This was a major factor for the success of the Plan and the Four Modernizations
  • A high level of capital was needed to make the changes and the Open Door Policy provided this capital
  • Also China would benefit from learning and importing science and technology by trading with the West
  • China focused on quality of its products, the diversification of its exports, the devaluation of the Yuan and built up its currency reserves
  • China became very attractive to investors like Japan, West Germany and the United States


2.2.4 Agriculture

  • The goal  was to increase the yields of farmers
  • The government wanted farmers to move away from traditional farming methods 
  • Instead of manual work the government wanted to introduce mechanised farming
  • The government wanted to improve water supply to farmers 
  • The government supported and promoted the use of chemical fertilisers 
  • The government supported personal incentives and diversification
  • There where set quotas
  • 12 commodity and food base areas would be created to allow for better regulation and distribution of food
  • A big turning point was the implementation of the Household Responsibility System
  • Under this system even though there was still no private ownership of land, each farming household received a plot of land 
  • The farming households could use this plot of land as they wanted
  • They would have a contract with the local commune in which they had to hire a certain amount of workers and plant a specific amount of crops
  • The farming households had control over the labour within their households and could distribute this labour however they wished
  • Also all farming household surplus could be either sold or kept which was a great benefit to farmers
  • In exchange for using the land for a period of 15 years a quota that had been predetermined would go back to the local commune
  • The Household Responsibility System was very successful, by 1989 90% of households where involved in the system
  • The System alone allowed to increase productivity by more than what had been set by the Ten Year Plan
  • China became the largest agricultural producer
  • Agricultural improvements lead to increased productivity
  • Due to this increased productivity, factories where built and the communes saw the revival of local crafts
  • This meant that farmers could leave their family plots and work locally in the factories

2.2.5 Industry

  • The main focus was on capital construction and improving heavy industries
  • Attention was drawn to steel, iron, coal and oil production, 55 billion Yen was invested into these
  • There was a total of 120 projects to be completed however the plan proved to be too ambitious and so in 1979 it was readjusted
  • The Industrial Responsibility System was introduced
  • Under this system, the supervisory body of a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) would have a contract in which a percentage of the production and/or profit would go to the state and the SOE could keep the surplus, quality of production became a factor in the later stages
  • This improved the attitude and motivation of industrial workers, increasing productivity
  • In October 1984 the Resolution on the Reform of the Economic System was introduced 
  • Public ownership was not allowed however the government gave more freedom to enterprises 
  • The management of these enterprises was a lot more free 
  • In doing so the government hoped to increase production 
  • Private groups could lease small enterprises but larger ones remained under the control of the state

2.2.6 Science and Technology

  • The Cultural Revolution had devastating effects on education
  • China was lacking even the basic technology that was standard in all other developed countries
  • There was a need for more scientists, doctors, engineers and architects
  • A number of goals were put forward
  • The government wanted to be able to compete with the developing countries my repairing the damages caused by the Cultural Revolution
  • By 1985 the government wanted to be only ten years behind the developing countries
  • The goals included to increase the number of scientists, develop the centres used for experiments and to complete a nation wide system of science and technology research 

2.2.7 Military

  • China had the largest army in the world however it seriously lacked in military technology
  • Nuclear research had come to an end
  • Science and military modernisation had a direct link
  • The centres of research that were being either built or improved made it possible to develop new weapons
  • It was estimated that the government spend up to 10% on developing and buying new technology

2.2.8 Results of the Ten Year Plan

  • Mixed results, the plan succeeded in some ways but not in others
  • According to government statistics industrial production and agriculture had an average annual growth of 11%
  • Growth rates where even higher in the production of coal, steel, electricity and oil
  • The GNP reached 778 billion in 1985
  • There was also success in the regions of infrastructure development and construction
  • There was also tremendous improvements in science and technology
  • However there were problems with the workforce
  • Young workers often trained abroad with modern equipment and then had to reintegrate themselves on their return within an outdated system
  • Also, older workers who had suffered from a lack of education due to the cultural revolution felt threatened by the younger workers as they were scared of unemployment and the younger workers did not respect them as elders
  • The increased production brought about inflation
  • The plan focused on modernisation, economic growth and the availability of consumer goods however other issues affecting the quality of life where not paid attention to
  • Beijing became very polluted and China suffered deforestation on a big scale
  • The one child policy was put into place which penalised families with more than one child
  • Corruption occurred as the Party members were spared from the policy
  • Also, the children of Party members had many benefits, they were automatically accepted into universities and did not have to serve in the military





SOURCE:
http://ibguides.com/history/notes/china-under-deng-xiaoping-political-changes-and-their-limits-culminating-in-the-demonstrations-in-tiananmen-square


China Under Deng Xiaoping, Political Changes And Their Limits, Culminating In The Demonstrations In Tiananmen Square

2.3.1 Political Changes and their Limits


Political Changes 

  • With economic development came a wish for political change
  • Political opinions where expressed which varied from those previously
  • The economic changes led to conflicts within the Party
  • There were three main power bases which were Deng (pragmatists), Hua and Ye (military leader and the balancer)
  • The leftist members worried that China's socialist goals would be lost by the new economic changes and the trade with the West
  • The difficulty of the leadership was to keep their own culture while taking on board Western technology and managerial methods
  • Deng made it clear that China would remain socialist even though some of the new policies allowed more freedom, China was certainly not capitalist, instead Deng described it as a Chinese-style socialism
  • China was going through a time of relative freedom
  • Many of those who had been sent to prison or to the country side during the Cultural Revolution where freed 
  • Deng was rehabilitated and so were a number of Party Officials
  • On a brick wall in Beijing in 1978 posters and characters were put up
  • This wall became known as the Democracy Wall
  • It became a place where people took up the government's movement to "seek truth from facts", expressing their opinion 
  • These people were former Red Guards and people who had missed out on education due to the Cultural Revolution 
  • Their militant expertise meant that they had good skills in organisation and collaboration which made the movement gain support and gave a voice to those that had been repressed during the Cultural Revolution 
  • They criticised Mao and the Gang of Four
  • Deng supported this criticism as it came at a time when there was conflict within the Party
  • Deng saw these people as potential allies for his principles 
Pro-democracy Groups

  • In 1978 and 1979 many pro-democratic supporters published pamphlets and started underground magazines in which they put forward the need for reform in the country
  • They wanted freedom and political self-determination
  • They spoke about human rights which had previously been taboo in China
  • The most famous of the pamphlets was the Fifth Modernisation by Wei Jingsheng 
  • The Fifth Modernisation which Wei thought was vital was democracy
  • Wei criticised Deng in articles and stated that Deng was becoming a fascist dictator 
  • Wei was arrested in March 1979 and was later sentenced to 15 year imprisonment for treason
  • This was a warning for all other pro-democracy groups
  • The wall was closed down in December and it became illegal to put up posters
  • The pro-democracy groups were once again suppressed but they would resurface from time to time
China Opening Up

  • Deng at the time was looking to increase his power within the politburo and the Central Committee 
  • His focus was on economic growth and the Four Modernizations 
  • He spent much of his time abroad trying to find new markets and aligning China with developing countries
  • Japan was China's main investor and the US was starting to increase its investment in China as well
  • China was starting to open up to the outside world
Contradictions 

  • In the 1980's there were disagreements between the Party and the government due to contradictions
  • Political liberalisation was supported however there was no place for bourgeois values
  • The government allowed more freedom within the media
  • Stories could be published which portrayed the negative aspects of Chinese life
  • Many Party members criticised the corruption that was taking place within the Party however maintained that they were loyal to the Party
Student Demonstrations

  • In 1986 there were demonstrations that encouraged students to get involved in local government
  • The demonstrators were also looking for improved living conditions and more freedom 
  • The government sought to disperse the demonstrations instead of arresting people
  • In 1987 Hu Yaobang who was the General secretary of the Part and had been an advocate for political liberalisation resigned from his post as he declared that he had made uncorrectable mistakes 
  • The students demonstrations were not joined by workers and so when exams came around the demonstrations faded 
  • Deng was starting to worry about another power struggle within the Party, he was getting old but had no intentions of handing over his leadership 


2.3.2 Tiananmen Square 1989

  • Hu died in April 1989 and this lead to a number of rallies
  • These rallies where mainly in Beijing and Shanghai 
  • They were in favour of social change 
  • All kinds of people joined in and this led to demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in front of the Communist Party headquarters
  • Zhao Ziyang who was Hu's successor tried to prevent violence from the governments side by working with the pro-democracy groups
  • However this did not work as the demonstrators went on a hunger strike and created the Goddess of Democracy as symbol for their movement
  • More and more of the population started to take sides with the demonstrators
  • Martial law was announced but not carried out
  • In Beijing the people were disarming the PLA as the soldiers were sympathetic and did not want to cause violence
  • The government tried to wait out the demonstration
  • At the time Gorbachev was visiting China and so the media was there to cover his visit, this made the demonstrations public to the world
  • Deng then ordered the military to take all necessary measures to seize control of the square
  • Troops and tanks were sent to the square on the 3rd and 4th of June 1989
  • They were ordered to end the demonstrators by clearing the square and arresting those who protested 
  • Some demonstrators tried to fight back and the ones who remained in the square were shot 
  • Hundreds of demonstrators were killed although the government denied killing any civilians 
  • The problem was that the demonstrators had not stated any clear objectives and had no real leadership
  • They desired freedom and the Party to reform however they were unsure of what else they desired
  • Zhao was then replaced by Jiang Zemin who was loyal to Deng
  • Deng gave up his position as chair of the Central Military Commission in 1989 but remained as the leader for Chinese policies until his death in 1997
  • The outside world had supported the demonstrators and China was put forward as a human rights abuser by organisations such as Amnesty International 
  • However democratic countries kept trading with China 


















No comments:

Post a Comment