Failure of Student Democracy Movement of 1989 - Essay Example

Failure ‘Democracy’ Movement Of 1989 The activities ‘Democracy’ Movement of 1989 mainly centred in the Tiananmen Square where students gathered to mourn the death of Hu Yaobang who had been a supporter of reforms in China. However, the reason for this gathering soon transformed to include voicing of dissatisfaction with the Communist government that was seen as perpetrating a number of social, political and economic injustices to the detriment of common citizens (Yang, 2000). The protestors levelled a number of accusations against the government noting the continued runaway inflation that had made prices of essential goods to increase dramatically, increased corruption and nepotism within government institutions all that was tied to the perception by many that the Communist Party was not committed to political and economic reforms. The students vowed not to go back to class until the reforms had been initiated leading to the ensuing confrontation with government security agencies that included the military that moved into Tiananmen Square to crackdown on the protestors using brutal force. The current essay explores a number of factors that led to the failure of the 1989 student movement to achieve the desired results and is because their protests led to the death of many protestors while no reforms were initiated after the tragic end to student occupation of Tiananmen Square (Hui, 2009). Poor Leadership Although the initial call for support appeared to be effective in bringing people together, the 1989 movement failed in the end due to what is seen as being a leaderless movement. After the magnitude achieved by the movement in bringing the protestors together, the government started targeting the leaders of the movement (Ogden, 1992). The efforts started by first identifying and arresting the “Black hand” behind the protests (Ogden 1992, p.122). This involved targeting ordinary citizens who were seen as supporters of this protests with action such as detention and executions being taken against them. Due to the threat of detention and execution, student leaders failed to come out and take responsibility for the protests therefore creating a leadership vacuum. This greatly affected decision-making processes as it made it difficult for the movement to arrive at a common goal. This was specifically true when considering the events leading to military crackdown were the government indicated its readiness to initiate dialogue with the group. The government through a number of high-ranking Communist party officials wanted to meet eighteen Quinghua university student representatives. However, there were misunderstandings among the official student leadership and informal leaders with both groups claiming their rights to choose representatives for the meeting. As a result, no one was chosen to represent the students therefore missing on an important chance to seal an agreement with the government. Other effects of the leadership vacuum was that the movement began experiencing wrangles as seen in the case where the student leadership of Beijing university expelled two of the leaders with accusation that one was a government spy while the other did not have the right qualities for a leader. Such wrangles led to the government questioning the seriousness of the 1989 movement to provide a way to end the protest terming the failure to attend the scheduled meeting as being a result of existing “student duplicity” (Ogden 1992, p.122). Additionally, students had rejected their official leaders who were recognized under the Student’s Federation instead choosing to work with the new Autonomous Student Union of the Colleges and Universities. The students accused their formal leadership of working with the Communist Party especially since leadership was under the control of CCP Central Committee as well as the Communist Youth League. Wright (2001) notes the environment within which the protests were taking place also played a role in creating factions in the 1989 movement. The author claim that student leaders were well aware of the negative outcome of making a wrong move based on the realization of the stern action the government was likely to undertake. The student leaders were therefore conscious of who they were working with choosing to be around those they had worked with from the beginning of the movement. This led to a situation where some student leaders refused to compromise their stand even when it was to the majority. It was feared that following the advice of some leaders would lead to a backlash that would led to the protests facing the wrath of the government. Many of the leaders chose to exit their groups instead of following the wishes of the majority or compromising for a settlement favor many. This fear of making wrongful decisions led to a compromise of effective leadership that would have provided the right direction for the movement. Strategic Flaws The student’s movement did not have any proposal with practical avenues for action as seen in their reactionary methods employed in the protest that indicated they did not have a well-planned mechanism that covered execution of their activities from begin to the end (Hui, 2009). Although the most important aspect of the movement was deciding on the use of nonviolent methods, which was considered, historically successful, other parts of student actions were spontaneous. Groups of students had to come up with ideas for action as the occupation of Tiananmen Square continued with an example of this spontaneity being the construction of the “Goddess of Democracy” (Wehr, Burgess and Burgess 1994, p.158). To remain relevant in their push for reforms, participants had to develop a reactionary move every time the government presented a new threat or challenge. This created an environment of uncertainty because the students could not predetermine what was going to be the government’s reaction to their actions. Consequently, the demonstrations would have been more successful had the students developed a well thought-out plan that would have anticipated government actions such as the military crackdown of the participants (Wehr, Burgess and Burgess, 1994). The lack of proper planning also led to the high numbers of causalities as the protestors could not foresee the use of military force in dispersing the crowds. As the buildup of tension between the government and protestors continued, there were initial signs that there was a possibility of violence erupting. Firstly, the government involved unarmed police officers who were brought in to ensure the protest is contained. The security situation was then strengthened by the introduction of tanks and armed units (Wehr, Burgess and Burgess, 1994). Proper planning would have connected these events with leaders of the movement coming up with measures to protect fellow students including early retreat. Wright (2001) argues the disorganization of the 1989 movement might have negatively affected the chances of the movement being successful as it failed to convince reform minded individuals within the party to support them arguing that “the less disruptive the students appeared, the greater the chance they had of succeeding” (8). Rulers in both conservative and reform-oriented camps were keen on the events happening throughout the movement’s operation where the conservatives aimed at capitalizing on the disorderliness of the students to insist there can never be far-reaching reforms, as it would cause turmoil in the country. On the other hand, having an organized protest would have led to support from reformists who would have used the incident to claim the society was ready for reforms in the political, social and economic aspects of the country. Therefore, as the movement continued to lean towards disorderly the conservatives within the Communist Party found a ground to insist on the use of force to crackdown on the protestors seeing them as a movement that wanted to destabilize the country (Zhao, 2004). Elitist approach to protests The behaviour of students involved in the 1989 movement is also a factor in the failure of the movement to record noteworthy results. The students were in opposition to attempts made to include their grievances to the broad based social organizations calling for democratic reforms in China insisting on the need to remain autonomous. Even within the Tiananmen Square, the students were separated from nonstudent protestors (Roberts and Ash, 2009). Wright (2001) and Copper (2006) support this approach taken by the students claiming it was justifiable based on the fact that the Communist Party had infiltrated almost all organizations meaning any close association with organizations such as the media and social organizations would have led to infiltration by members of the party. The students were therefore forced to operate in suspicion of others whose loyalty or competence they could not ascertain with full knowledge that their activities would be severely punished by authorities. Additionally, many of the student leaders who had participated in other movements felt they were superior and more worthy in making decisions on participation. This elitist perception by the leaders led to the call that the movement should be purely student based on the knowledge of past infiltrations by outsiders. The leadership of the movement failed to place the call for a more democratic society in the cultural context of Chinese history. As a result, the government found it easy to claim a small group of dissidents who wanted to overthrow the communist government from power was sponsoring the protests. The students failed to put their protests into an historical prospective that would have seen them garner even more support from other citizens. This gap in the strategy employed by the demonstrators is seen in their demands, which mainly covered the issues affecting citizens at the time and included calls for actions against corrupt Communist officials, economic reforms as well as civil and political rights (Wehr, Burgess and Burgess, 1994). The call for social equity and democracy by the 1989 movement construed as impulsive acts within the historical narrative of reforms in China. The consequence of these protests being viewed as spontaneous is that the reforms targeted by the 1989 movement were not connected theoretically to the broad-based social mobilization that would have achieved better results (Hui, 2009). Existence of Powerful Conservative Members of the Communist Party The period leading to the 1989 movement and the resultant Tiananmen Square Massacre is characterized by the existence of two factions within the Communist Party in China. Although there was a reformist faction led by leaders such as Zhao which had supported a number of economic reforms, there still existed powerful conservative forces within the Communist Party who wanted the status quo to be maintained (Ogden, 2012; Joseph, 2010). The conservatives had blocked the process of reforms instituted by Zhao who had worked with a number of think tanks in Beijing University and other research centres. Zhao had also made apparent his quest for reforms through the workings of Central Research and Discussion Group on Political Reform. These measures aimed at reforms led to intellectuals in China gaining the confidence to speak on issues such as corruption, inflation and other social problems faced by the Chinese population. However, 1989 movement took place at a time when the conservative faction of the Communist Party had succeeded in removing reformists such as Zhao from power. The conservative were helped by the existence the “Eight Immortals” who had assumed power during this period (Joseph 2010, p.130). The existence of this group of leaders in the party meant the chances of introducing widespread reforms such as democratization process was slim. The influence of the Eight Immortals who were recognized by many leaders as the founding fathers of the nation meant that the other institutions in the country such as parliament could not stop the use of force to stop the protests. Conclusion The 1989 student movement calling for democratic reforms in China attracted widespread support from students in major institutions in the country. This number of people who joined the movement represented a significant direction toward successfully forcing the Communist government to introduce the desired changes. However, this success did not last as the government used force to break the demonstrations leading to many deaths and a failure of the movement to bring the desired changes. This essay has highlighted the reasons for the failure where the student movement was presented as having poor leadership as seen in the wrangles between student representatives. There also existed a number of strategic flaws in the execution of the movement plans as well as the elitist approach to the protests, which made the students, did not allow other groups to integrate with them. Additionally the presence of powerful conservative members of the Communist party implied it was going to be difficult to convince the rulers to introduce reforms such as democracy that has extensive implications for the country’s political system. References Copper, J. F., 2006. Playing with fire: the looming war with China over Taiwan. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. Hui, W., 2009. The end of the revolution: China and the limits of modernity. London: Verso. Joseph, W. A. (Ed.). (2010). Politics in China: an introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ogden, C. (Ed.), 2012. Handbook of Chinas Governance and Domestic Politics. London: Routledge. Ogden, S. (Ed.), 1992. Chinas search for democracy: The student and the mass movement of 1989. New York: ME Sharpe. Roberts, A., & Ash, T. G. (Eds.), 2009. Civil resistance and power politics: The experience of non-violent action from Gandhi to the present. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wehr, P. E., Burgess, H., & Burgess, G. M. (Eds.), 1994. Justice without violence. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Wright, T., 2001. The perils of protest: State repression and student activism in China and Taiwan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Yang, G., 2000. Achieving emotions in collective action: Emotional processes and movement mobilization in the 1989 Chinese student movement. The Sociological Quarterly, 41(4), 593-614. Zhao, D., 2004. The power of Tiananmen: State-society relations and the 1989 Beijing student movement. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Read More