The Political Causes and Background of the Tiananmen Square Protests - Term Paper Example

 The following is an essay and analysis of the main causes for the Tiananmen Square riots. The focus of this analysis, will be toward understanding the economic and political causes that led to the student protests of 1989. It will be argued that the political instabilities that followed Mao's death in 1976, caused a sequence of political order that was inconsistent at the level of policy and governance. A vacuum was created so that the student opposition can be understood as reactionary. It was these inconsistencies and instabilities that will be presented as the central cause for student unrest. The death of Mao in September 1976, along with the death of Zhou Enlai in January of 1976, causes a crisis in the possibilities of who would lead China toward the end of the century1. At that time, the vice premier of Zhou Enlai was Deng Xiaoping, who, had been both an active and involved member for nearly two decades, but also, and in the years from 1973 until his death, the assistant to Zhou Enlai2. However, he was regarded with some suspicion, and in spite of being one of the most qualified candidates for the position of both chief of state as well as the head of the communist party. First, he had badly antagonized the radicals, and as a result, did not remain in office for very long. In April of 1976, and with Mao’s approval, they announced that the figure of Hua Guofeng whose was regarded as a moderate was instated in power. Before examining in detail the processes and reasons underlying the succession of leaders after Mao, and in turn, over viewing their policies, some remarks need to be provided with respect or in regard to the relationship which was forming with Western countries, and the relations which were deteriorating with one of it’s strongest allies, namely, the Soviet Union. Because of concern over the Soviet military buildup or developments along the Chinese and Soviet borders, during the mid 1960's toward the early 1970's, as a mandate, China sought to improve relations with the United States of America, and for having not so much an allie, as having a diplomatic allie on the world stage, that is, given their overwhelming influence due to military might and the globalization of the planet in the decades following the Second World War. For example, and as a surprise to the United States of America, the Chinese invited an the American ping-pong team to China in 1971. Although slightly more elevated than ping pong players, the then, Secretary of State, and important adviser to President Nixon, Henry Kissinger was also invited. Following that accord or summit, the President himself, the honorable president, Richard Nixon was invited to visit China in 1972, which was an invitation that the soon to be impeached president accepted. The historic visit took place between February 21 and 28th, 19723. And, more importantly, this was the first (discounting Dr. Henry Kissinger’s visit, along with the United States of America ping-pong team) diplomatic mission with China since Mao established the Peoples Republic in 1949. This said, the Chinese were highly critical of the policies of the United States of America (U.S.A.), both preceding Nixon’s visit, along with afterward. This was largely due to the fact that the Americans had been fighting to liberate South Viet Nam from the Communists which rose in stature during the late 1950's and early 1960's, which was a war, which the U.S. incidentally pulled out of, or, lost. According to the Chinese, America had no business in the political affairs of East Asia, which was a sentiment shared in most of the world, including the United States of America. However, the invitation was, and in the eyes of Mao and his top officials or advisers, was to express concern largely over Soviet expansionist maneuvers and policies4. Which, was a strategy employed by the Soviets at that time throughout most of Asia. And, largely, the meeting was a successful step toward “peace”5. By 1980, and four years after Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping replaced Hua Guogeng as premier with one of his own assistants or protege's, Zhao Ziyang6. By this time, Deng Xiaoping had already taken charge of the economy, and established what was to become known as the ‘three-year adjustment’. Which meant cutbacks in investment, and in payments toward various services. Further, by the end of 1980, Deng had successfully held a trial of the “Gang of Four”. They were central antagonists of the cultural revolution, and were arrested in 1976 and put on trial during Deng Xiaoping’s reign. It must be noted, that during the cultural revolution, over half a million people died, and further, over a million suffered educational, cultural and economic deprivation. And, the ‘Gang of Four’ were blamed for causing steel workers to strike, for encouraging male prostitution and immorality, and for encouraging the young to become ‘more insolent, rude and lazy’. Jiang Zing7, one of the gang, was accused of importing western films for her own viewing. In short, some of the central figures of the ‘revolution’, were regarded as corrupt, and as a public spectacle, this trial was important toward steering the course that prompted the movement toward democracy in China, and hence, the Tiananmen Square massacre. By the persecution of the Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping was able to contain to a certain extent, radical opposition. And, at that time, it was generally emanating from the upper ranks of the army. Deng also kept liberal political discontent under control and maintained a centralized system of politics in a fairly orthodox, communist manner8. The main areas which were becoming liberalized at that time, were the areas of agriculture. One of the interesting themes in To Live by Yu Hua, is the transformation that occurs in agricultural reform. In many senses, the story of the family, is the story of the transformation itself. Xu Fugui who is the main protagonist, is the son of a wealthy landowner. His father is vividly described by the peasants who work his land as “sir” and “master” because of his “high social status”9. This is the 'old world' so to speak, as his wealth and property eventually become the holdings of a “commune”10 because of a problem he had with gambling. The purge of the radicals continued in the years that followed. In 1982 and 1983, the central government, under Deng, had forced the retirement of over age officials, both from the communist party itself, but also from the burgeoning bureaucracy. Deng also began enforcing or cracking down on political dissent, crime, and unauthorized contact between Chinese and foreigners11. These strategies are generally regarded as reactionary, and in turn, regarded in terms which suggest that the forms of dissent leading toward Tiananmen Square were already taking place during the early 1980's. Further, he implemented during this period, a measure to stave off an incredible population program. A policy was implemented, and enforced which entailed that couples were limited to having only one child, and in many situations, this was “ruthlessly” enforced by the army and police. Under Deng’s leadership, and in 1984, some important economic reforms were introduced. First, after having changed the collectivization of agriculture, which had been introduced both at the outset of Mao’s leadership in the early 1950's, and furthered in what was known as the “Great Leap Forward” in the late 1950's12, he furthered this process. He did so, by introducing a fairly liberal system, known as the responsibility system, and it was an arrangement, or a system, which was eventually introduced in the areas of industry and various other production sectors. Prices were supposed to be regulated at the local rather than the central level, factory managers were given greater autonomy and subsidies for the urban population for food and housing, and so forth, were lowered, and the consequences of this fairly positive. First, there was 15 % growth which was soon followed by 15 %, and a sizable loss of foreign exchange reserves due to large orders for foreign machinery, and consumer hard goods, a rise in official corruption and a substantial drop in the overall production of grain. As a consequence, many peasants were uprooted, and many were forced to find a new form of work.13 The attempt to reverse these trends, commenced in September 1985, when the senior party leader, Chen Yun, who was one of those who maintained that China should continue a course toward economic reform, advised or pressured Deng Xiaoping to try and stimulate a faster rate of growth, or at least a rate of growth which rivaled the rate of inflation. The first step toward growth, was the attempt toward getting rid of corruption, and in turn, getting rid of crime. As a result, the execution of the sons of high officials was ordered. On the economic front, rather than the political front, the production of grain became re-emphasized. The shifts toward reform, were arguably prompted by a number of student demonstrations in the fall of 1985, which were protesting Deng’s programs, chief among which, was his ‘open door policy’ with the Japanese, who during their occupation during the late 1930's, and early 1940's, committed atrocities against the Chinese. Further, Deng continued to retire large numbers of civil and military officials, and for reasons of efficiency. For example, in September 1985, sixty-four members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party resigned, and largely at Deng’s encouragement. Another important transition under Deng’s leadership, were some new accords or treaties with the United States of America. In April of 1984, the then president of the United States, Ronald Reagan and met with the Chinese President, Li Xiannian, who similarly returned the visit a year later. These meetings were for the purposes of finalizing an agreement on nuclear power cooperation, under which the intentions of the American nuclear industry hoped to boost sales for their equipment or technology. The Chinese, incidentally never went forward with the deal, however, when the then vice-President George Bush went back in October of 1985, it gave the Chinese the opportunity for criticizing American foreign policy with respect to their ties to Taiwan. At the same that China was broadening its horizons, so to speak, they were having internal troubles within the organization of the Communist Party, and among some of the higher ranking officials. For instance, there were conservatives such as Peng Zhen, who wanted only economic development, but little or no social reforms, especially the reform of anything political. In dispute with Peng Zhen, was the General Secretary, whose name was Hu Yaobang. Yaobang maintained a position which argued that China ought to move toward greater liberalization, extending beyond merely economic matters, but toward political and cultural reform as well14. Cultural and social reform is one of the more interesting themes in Shanghai Baby, by Wei Hui. It reflects a very contemporary China in the sense that there are continual references to Western culture. Very much, it is a novel that is deliberately demonstrating how much Western values have shaped China, and how attractive, and indeed, accessible Western culture has become. This is particularly true in an urban setting like Shanghai. For instance, Coco listens to “Portishead”15, “jazz music”16, “post-punk music”17 and dances to “techno music”18. The novel is full of cultural references to Western culture, and what is significant is how recent or very contemporary it is as well. In the past, it could be said that it took awhile for some of the popular trends to make it to China. However, with new technologies and especially with television that is constantly being referred to, the cultural influences from the West are very obviously reaching Shanghai very quickly, and this is one of the compelling points of the novel. Further, the main character in the novel is very much a product of sexual liberation that is an important cultural transformation. The main character, Coco,is, for example, very promiscuous or sleeps with a lot of different men until falling in love with both a German foreigner and a local Chinese boy, who is also an painter, named Tiantian: “I am a bad girl, through and through, at least in the eyes of my mother”19. Most of the story concerns her conflict over the two men that she is in love with. On the one hand, there is Marc, who she is deeply attracted to but who has a family in his native Berlin20. On the other hand, she is in love with Tiantian, who is living on money that his mother sends him from abroad, and who eventually gets addicted to heroin. The constant through the novel, is her chaotic life contrasted with her much more conservative parents who are aware that their daughter is different, but not aware to the extent that her life is so radically different from their own: “They didn't know their daughter's boyfriend took drugs, that their daughter's love would soon be on a plane to Germany, or, that the novel she was writing was chaotic, revealing”21. That is, the life that she is pursuing for herself and the life that her parents think that she is actually living: “I've shamed my parents”22. The novel unquestionably portrays the China in an era of market reforms characterized by liberalization -- or, the gradual transition to a market based economy that Deng Xiaoping initiated. During the above internal, or party differences, there continued to be what was a growing crisis with respect to the number and sizes of student demonstrations. Again, these students were supporting the liberalization of China, and these protests continued with a fair degree of frequency between December 1986 and January 198723. The reaction to these demonstrations was fairly mixed within the hierarchy, or rather, the officials of the Party along with the bureaucracy. At the more extreme, the central figures in the army, advised the government to declare martial law, and on the grounds of what had happened in Poland in 1982, when a civil disobedience oriented labor strike, effectively got rid of the Soviet Communists who had dominated Poland since the Second World. What occurred, was that the movement was large enough to attract the attention of the Western media, causing in turn, the Soviets to be careful with respect to creating atrocities of civil rights in front of the cameras. Thus, the advise which Deng began to hear, was that of the more reactionary wing of the army, or rather, the more pessimistic standpoint concerning the student demonstrations, and in turn, the demands of the students as well. Thus, during the spring of 1987, Deng decided to follow the course as advised by Peng Zhen, which was to pursue the path of economic liberalization, but not the position of political or social liberalization. This decision was made into policy, in the fall of that year. In late October, 1987, the Thirteenth Party Congress Deng announced his attentions of continuing on a course of economic reform, but not political reform. In turn, a number of officials who had previously supported the possibility of social reform or rather, political reform, were similarly ‘retired’ at this conference, and in turn, a conservative named Zhao Ziyang24 was named the General Secretary at this congress. The debate over reform continued at this conference, and during which Deng, acted as a moderator, arguably preventing a possible civil war among those with differences on the question of reform, attending the Conference, and in turn, representing various interests in China25. Once the reform had been agreed upon, and in turn, implemented, some problems emerged. First, the de-regulating of prices, that is, fixing the cost of goods centrally, caused a surge in the cost of living. This was quickly followed by massive discontent, among those at the bottom of the scale, or those who could not keep up with rising costs of inflation. In turn, this issue became central at a meeting of the Party in the summer of 1988. At this meeting, the recent appointment as General Secretary, Zhao Ziyang continued to argue that it was in China’s best interest to continue with the policies of de-regulation26. However, his arguments were met with overwhelming opposition, which resulted in the Party imposing a two year suspension on the implementation of price reform, that is, the reforms toward de-regulating the price of goods and services within the Chinese economy. This opposition, however, was not entirely uniform, and the turn about for the Party was perceived as being authoritarian by many members, including those who were wary of the reforms in the first place27. In other words, many became disaffected with the hierarchy of the party, not on the grounds that they were necessarily wrong, but on the grounds that they were acting from a standpoint of authoritarianism. Furthering the problems of the Chinese officials during this time, were various revolts which were happening in Tibet. In Tibet, there were protests supporting their right toward independence. They demanded either the retreat of the Chinese or in turn, the implementation of a vote to determine whether the nation did or did not want the Chinese there28. Further, there was also the demand that the Chinese cease the persecution of religious leaders, such as the Deli Lama, who has been in exile for several decades following the Chinese takeover of Tibet. As communists, they maintain policies against the existence of god, although unofficially. Officially, the disapprove of the gatherings of people, which almost invariably happens during religious festivals, and large crowds or even small gatherings are often perceived as a threat to security29. The response to these Tibetan protests, was to invoke Martial law which was initiated in the town of Lhasa in March 1989. In Tibet, what followed, was the arbitrary massacre of supposed subversives, which again, drew the attention, and continues to draw the attention of the Western media. Further, it continued to have repercussions on those who made the same demands within China, that is, those who supported democracy, such as figures like Hu Yaobang along with, of course, the students who were continually and persistently protesting during this time. With respect to protests, one of the most significant, was a gathering for the funeral of Hu Yaobang. He was the figure within the party that at one point, almost persuaded Deng Xiaoping to impose political as well as economic reforms, back in 1984 and 1985, and who, for reasons of displaying erratic behaviour, was dismissed by Deng Xiaoping as being an untrustworthy adviser. His funeral marked the events leading up to the major student revolts. First, as the most vocal supporter of democracy, he was regarded as a hero to the students. At least in terms of appearing to be a democrat. Thus, following his death, there was wide spread 30concern among the students, as to who, if anyone was going to be a voice supporting democracy within the ranks of the Communist Party, and who in turn, would take over his position as General Secretary. In other words, would he be replaced as the General Secretary had, with someone who was a more orthodox communist, or a conservative, to invert the western sense of this term, or to simply use the non-partisan meaning of this word? The issue of the replacement of Hu Yaobang, thus ignited student concerns, and within a month of his death, students began turning out by the hundreds of thousands in the larger cities protesting. A particularly high concentration of students, for example, found their way to Beijing, the capital, and the city most likely to draw Western media attention. Protests, generally consisted of basic civil disobedience tactics31, which entail carrying banners and waving flags, and the message of these mediums emphasized the corruption within the Party, as opposed to explaining the ideological dimensions of democracy, and the potential benefits greater freedom would give the people. In other words, although the students were supporters of democracy and especially so in the eyes of the Western media, they presented themselves to the Chinese people as supporters of abolishing corruption which was perceived within the Communist Party. This was a good move for their interests, given that the brief experiment with more freedom, increased the cost of living by four times the amount which it had been through rising inflation, and in general, there was the assumption by the students, that the ‘people’ would not necessarily support more freedom, given the previous consequences of de-regulating or liberalizing the economy. Thus, by emphasizing the aspect of corruption, rather than emphasizing a demand for greater freedom, they found support in numbers among more students, and among the Chinese people, and in numbers which had been previously unparalleled. Although the General Secretary tried to negotiate with the students, that is, the figure of Zhao Ziyang, he soon disappeared. In other words, what appeared to the students as being a situation where concessions were being negotiated, was not the case at all, or, the officials decided upon a different course of action. What occurred, was that he was removed by Deng Xiaoping, and by other more ‘hard-line’ party members32. This signified further, that there existed dissent within the ranks of the party itself, in other words, they presented an image whereby they certain consistency over what course of action the government should take. For example, should they take the advice of the army, and act out of fear of what happened in Poland in 1982, or, should they continue on the course of action initially taken by Zhao Ziyang, and try to negotiate. The sudden disappearance of Ziyang, signified the end of negotiating attempts, and in turn, initiated a response to deal with the protesters by the army, who, for several months had been waiting on the outskirts of most cities where the protests occurred, and who situated on the perimeters, so as not to cause panic among the protesters, or to make them think that they really were perceived as an actual threat. In Beijing, for example, the numbers of troops kept on the perimeters were approximately 200,00033. Finally, on June 4, 1989 tens of thousands of soldiers moved into Beijing and descended upon the student demonstrators24. They were well-armed and well-trained, and their tanks easily crushed anything or anyone which got in their way. The estimates of those killed or wounded was in the thousands, and their were reports by the Western media that soldiers shot indiscriminately into crowds, and that hospitals were invaded to both intimidate doctors from helping the wounded, and also for the purposes of damaging equipment to prevent the treatment of these students. In essence, where the directive came for this insurgency emerged from is still ambiguous, but what is clear, is that this effectively squashed the move toward democracy, or at least the protest movement which supported democracy. In conclusion, this paper has examined both the long term changes which created the revolt of Tiananmen square, and the event leading up to the event, so to speak. With respect to the long term development toward this point in history, the move toward democracy emerged within the party following the pendulum swinging away from the cultural revolution, which was, ironically, an event where Deng Xiaoping had been forced into exile for being too liberal. In turn, when various economic crisis emerged in the early 1980's, along with the continued threat during this time of a Soviet invasion, along with a failed attempt to bring the United States into the picture with respect to this threat, the Party began to waver on the course of action toward stimulating growth in the economy again. Although the types of reform were highly debated among the members of the Party, the debate fell in favor of the more conservative position, which was one that argued, as Deng Xiaoping did, that reform should happen gradually, as it had been ever since the death of Mao in 1976, and in turn, his previous squashing or diminishing of the cultural revolution. Although the ‘gang of four’ became a symbolic move toward reform, by dismissing those within the cultural revolution as corrupt, it was clear by 1989 that there were was enough sentiment within the ranks of the Party held over from the ‘generation’ who came to fruition during the revolution, to support the position of a ‘hard-line’ against the student demonstrates, causing in turn, a massacre, and the end of the popular student movement toward democracy in China, for the time being, and further, a phenomena which came directly from the open policies of China. Bibliography: Chen, An. Restructuring political power in China: alliances and opposition, 1978-1998. London: Lynne Rienner, 1999. Hore, Charlie. The Road to Tiananmen Square. London: Bookmark Publications, 1991. Hua, Yu. To Live: A Novel. Translated by Michael Berry. New York: Random House, 2003. Hui, Wei. Shanghai Baby. Translated by Bruce Humes. New York: Pocket Books, 2001. Macmillan, Margaret. Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World. New York: Random House, 2008. Meisner, Maurice. Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic. Third Edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Mu, Yi and Thompson, Mark V.. Crisis at Tiananmen: Reform and Reality in Modern China. San Francisco: China Books and Periodicals, 1989. The Shanghai Communique. From the Course Readings. Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991. Teiwes, Frederick C. and Sun, Warren. The End of the Maoist Era: Chinese Politics During the Twilight of the Cultural Revolution. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2008. Wang, James. Contemporary Chinese Politics. An Introduction. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1998. The Political Causes and Background of the Tiananmen Square Protests. Read More