Remembering Tiananmen: A Test of the World's Resolve Against China's Authoritarian Ambitions
In the face of China's growing assertiveness, commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is crucial to holding the country accountable and upholding global human rights.
The Facts:
China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square sparked a major crisis in its relationship with the West. The massacre, in which soldiers backed by tanks fired upon unarmed students, civilians, and protesters, resulted in an unknown number of casualties, with estimates ranging from over 1,000 to as high as 10,000 according to declassified British documents. As former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz described, "It was a terrible, terrible thing. And the government of China is still unwilling to come to grips with it."
The Chinese Communist Party has made extensive efforts to erase the historical memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre. They have successfully controlled the narrative in all the territories they control, including the once-autonomous Hong Kong, where annual vigils commemorating the event were banned under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic and the harsh Beijing-imposed National Security Law. The crackdown on any public acknowledgment of the Tiananmen Square events demonstrates the Chinese government's determination to "kill the chicken to scare the monkeys," as described by the former Chinese Premier Li Peng.
After the Tiananmen Square massacre, China tightened domestic security and pursued liberalizing economic policies to advance modernization. This strategy has paid off, as China became the world's biggest trading nation and a top recipient of foreign investment, rocketing into the No. 2 spot among global economies. However, this symbiotic relationship between China and the West has been difficult to untangle, and the belief that as China grew rich, it would become more free has proven to be the opposite.
In recent years China has abandoned Deng Xiaoping's dictate to "hide its strengths and bide its time," instead adopting a more confrontational "wolf warrior diplomacy" under Xi Jinping. China's close relationship with Russia and intent to challenge the post-World War II global order demonstrates its shift away from Deng's approach, as former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned, "China is not a responsible stakeholder in the international system."
Today, China's economic growth has sagged closer than ever to post-Tiananmen lows of 3.9% in 1990, and confidence in China is slumping, with a real-estate crisis, job prospects narrowing, and a population slide. China's international image is undergoing a systematic, progressive, long-term falloff compared to the post-Tiananmen situation.
In the West, both sides of the aisle have concluded that embracing engagement with China backfired, and the mindset that Beijing is an adversary is reflected in new policies. Foreign investment into China is declining, and many governments are rethinking trade ties with China, as former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer stated, "The era of engagement with China has come to an end." With the American favorability rating of China standing at only 20% today, which is far below the 34% shortly after the Tiananmen massacre. This rating is much lower than that of the Soviet Union, which was at 62% as the Cold War was coming to an end.
The View:
The Chinese government's relentless efforts to erase the historical memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre reveal its authoritarian and oppressive nature. By censoring any public commemoration of the event and cracking down on dissent, the Chinese Communist Party is demonstrating its fear of the truth and its determination to control the narrative. The party's actions are a stark reminder of George Orwell's warning in "1984" about the dangers of totalitarianism, where those in power manipulate the past to suit their present needs.
Despite the West's initial condemnation of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the subsequent decades of economic engagement and trade with China have allowed the Chinese government to consolidate its power and project its influence globally. This symbiotic relationship, which was based on the belief that China would become more free as it grew richer, has proven to be a grave miscalculation.
Today, China is losing its dynamism with confidence slumping, a real estate crisis, disillusionment among the youth, and more Chinese undertaking risky endeavors to emigrate, just as they did in 1989. This confluence of negative forces is a stark contrast to the image of a rising and confident China that the government has sought to project.
The United States has now concluded that engaging with China has backfired, leading to a more adversarial stance reflected in policy decision. The West's current sources of discomfort with the China are a mix of its aggressive industrial policies, military posturing towards neighbors, and the national security agenda of President Xi Jinping that has curtailed personal freedoms at home and shaped China's foreign affairs. This has resulted in foreign investment into China is declining, many governments rethinking trade ties, and China's human rights record being brought back into the international spotlight - a confluence of negative forces China has not faced since the aftermath of Tiananmen.
Considering this changing reality, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. By doing so, attention can be brought to China’s ongoing human rights violations and enables efforts to challenge the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine international norms.
TLDR:
The Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 was a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy activists by the Chinese government, resulting in an unknown number of casualties, with estimates ranging from over 1,000 to as high as 10,000.
The Chinese Communist Party has made extensive efforts to erase the historical memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, including banning public commemorations in Hong Kong.
After the Tiananmen Square incident, China tightened domestic security and pursued liberalizing economic policies, which led to China becoming the world's biggest trading nation and a top recipient of foreign investment.
The belief that as China grew rich, it would become more free has proven to be the opposite, as China has adopted a more confrontational "wolf warrior diplomacy" under Xi Jinping.
The United States and other Western nations have concluded that engaging with China has backfired, leading to a more adversarial stance reflected in policy decisions.
Commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre is crucial to bring attention to China's ongoing human rights violations and challenge the Chinese government's efforts to undermine international norms.
Know More:
Tiananmen Square: What happened in the protests of 1989? - BBC News
The New Authoritarian Axis: The Growing Threat to the Free World from China, Russia, and Iran - The Heritage Foundation
Insights From:
35 Years After Tiananmen, China’s Conduct Again Triggers Alarm - Wallstreet Journal
China Wants You to Forget Tiananmen Ever Happened - Bloomberg
35 years after China's Tiananmen Square massacre: Why we must never forget | Fox News