Tinamen square: triumph, problems, and tragedy

The Tiananmen Square Massacre witnessed the death and arresting of thousands of innocent protesters who were expressing their opinion for a democratic government. The event suggested that there exists social and economic problems inside China and the communist philosophy.

Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe

After the World War 2, Germany was divided into four zones which were controlled by The US, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. United States, Britain and France occupied West Berlin and the Soviet Union occupied East Berlin. In 1949, The failure to reach an agreement after World War 2 between the “superpowers” split Germany in two (Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic). In 1989, the pressure of political changes and civil unrest led to the collapse of the wall as well as the communist regimes of Eastern Europe. Soon after, the Berlin Wall became a symbol of division and separation of Europe where the guards had shot and killed many people who tried to escape. Its collapse marked the end of Cold War, separation of Germany, and Communism in Eastern Europe.

The event

After the death of Hu Yaobong, around 100,000 chinese students gathered in Tiananmen Square to commemorate him and speak out against the authoritarian regime that was the Chinese government. Soon it became a protest for democracy as more and more people joined and after a few weeks almost 1 million people were pushing for more democracy. Then on June 4, 1989, Chinese soldiers began shooting indiscriminately into the square. Estimates ranging from 300 hundred to a few thousand died in the process and approximately 10,000 were arrested.

Protesters

Three weeks after the massacre, United States congress voted to enact an economic sanctions against China. Furthermore Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the Premiere of the U.S.S.R. publicly spoke out against the Chinese government, said “I hope that the government would adopt my own domestic reform program and begin to democratize the Chinese political system.”

Government

The Chinese government successfully put down the protest, kept people and the media quiet, and further enforced unconstitutional laws. The event resulted in the strengthening of the government and those who held authority in China. Throughout the years, China has manipulated as well as censored many information regarding the government system. They block all of the social media such as Facebook, twitter, and snapchat. They use propaganda and effectively make the general public have little value for democracy than 20 years ago because there is no need to call for a change. Moreover, younger generations have little interest on or no idea about the bloodshed event.

Economy

A few decades later the economy became less regulated and more Capitalistic, as a result it has grown exponentially, but is still a majority communist.
Learning from the event, China improved its policies and put People’s Armed Police on action. With the rise of internet, China has effectively strengthen the Internet Police. Deng Xiaoping’s “trip to the South” economic reform policies in 1992 sparked high level economic growth which had an important aspect of maintaining support from people. As time goes by, with the success of China’s economy, China in modern days is an important market for US companies, and there are many private companies in China.

Social Problems

The event proves that Chinese government does not care about people's opinions. It shows totalitarianism and corruption in its government system where the authorities will try their best to keep people from saying the truth. As a result, the majority of people in China believe in the regime. Although there are minorities who criticize the regime as the regime does not value human rights, they are kept quiet and successfully barred from reaching the media by the government.

Economic Problems

Immediately after the event, United States and its allies imposed series of diplomatic sanctions against China. Since the event, more private companies such as Amer International Group and JD Group flourished, but a majority of the economy still heavily relies on the government. Many people suspect that some companies release their products for spying, one of the great example is Huawei (massive smartphone company) that is, recently blocked from accessing all Google services.

Human rights that were "allocated" to the Chinese people were questioned as thousands were killed and arrested without trial. The Tiananmen square massacre raised many unanswered question about the political system. At least 10000 people died and 40000 people injured from the event. It happened very quickly and the Chinese authorities were fast to clean up and cover the what happened. Some witnesses said that something terrible took place at 4am, but the smoke and distance made it hard to see. Tanks were there with the crowd with constant gunfire. Regarded by many as a tragic event, what was a peaceful protest by students was interrupted by violent actions, and as a result many students and protesters were killed.