a student unrest in china 1989?

Question

i know that some one's lives are all totally changed , because some special things happened that year. can you tell me your story, or the story that you know . i want to know the true history . thank you

Answer 1

PBS's Frontline did a 3 part series on this...

I have mixed emotions and mixed opinions on what happened.

Yes, the Chinese government went overboard in killing so many innocent students and if you know what really happened, they weren't just students. The protests had grown to a point of attracting many many other types of ppl.

Now with that said, I am going to make an extremely unpopular statement/opinion. I am a marxist at heart and have studied the writings of Lenin in depth. Lenin, while a pacifist, knew that there were times to be use force to control mutiny.

Lenin wrote about the ones that will try to overthrow the idealism of a fair and equal society... the ones that won't accept the weak having the same or the ones that won't accept a no class system.

While I know this incident was not about that.. I do realize that this incident threatened the fairly new communist Chinese regime. I truly believe the Chinese regime would have been weakened had they given into the protesters due to the vast number and the length of the protest... not justifying the slaughter but saying I understand the stopping of the protest.

In that Frontline series, the Chinese government warned them.. gave them days to leave... they chose to stay. They chose their destiny.

Answer 2

Beach bum your answer amazes me
You said." Yes, the Chinese government went overboard in killing so many innocent students"
So my conclusion should be it is perfectly acceptable for the government to kill some but not to many to retain power? This from the same person who calls for the abolishment of of the patriot act as it infringes on our right to privacy. I guess it's better to be deprived of our most basic right to live than lose ones privacy I am stating to see your reasoning

You said- "I am a Marxist at heart and have studied the writings of Lenin in depth"
Since no Marxist state has ever evolved past the dictatorship of the proletariat. Again i understand Genocide is a time honored tradition among dictatorships throughout history

You said -"I do realize that this incident threatened the fairly new communist Chinese regime. I truly believe the Chinese regime would have been weakened had they given into the protesters due to the vast number and the length of the protest.
You neglected to say that the new reform govt did fall and the hardliners took control. So your premise of protecting the current "new" Government as justification is false. The truth is the corrupt hardliners were protecting their privilege and power. Which I must concede is perfectly understandable in a dictatorship of the proletariat or of any other type.

The truth is young lady that you, like Marx, are so blinded by ideology that you fail to see that China is neither Marxist or communist but make excuses and apologies because they claim to be. Yet you are the first to battle when any perceived infringement no matter how minor is made by your Own government. You condemn your own government for infringements of freedom while supporting the same thing in China. Do you not understand that that is morally bereft not to mention hypocritical!
I am a Chinese American and I can tell you that the current government in China is anything but "the PEOPLES republic of China.

Answer 3

Yes I believe many people's lives changed but I think Miss Beach Bum is also right. I saw that Frontline show too. They had it on for 3 days in parts. It was amazing and showed the detailed of what really happened. I think the China government went too far but those students were told to leave in plenty of time. I also think that China had to do it to save their idea of government.

Answer 4

I think it was a necessary evil. Yes it was sad and yes many people died but they were warned. Beachbum is right as usual.