Twenty-five years ago, Chinese army tanks rumbled into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, crushing a month-long series of protests for economic reforms and political rights, led by university students. Hundreds, if not thousands, were killed, the exact number being unknown, since the Chinese government has tried to suppress discussion of the massacre.
Since then, China has changed a great deal. But the problems that triggered the Tiananmen Square protests are still present.
Today’s China is far more prosperous than it was in 1989. Its major cities glisten with impressive, new buildings, but much of the work was done by low-paid rural migrants with little security or health insurance. Its leading companies compete successfully throughout the world, but often depend on maintaining the favor of government officials at home. Poverty has declined significantly and a middle-class has blossomed. But the gap between rich and poor is vast.
More people in China have access to the Internet than in any other country in the world. Yet, web traffic is closely monitored and censored. Don’t expect to watch YouTube or read The New York Times when you are in Beijing. Though small-scale experiments in local government have been tried, China, as Evan Osnos writes, is the only country where a Nobel Peace Prize winner is in jail, democracy advocate, Liu Xiaobao.
Last month, Indiana University opened an office in Beijing to expand student and scholarly programs in China. If it serves to promote the values of political, economic, and academic freedom to which IU subscribes, it will be a fitting way of honoring the sacrifices made a quarter century ago.
Sources:
Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.
