The Impact of China's 1989 Tiananmen Massacre
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The Impact of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Massacre The 1989 pro-democracy movement in China constituted a huge challenge to the survival of the Chinese communist state, and the efforts of the Chinese Communist party to erase the memory of the massacre testify to its importance. This consisted of six weeks of massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and over 300 other cities, led by students, who in Beijing engaged in a hunger strike which drew wide public support. Their actions provoked repression from the regime, which – after internal debate – decided to suppress the movement with force, leading to a still-unknown number of deaths in Beijing and a period of heightened repression throughout the country. This book assesses the impact of the movement, and of the ensuing repression, on the political evolution of the People’s Republic of China. The book discusses what lessons the leadership learned from the events of 1989, in particular whether these events consolidated authoritarian government or facilitated its adaptation towards a new flexibility which may, in time, lead to the transformation of the regime. It also examines the impact of 1989 on the pro-democracy movement, assessing whether its change of strategy since has consolidated the movement, or if, given the regime’s success in achieving economic growth and raising living standards, it has become increasingly irrelevant. It also examines how the repression of the movement has affected the economic policy of the Party, favoring the development of large State Enterprises and provoking an impressive social polarisation. Finally, Jean-Philippe Béja discusses how the events of 1989 are remembered and have affected China’s international relations and diplomacy; how human rights, law enforcement, policing, and liberal thought have developed over two decades. Jean-Philippe Be´ja is a Senior Researcher at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), and CERI-Sciences-Po (Centre for international Studies and Research), Paris, France. He is currently conducting research at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. China Policy Series Series Editor Zheng, Yongnian, China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham, UK 1. China and the New International Order 10. China’s Rise in the World ICT Industry Edited by Wang Gungwu and Zheng Yongnian Industrial Strategies and the Catch-Up Development Model 2. China’s Opening Society Lutao Ning The Non-State Sector and Governance Edited by Zheng Yongnian and Joseph Fewsmith 11. China’s Local Administration Traditions and Changes in the Sub-National 3. Zhao Ziyang and China’s Hierarchy Political Future Edited by Jae-Ho Chung and Tao-chiu Lam Edited by Guoguang Wu and Helen Lansdowne 12. The Chinese Communist Party as Organizational Emperor 4. Hainan – State, Society, and Business Culture, Reproduction and Transformation in a Chinese Province Zheng Yongian Kjeld Erik Brodsgaard 13. China’s Trade Unions – How 5. Non-Governmental Organizations Autonomous Are They? in China Masaharu Hishida, Kazuko Kojima, Tomoaki Ishii The Rise of Dependent Autonomy and Jian Qiao Yiyi Lu 14. Legitimating the Chinese Communist 6. Power and Sustainability of the Party since Tiananmen Chinese State A Critical Analysis of the Stability Discourse Edited by Keun Lee, Joon-Han Kim and Wing Thye Woo Peter Sandby-Thomas 15. China and International Relations 7. China’s Information and The Chinese View and the Contribution of Communications Technology Revolution Wang Gungwu Social Changes and State Responses Zheng Yongnian Edited by Xiaoling Zhang and Yongnian Zheng 16. The Challenge of Labour in China 8. Socialist China, Capitalist China Strikes and the Changing Labour Regime in Social Tension and Political Adaptation under Global Factories Economic Globalisation Chris King-chi Chan Edited by Guoguang Wu and Helen Lansdowne 17. The Impact of China’s 1989 9. Environmental Activism in China Tiananmen Massacre Lei Xei Edited by Jean-Philippe Be´ja The Impact of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Massacre Edited by Jean-Philippe Be´ja First published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business First issued in paperback 2013 © 2011 Jean-Philippe Béja for selection and editorial matter; individual contributors their contribution Typeset in Perpetua by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The impact of China’s 1989 Tiananmen massacre / edited by Jean-Philippe Béja. p. cm. -- (China policy series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. China--History--Tiananmen Square Incident, 1989--Influence. 2. China--Politics and government--1976-2002. 3. China--Foreign relations.I. Béja, Jean-Philippe. DS779.32.I56 2010 951.05’8--dc22 2010012079 ISBN 978-0-415-57872-1 hbk ISBN 978-0-415-83785-9 pbk ISBN 978-0-203-84260-7 ebk To the hundreds of anonymous citizens who sacrificed their lives to accelerate the advent of a democratic China Contents List of Figures ix Abbreviations x List of Contributors xi Introduction: 4 June 1989: a watershed in Chinese contemporary history 1 JEAN-PHILIPPE BÉJA 1 June Fourth: Memory and ethics 13 PERRY LINK 2 The Chinese Communist Party and 4 June 1989: Or how to get out of it and get away with it 33 MICHEL BONNIN 3 The Impact of the June 4th Massacre on the Pro-Democracy Movement 49 JEAN-PHILIPPE BÉJA AND MERLE GOLDMAN 4 The Chinese Liberal Camp in Post-4 June China 66 FENG CHONGYI 5 Wang Xiaobo and the no longer silent majority 86 SEBASTIAN VEG 6 The seeds of Tiananmen: Reflections on a growing Chinese Civil Rights Movement 95 XIAORONG LI 7 The practice of law as conscientious resistance: Chinese weiquan lawyers’ experience 109 EVA PILS viii Contents 8 The politicisation of China’s law-enforcement and judicial apparatus 125 WILLY LAM 9 The enduring importance of police repression: Laojiao, the rule of law and Taiwan’s alternative evolution 142 JEROME A. COHEN AND MARGARET K. LEWIS 10 The Impact of the Tiananmen Crisis on China’s economic transition 154 BARRY NAUGHTON 11 The Tiananmen incident and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong 179 JOSEPH Y.S. CHENG 12 How China managed to de-isolate itself on the international stage and re-engage the world after Tiananmen 194 JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN 13 China and international human rights: Tiananmen’s paradoxical impact 206 ANDREW J. NATHAN 14 A shadow over Western democracies: China’s political use of economic power 221 GUOGUANG WU Bibliography 237 Index 251 Figures 10.1 GDP growth, 1978–2008 155 10.2 Consumer inflation (1983Q1–2008Q4) 155 10.3 Major public goods outlays (% of GDP) 159 10.4 Budgetary revenues and industrial SOE profits 165 10.5 Central government share of budgetary revenue and expenditure 173 10.6 State enterprise labor force 174 Abbreviations ALL Administrative Litigation Law BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BLDC Basic Law Drafting Committee CCP Chinese Communist Party CCPLA Central Commission on Political and Legal Affairs CLGPL Central Leading Group on Politics and Law CTBT Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty DAB Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong HKSAR Hong Kong Special Administrative Region HRW Human Rights Watch KMT Kuomintang MOJ Ministry of Justice MPS Ministry of Public Security NPC National People’s Congress PAP People’s Armed Police PLA People’s Liberation Army PRC People’s Republic of China R&D Research and Development ROC Republic of China SOE State-Owned Enterprise SPC Supreme People’s Court SPP Supreme People’s Procuratorate UDHR Universal Declaration on Human Rights VOA Voice of America Contributors Jean-Philippe Be´ja is a Senior Researcher at CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), and CERI-Sciences-Po (Centre for international Studies and Research), Paris. He is presently doing research at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) and is an adjunct pro- fessor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Michel Bonnin is a Professor of Chinese History at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. Jean-Pierre Cabestan is a Professor of Political Sciences and the Head of the Department of Governmental and International Studies at Baptist University, Hong Kong. Joseph Y.S. Cheng is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Contemporary China Program at the City University of Hong Kong. Jerome A. Cohen is a Professor of Law at New York University. Feng Chongyi is an Associate Professor in China Studies and the Deputy Director of the China Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney. Merle Goldman is Professor Emerita of Chinese History at Boston University and Associate of the Fairbank Center of Chinese Studies at Harvard. Willy Lam is a Professor of Chinese Studies at Akita International University, Japan, and an Adjunct Professor of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Margaret K. Lewis is Research Fellow in Asian Law at New York University. Xiaorong Li is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. Perry Link is an emeritus Professor at Princeton University and Chancellorial Chair for Teaching Across Disciplines at the University of California, Riverside.