A Social Study of the 1989 Beijing Crisis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11068523 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William T Liu (University of Illinois Chicago, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1989 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 69-76 |
| Publication date | 1989-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Affairs An American Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-7678 • E-ISSN: 1940-1590 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00927678.1989.10553595 |
| OpenAlex | W2328635684 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
On 4 June 1989, John Chancellor, the regular senior analyst on Tom Brokaw's Nightly News at NBC, looked into the camera and asked if anyone outside China had ever anticipated the sudden turn of events in Tiananmen Square-the demonstration that preceded the violence and the unexpected use of military power that killed hundreds of unarmed students. John Chancellor was obviously more troubled by the fact that neither the CIA nor the China watchers at prestigious U.S. academies had any idea what would or could happen in China. To John Chancellor, the horror was in the conspicuous absence in the United States of any intelligence and expert information about China until the massacre. There are two major points to be made. The first has to do with the ignorance of the fact that China's vast youthful population was frustrated and disaffected despite the progress made toward modernization during the past decade. The second point has to do with the probable shortand long-term effects of the way the hard-line leadership dealt with the Tiananmen Square episode. Events that followed the military showdown at the square, including the arrest of demonstration leaders, the executions that took place in Shanghai and Beijing without trials, the downfall of General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, and the appointment of Jiang Zemin as the new party general secretary make it seem that there has been a consolidation of top leadership and a return to a hard-line stance in political control. Will there be further reactions and, if so, from what segments of the population? How will a consensus emerge, and what are the clear issues that will mobilize public opinion and popular support to influence the party's central leadership? How will the new general secretary handle these various contingencies, and what will be the outcome of the actions taken
Beijing · China · Political science · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |