In the month of May- June 1989, Chinese people were assembling at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. On 4th June 1989, the Chinese government used military tanks to end the demonstration of Chinese people. To understand the event of Tiananmen, we have to understand the prevailing socioeconomic conditions in China.
China started the process of globalization in the 1980s. According to the student’s opinion, the process of globalization and the absence of democracy led to the spread of corruption in China. Corruption had engulfed the whole Chinese life. So, students started demanding the punishing of corrupt officials and introducing democratic rights. But these students didn’t have a clear idea of political rights. Most of the students were expecting political reforms under the guidance of the communist regime. The others were expecting political reforms on the line of western democracy.
The demands of political reforms attracted not only students but also the middle class, entrepreneurs, technicians and traders. Similarly, the working class which was affected by the process of globalization wanted to put up their demands before the government. So, we find three prominent participants in the agitation. These agitators were students, the middle class and the working class. The middle class were interested to speed up the economic reforms to initiate the political reforms. The working class were more interested to oppose the economic reforms. Students didn’t have a clear stand on the economic reforms. But they were more conscious about the issue of corruption.
The rural population didn’t have any inclinations toward the Tiananmen Square movement. The reason was simple. The globalization of the 1980s started to improve the economic conditions of farmers. The Chinese peasantry which was suffering in the Mao era didn’t want to have political instability. They were happy with economic reforms and economic prosperity. So, the Tiananmen Square agitation was comprised of contradictory interests. The Chinese communist government had tried to negotiate with these diverse pressure groups but could not get any success. Finally, as the negotiation failed, the government resorted to the military to quash the agitation.
To conclude, the diverse interest of the agitators could not successfully achieve the objective of the Tiananmen Square Moment.
