Jeffrey Wasserstrom

And they try for the first months after it to try to get this narrative to stick. They talk about Tiananmen a lot. They talk about these things. They show images of the tank man. The problem with it is that lots and lots of people around Beijing had seen what happened and knew that, in fact, there had first been the firing on unarmed civilians with automatic weapons.

And they try for the first months after it to try to get this narrative to stick. They talk about Tiananmen a lot. They talk about these things. They show images of the tank man. The problem with it is that lots and lots of people around Beijing had seen what happened and knew that, in fact, there had first been the firing on unarmed civilians with automatic weapons.

And there had been many, many people some students, but a lot of ordinary Beijing residents and workers who were just mowing down. So lots of people knew somebody who had been killed. So that story just didn't work. And then I think

And there had been many, many people some students, but a lot of ordinary Beijing residents and workers who were just mowing down. So lots of people knew somebody who had been killed. So that story just didn't work. And then I think

And there had been many, many people some students, but a lot of ordinary Beijing residents and workers who were just mowing down. So lots of people knew somebody who had been killed. So that story just didn't work. And then I think

The claim had to be made to try to suppress discussion of the event, and particularly to repress that visual imagery that was that image of the man in front of a line of tanks, whatever the tanks did to him or not. The main takeaway from it would be this idea that there were lines of tanks in a city that the image was of the government as having lost the mandate to rule.

The claim had to be made to try to suppress discussion of the event, and particularly to repress that visual imagery that was that image of the man in front of a line of tanks, whatever the tanks did to him or not. The main takeaway from it would be this idea that there were lines of tanks in a city that the image was of the government as having lost the mandate to rule.

The claim had to be made to try to suppress discussion of the event, and particularly to repress that visual imagery that was that image of the man in front of a line of tanks, whatever the tanks did to him or not. The main takeaway from it would be this idea that there were lines of tanks in a city that the image was of the government as having lost the mandate to rule.

And they really didn't want to have that image out there in the world.

And they really didn't want to have that image out there in the world.

And they really didn't want to have that image out there in the world.

Yeah. And it's probably not a student. It's often described as a student, but he probably was a worker. And it is a powerful, powerful image of bravery. And I brought up the 1968 parallel for Eastern and Central Europe. There was actually a very powerful photograph. of a man bearing his chest in front of a tank in Bratislava during what we think of as Prague Spring.

Yeah. And it's probably not a student. It's often described as a student, but he probably was a worker. And it is a powerful, powerful image of bravery. And I brought up the 1968 parallel for Eastern and Central Europe. There was actually a very powerful photograph. of a man bearing his chest in front of a tank in Bratislava during what we think of as Prague Spring.

Yeah. And it's probably not a student. It's often described as a student, but he probably was a worker. And it is a powerful, powerful image of bravery. And I brought up the 1968 parallel for Eastern and Central Europe. There was actually a very powerful photograph. of a man bearing his chest in front of a tank in Bratislava during what we think of as Prague Spring.

That was a famous image of bravery against tanks. And in 1968, in Czechoslovakia, then still Czechoslovakia, the tanks that rolled in were Soviet tanks sent down there. But that was an image, what was so powerful in that was saying, we're not going to put up with this invasion. Again, I think you have the People's Liberation Army looking like an invading force.

That was a famous image of bravery against tanks. And in 1968, in Czechoslovakia, then still Czechoslovakia, the tanks that rolled in were Soviet tanks sent down there. But that was an image, what was so powerful in that was saying, we're not going to put up with this invasion. Again, I think you have the People's Liberation Army looking like an invading force.

That was a famous image of bravery against tanks. And in 1968, in Czechoslovakia, then still Czechoslovakia, the tanks that rolled in were Soviet tanks sent down there. But that was an image, what was so powerful in that was saying, we're not going to put up with this invasion. Again, I think you have the People's Liberation Army looking like an invading force.

And that's what the Chinese Communist Party, in a sense, can't can't deal with now, even though sometimes they could tell a story about 1989, and they do tell a version of this, and some people believe this, I think, is that in 1989, China went one route of not having the Communist Party dramatically change or relinquish control, and the Soviet Union and the former Soviet states went another.

And that's what the Chinese Communist Party, in a sense, can't can't deal with now, even though sometimes they could tell a story about 1989, and they do tell a version of this, and some people believe this, I think, is that in 1989, China went one route of not having the Communist Party dramatically change or relinquish control, and the Soviet Union and the former Soviet states went another.

And that's what the Chinese Communist Party, in a sense, can't can't deal with now, even though sometimes they could tell a story about 1989, and they do tell a version of this, and some people believe this, I think, is that in 1989, China went one route of not having the Communist Party dramatically change or relinquish control, and the Soviet Union and the former Soviet states went another.