Jeffrey Wasserstrom

And the 1989 protests at Tiananmen, even though kind of in the Western press in particular was discussed as a movement for democracy, but a lot of the first posters that went up that got students really angry were criticisms of corruption within the Communist Party and nepotism, and the sense that people

And the 1989 protests at Tiananmen, even though kind of in the Western press in particular was discussed as a movement for democracy, but a lot of the first posters that went up that got students really angry were criticisms of corruption within the Communist Party and nepotism, and the sense that people

And the 1989 protests at Tiananmen, even though kind of in the Western press in particular was discussed as a movement for democracy, but a lot of the first posters that went up that got students really angry were criticisms of corruption within the Communist Party and nepotism, and the sense that people

Despite all the talk, I mean, despite the fact that most people seem to be having to study really hard to pass these exams to get good positions in universities, that some of them were being handed out via the kind of backdoor. And that led to a kind of outrage. I mean, that's true in many places, but I think it gives a special...

Despite all the talk, I mean, despite the fact that most people seem to be having to study really hard to pass these exams to get good positions in universities, that some of them were being handed out via the kind of backdoor. And that led to a kind of outrage. I mean, that's true in many places, but I think it gives a special...

Despite all the talk, I mean, despite the fact that most people seem to be having to study really hard to pass these exams to get good positions in universities, that some of them were being handed out via the kind of backdoor. And that led to a kind of outrage. I mean, that's true in many places, but I think it gives a special...

So in 1989, this massive movement took place. The story of it's largely suppressed within China and largely misunderstood in other places, in part because it happened around the same time that communism was unraveling and ending in the former Soviet bloc. So I think it's often conflated with what was going on there.

So in 1989, this massive movement took place. The story of it's largely suppressed within China and largely misunderstood in other places, in part because it happened around the same time that communism was unraveling and ending in the former Soviet bloc. So I think it's often conflated with what was going on there.

So in 1989, this massive movement took place. The story of it's largely suppressed within China and largely misunderstood in other places, in part because it happened around the same time that communism was unraveling and ending in the former Soviet bloc. So I think it's often conflated with what was going on there.

And so I think one of the key things to know about the protests in 1989 was that they were an effort to get the Communist Party in China to do a better job of living up to its own stated ideals and to try to support the trend within the party toward a kind of liberalizing trend. liberalizing and opening up form that had taken shape after Mao's death.

And so I think one of the key things to know about the protests in 1989 was that they were an effort to get the Communist Party in China to do a better job of living up to its own stated ideals and to try to support the trend within the party toward a kind of liberalizing trend. liberalizing and opening up form that had taken shape after Mao's death.

And so I think one of the key things to know about the protests in 1989 was that they were an effort to get the Communist Party in China to do a better job of living up to its own stated ideals and to try to support the trend within the party toward a kind of liberalizing trend. liberalizing and opening up form that had taken shape after Mao's death.

And in a sense, the student generation of 89, and I was there in 86 when there were some sort of warm-up protests. there was a kind of frustration with what they felt was a half-assed version of what they were talking about. The government was saying, the party was saying, we believe in reforming and opening up. We need to liberalize. We need to give people more control of their fate.

And in a sense, the student generation of 89, and I was there in 86 when there were some sort of warm-up protests. there was a kind of frustration with what they felt was a half-assed version of what they were talking about. The government was saying, the party was saying, we believe in reforming and opening up. We need to liberalize. We need to give people more control of their fate.

And in a sense, the student generation of 89, and I was there in 86 when there were some sort of warm-up protests. there was a kind of frustration with what they felt was a half-assed version of what they were talking about. The government was saying, the party was saying, we believe in reforming and opening up. We need to liberalize. We need to give people more control of their fate.

And the students felt that this was being done more effectively in the economic realm than in the political realm, and that there were a lot of sort of partial gestures that suggested the party needed to be pressed to really, really move in that direction. And it'll seem like a very trivial thing, but I found it fascinating in 86 when I was there in Shanghai in late 86, And students protested.

And the students felt that this was being done more effectively in the economic realm than in the political realm, and that there were a lot of sort of partial gestures that suggested the party needed to be pressed to really, really move in that direction. And it'll seem like a very trivial thing, but I found it fascinating in 86 when I was there in Shanghai in late 86, And students protested.

And the students felt that this was being done more effectively in the economic realm than in the political realm, and that there were a lot of sort of partial gestures that suggested the party needed to be pressed to really, really move in that direction. And it'll seem like a very trivial thing, but I found it fascinating in 86 when I was there in Shanghai in late 86, And students protested.

And this was the first time that students had been really on the streets in significant numbers since the Cultural Revolution, or at least since 76. And the students were inspired by calls for democracy and discussions of democracy by this physicist, Fang Lijue, who was a kind of, often thought, a Chinese Sakharov. He was a liberalizing intellectual.

And this was the first time that students had been really on the streets in significant numbers since the Cultural Revolution, or at least since 76. And the students were inspired by calls for democracy and discussions of democracy by this physicist, Fang Lijue, who was a kind of, often thought, a Chinese Sakharov. He was a liberalizing intellectual.