512 { China’s Quest
oust the communist regime, and which led to the execution of the head of
the former communist state. Protests began over purely local grievances in
the city of Timișoara on December 16. Initial grievances were soon irrelevant
as anticommunist slogans dominated animated crowds in that city. Security
personnel and, when that proved inadequate, military forces confronted
the crowds. Protesters refused to scatter and fought back. Regime violence
further enraged the crowds. Workers from nearby industrial centers joined
the protests. Ceaușescu attempted to calm the situation by giving a televised
speech before a large audience assembled by the party outside his palace in
Bucharest. Ceaușescu completely misjudged the psychology of both his audi-
ence and the Romanian people. He condemned the events in Timișoara as
“interference of foreign forces in Romania’s internal affairs” and as “exter-
nal aggression on Romania’s sovereignty.” Eight minutes into the speech,
jeers, boos, and insults began to be heard. Some of the crowd began chanting
“Ti-mi-șoa-ra.” Then sounds like gunshots panicked the crowd, transform-
ing what had become a protest demonstration into a riot. An estimated 76
percent of Romania’s population had been watching Ceaușescu’s televised
speech and saw the situation transformed before their eyes into a riot against
the regime. As in Timișoara, security and military forces were called in and
used violence against the crowds. Protestors fought back, typically unarmed.
An estimated 1,104 people died in the chaotic uprising. Eventually, an enraged
mob broke into Ceaușescu’s place, forcing the tyrant to flee. Military forces
began joining the protestors or returning to their barracks under the order of
their commanders. Captured in flight, Ceaușescu was given a two-hour trial
and executed by firing squad on December 25.
Ceaușescu’s trial and his dead body were televised, and the film was dis-
tributed around the world.^21 (The actual execution by firing squad was not
taped.) In Beijing, CCP leaders assembled to watch a video of the episode
shortly after it happened. After stunned silence in the darkened room, an
unidentified voice opined “We’ll be like this if we don’t strengthen our pro-
letarian dictatorship of reactionaries.” Deng Xiaoping replied: “Yes, we’ll be
like this if we don’t carry out reforms and bring about benefits to the peo-
ple.”^22 This exchange foreshadowed a sharp divide between Deng and more
conservative CCP leaders over the course of post 6-4 policy.
The East European revolutions had a deep impact on CCP leaders. In the
first instance, they confirmed their belief that the choice in May to refuse
compromise and use “methods of dictatorship to regain control of the situa-
tion” had been correct.^23 To have followed the path of compromise and con-
ciliation advocated by Zhao Ziyang would have led to the collapse of the CCP
regime as had happened across Eastern Europe. European developments also
confirmed the CCP belief that Western subversion and interference played
a major role in toppling communist regimes. A visit by President George
H. W. Bush to Poland and Hungary (the two leaders in the dismantling of