13The photo of a man
blocking a column
of tanks is the iconic
image of those few
tumultuous days –
in the west, at least.
In China, it’s far from
widely recognised
privatisation, but reform more focused
on consolidating huge, state-run entities.
China also became far more open to
foreign investment, which in fact had
already begun. The American fast-
food chain KFC, for example, had
opened its first restaurant in China
two years before the protest – on the
edge of Tiananmen Square.
Yet it has been argued by both
Chinese state-run media and impartial
observers that 4 June 1989 did mark the
moment when the China we see today
was forged. The former sees the decision
to crush the protest with overwhelming
fatal force as ‘correct’. On the eve of the
30th anniversary of the crackdown,
the English-language newspaper Global
Times described the army’s action as
a “vaccination” that gave China
“immunity against turmoil”.Other commentators have suggested
that the decision emboldened the
Communist Party leadership – who had
been split over how to respond to the
protests – in its authoritarianism.
Coupled with the further economic
reforms that followed, this tougher
stance empowered China to become the
world’s second largest economy.
China is far more open to the outside
world today. It’s far more wealthy, too,
with far fewer people living in poverty.
But the democracy that the dead
protestors wanted is now just a word in
a propaganda slogan on a statue that
most drivers won’t even see as they speed
past on a busy road.Follow BBC coverage of news in
China at bbc.co.uk/news/world/
asia/chinaDISCOVER MOREJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKThe ‘Tank Man’ picture, captured
by American photographer Jeff
Widener on 5 June 1989, is now
famed in the west as an emblem
of Chinese authoritarianismИЗП
ОДГОТОВИЛАГРУППППJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKААJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCKJEFF WIDENER–SHUTTERSTOCK"What'sNews"VK.COM/WSNWS