Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest

Author - Vijay Gokhale ( Former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China)

Publisher- Harper Collins

Stars- 4/5

The first brush that I had with the author’s remarkable understanding of China was his recent working paper in Carnegie Endowment titled ‘The Road from Galwan’( link is attached below). And it was nothing short of impressive and incisive, covering almost every aspect of the bilateral relationship.That the dispute was a symptom of differing world views and differing views on how china and India perceive themselves in the other’s eyes was a focal point of the paper. He explains how there is an inherent clash in india’s multipolar Asian vision and Chinese’ middle kingdom complex. 

But this post isnt about the paper, but author’s recent book on the Tiananmen square incident or the Tiananmen square massacre ( in the language of the western media). Having served in China during the watershed event, it was a burning desire in the author’s heart to someday write about everything that had gone above and beyond the iconic picture of the man facing the PLA tank head on. 

The author starts with the introduction of characters who would play an important role in the event that was to occur. But out of a litany of figures, four stand out ,viz. Deng Xiaoping , Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziang and Li Peng. Hu and Zhao were the proteges of Deng, who chose them for their liberal outlook on opening up the economy. But it would eventually turn out that when these two became a threat to the stability of the Chinese communist party, Deng would cut both them to their size. Infact, the death of Hu would be the spark that would light the fire(Tiananmen incident). Power rivalry between Li and Zhao would further exacerbate the Tiananmen crisis. If you feel confused with the Chinese names, more would follow when you read the book. But this is something nobody can help with, not even the author.

The author details how the power struggle within the party was leading to the crisis, whereas on the other hand ,the western media, intoxciated in the cold war mentality, was seeing what it wanted to see, i.e. a democratic upsurge.  Ideological inclinations often tend to overtake rationality. The author writes “ In the fog of war and revolution it is not always easy to get facts, but responsible governments are expected to desist from reporting rumour as fact.”

The author is particularly critical of the western media on how they were reading the Chinese tea leaves wrong since the start. For them the incident was the harbinger for democracy in China. Yes, there were voices for reform, in political and econmic realm, but the protest wasn’t about democracy per se. And the voices for democracy if they were, were silenced or sidelined even amongst student groups.The author says the student protests were hardly demoractic, with no scope for dissent voices, hardliners taking over the moderates, infighting amongst vasrious student groups for leadership and the opportinity for melodrama and publicitiy by the likes of Wu’er Kaixi. Infact Wu’er has been the subject of scorn for the author throughout the book.

After all the hue and cry, when the dust settled, Deng reached two modus vivendi- that the economic reforms would continue and that the highest principle of politics would be the perpetuation of party’s control on power. The US was primarily interested in the huge potential that the world’s largest market offered. And Deng was right. Within three weeks of the incident, US had sent its NSA to China. The author writes- “The west chose profit over principles.”

But what now? Through Biden’s “democracy vs autocracy” debate, Is the west finally choosing principles over profit? I guess not! It is choosing power( US led world order) over profit and principles. I doubt whether west actually ever chose principles  . It is used more as a tool for lecturing the world about human rights and democracy. And one nation is highly critical of this lecturing from the US. Xi’s china is staring the US in the eye. And all this because Deng was firm over economic reforms and political control. In China, all CCP members are taught why the USSR failed. And why after the fall of USSR, china is USA’s next target for introducing western style democracy through a regime change.

Deng understood that political stability and ecnomic well being would convince people to forgo some of their rights. He knew that the west was out there to overthrow the CCP. Even though there may be differences between Xi and Deng,but the author rightly puts that the core principle of the primacy of party over China , remains the same for both leaders.

The book makes it amply evident how , India after having a brutal encounter with China after the 1962 war has always had a clear eyed realist view of China. Infact when India refused to join BRI, there was ample criticism in the media about how india is losing a goldmine of economic investments and infrastructure. But in hindsight, everyone now knows how BRI is an euphemism for “ take my money and give your territory.” I, for one had even supported the idea of india not joining the RCEP. And with time I am sure all those who have joined the trade agreement would find themselves in a deep economic trade deficit with china.

In one line, the summation of the book would be, taking a cue from Mussolini’s famous lines  “ All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state”( replace ‘state’ with ‘CCP’).

And I would say this earnestly, that I have enjoyed every bit of reading this book I am sure it would definitely enhance the reader’s understanding of the enigma called- China.

Suggested reading:

1- The Road from Galwan - https://carnegieindia.org/2021/03/10/road-from-galwan-future-of-india-china-relations-pub-84019

2- My review of Ananth Krishnan’s book- ‘India’s china challenge’-https://utkarshjdwivedi.blogspot.com/2021/02/indias-china-challenge-journey-through.html