Word: deng
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History, however, takes no reservations. The efforts of Deng Xiaoping and Mikhail Gorbachev to capture the world's attention were swept before them by one of those rare and indescribable upwellings of national spirit. Events within the Great Hall of the People, where the leaders set about mending a 30- year rift, received some note. But it was the events in Tiananmen Square, where a hunger strike by 3,000 students swelled to a demonstration by more than a million Chinese expressing the inexpressible -- a longing for freedom and prosperity -- that transfixed the eye. On Saturday, as government troops were...
...soldiers armed with AK-47 assault rifles. As military helicopters, a rare sight in the city, swooped overhead, people below looked up and shook their fists. Any attempt to disperse the crowds and end the demonstrations would seem to require massive firepower. The protesters waited, one minute hoping that Deng would come to his senses and call off the troops, the next minute dreading that the command might be issued to clear the streets no matter how much blood would be spilled...
...confronted by a clamorous, hostile public, the Communist Party leadership faced its most serious challenge in the state's 40- year existence. Every hour seemed to bring a fresh rumor, especially after the government ordered the restriction of China Central Television and the end of foreign television transmissions. Deng remained very much in charge, stripping power from Zhao Ziyang, the Communist Party leader who only days earlier had been host of a banquet for Gorbachev. Premier Li Peng assumed control of the party as well as the government, but the bond between the Chinese people and their leaders snapped...
...Zhao's remarks to the students finally precipitated his fall, they were apparently not the only reason. In his talk with Gorbachev, telecast live to millions of Chinese on Tuesday, Zhao told of a secret party agreement specifying that Deng, though semiretired, was responsible for major party decisions. The document, crafted in 1987, was a compromise that paved the way for the retirement of a clutch of old party conservatives. That disclosure got Zhao in trouble less because it was made to the representative of an old enemy nation than because it signaled to the viewing audience that resentment...
Zhao's dismissal removed an obstacle to the coming crackdown but did little to help the government restore order. If anything, it probably widened the chasm between state and society. Though Zhao was originally a protege of Deng's, his popularity rose because the public knew he opposed suppressing the demonstration. His eviction from power further alienated those already hostile to the Communist Party. It also narrowed the party's options for restoring order, making force seem virtually the sole choice...