But deliberation came to a sudden halt in spring 1989, with protests and purges, massacre and repression. For a time, everything was on the table, including democratization and China’s version of socialism. That became a mantra as the government forged ahead with reforms in the face of heated contestation over the nation’s future. “Never turn back,” the Chinese leader replied. On a hike in Guangdong Province in January 1984, Deng Xiaoping was warned that his path was a steep and treacherous one. The history the Chinese Communist Party has tried to erase: the dramatic political debates of the 1980s that could have put China on a path to greater openness. A BBC History Magazine Best Book of the Year
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |