During the 1980’s, China came under the rule of a new man. His name was Deng
Xiaoping. China’s culture and views on trade were greatly influenced by Deng,
yet he failed in establishing a democratic China. Contrary to many people’s
beliefs, Deng did not create any democracy in China. The event that occurred at
Tiennamen Square shows how much that Deng would rather give in to the people of
China. June 5th, 1989 is a day that will live in infamy and shame for many
Chinese. Many citizens of China gathered in Tiennamen Square to protest
communism and promote the acceptance of democracy. The freedom found in
democracy was a dream that many Chinese had because they lived in communism for
all of their lives. Many of the teachers and students at the rally had actually
experienced the wonders of democracy first hand on visits to America. The
protestors were determined to get their point across to the government and the
Chinese public that did not know that they could live in freedom. Along with a
30 foot statue dubbed the “Goddess of Democracy”, the protestors brought
along radios that played the speeches of their democratic heroes. The protestors
held their meetings at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken. Since the protestors
refused to leave the squared, the government sent armed men and tanks to help
with the negotiations. Just as 17 tanks lined up to get ready to execute the
protestors, a man stepped in front of the line of tanks and refused to move.
This courageous man’s name was believed to be Wang Weilin. As the tanks tried
to move around Wang, he proceeded to step in from of them, stopping their
ability to move forward and hurt the other protestors. Wang then did something
that shocked everyone, especially the Chinese Government. He jumped up onto the
lead tank and peeked inside and said something to the driver of the tank that
made the driver stop trying to move ahead. This outraged the Chinese government
so much that they had everyone in the square killed. This massacre proved that
freedom should definitely not be taken for granted because people give up their
lives so that their descendants can live without the worries of communism. Now,
in Tiennamen Square, a large statue of Mao Tse Tung stands, and it is a very
popular statue, not only because it represents China’s most influential
leader, it shows that China is so ignorant as to wash away the blood at
Tiennamen Square and try to cleanse it with a symbol of China’s lack of
freedom. A small step towards democracy has taken place in China’s lowest
government. Village officials are now elected by the citizens of the village.
Although the officials are elected, the candidates have to be chosen by the
local communist party. This, in many ways, is just a false sense of freedom
given by the government. Deng Xiaoping predicted that China’s highest form of
government would not see free election for at least 50 years. But there is new
action being taken by Jaing, China’s new leader. Jaing is currently working
with the United States to bring China closer to democracy.