It is what happened in June 1989, hardly two years later. In the case of Tibet, Zhang Qingli, the party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, declared that the punishment will follow the principles of 'quick approval, quick arrest, quick trial, quick execution.'
The above testimony is a proof that it was not mere words.
As often in China, an external event (Hu Yaobang's death on April 15, 1989) was the excuse which triggered the demonstrations against lack of democracy and corruption in the Middle Kingdom.
During the first days, the party was not directly targeted, but an editorial in the People's Daily on April 26 which termed the student movement as 'turmoil' (a highly pejorative word used during the Cultural Revolution) enflamed the students; their number on the Square began swelling. This editorial quoted Deng Xiaoping who, though he had no government position, was still taking all important decisions. Deng accused some 'extremely small segments of opportunists' of plotting 'turmoil'.
Interestingly, the Tiananmen Papers, the most remarkable collection of documents on the events of 1989 and the inner functioning of the Chinese Communist Party, show the crucial role of Eight Elders led by Deng Xiaoping. Though outside the party structure, it is they who decided the course of the event.
During the following weeks, one of the main demands of the students was the withdrawal of the April 26 editorial. (Incidentally, Premier Wen Jiabao also spoke of 'turmoil' in his press conference soon after the Lhasa incidents in March 2008).
What was the true motivation of the student movement on the Square in 1989? This question deeply divided the Chinese leadership who began to rally behind either Zhao Ziyang, the then general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party or then premier Li Peng. In his introduction to the Tiananmen Papers, its editor Andrew Nathan analysed: 'Zhao Ziyang's instincts were to loosen up politically in order to invigorate the economy, accepting a consequent loss of control but maintaining authority through a more consultative style of leadership. Li Peng's instinct was to focus on stability and keep political control.'
Image: Students place flowers at Hu Yaobang's portrait in Tiananmen Square during on April 19, 1989 to mourn his death. Photograph: Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: Change will come from within China
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