The last twenty years have witnessed a sea of changes in the world; the emerging of new power centres in Asia, the global threat of climate change and the planetary economic crisis to name a few. China too has gone through tremendous changes. The Middle Kingdom has become an economic power to reckon with; some even say that it will be the 21st century's superpower.
However, it is still suffering from a deep scar, the reigning party killed thousands of its own children on Tiananmen Square at dawn on June 4, 1989. Today, the regime in Beijing is not ready to admit to any wrong doing and even less to consider changes in its policies.
Young China believed that Democracy and Freedom could help their country to take its rightful place in the world, but the oligarchs in Zhongnanhai sent the tanks to smash thousands of striking students.
Ironically, it was not only the 'common man' or a few intellectuals who believed in the necessity for a greater involvement of the people in China's governance, many in the Communist Party thought that the time had come to evolve and drop the dictatorship of one party.
Every Chinese person, whether a party member or not, should be entitled to participate in the rise of China, thought the students. They paid dearly for their daring dreams.
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