DATE=5/26/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43501
TITLE=TIANANMEN ANNIV / HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOR NEARLY TWO MONTHS IN 1989, CHINESE STUDENTS AND
WORKERS DEMONSTRATED IN BEIJING AND SEVERAL OTHER CITIES. THEY
WERE DEMANDING MORE OPENNESS AND MORE DEMOCRACY IN CHINA. ON
JUNE 4TH, CHINESE LEADERS SENT THE ARMY INTO BEIJING TO CLEAR
AWAY THE PROTESTERS. V-O-A'S STEPHANIE MANN TALKED WITH THREE
AMERICAN REPORTERS WHO COVERED THE PROTESTS AND THE CRACKDOWN
ABOUT THE LASTING IMPACT THEY HAVE HAD ON CHINA.
TEXT: DAY AFTER DAY, THROUGH MOST OF APRIL AND MAY, 1989,
PROTESTERS SURGED THROUGH THE STREETS OF BEIJING. THEY TOOK OVER
THE HUGE CENTRAL PLAZA -- TIANANMEN SQUARE -- AND SHUT DOWN
TRAFFIC AND BUSINESS IN MUCH OF THE CHINESE CAPITAL. THEY
CRITICIZED CHINA'S COMMUNIST LEADERS AND DEMANDED CHANGES IN
CHINA'S POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE. THEN, SOLDIERS AND
TANKS WERE SENT IN AND ORDER WAS RESTORED, BUT NOT BEFORE
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED.
// OPT // IT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME LARGE CROWDS MARCHED THROUGH
BEIJING. IN 1919, STUDENTS DEMONSTRATED AGAINST WHAT THEY SAW AS
FOREIGN MANIPULATION OF CHINA AND IN FAVOR OF SCIENCE AND
DEMOCRACY. DURING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN THE 1960'S AND
1970'S, MASSES OF PEOPLE GATHERED PERIODICALLY IN TIANANMEN
SQUARE TO SHOUT PRAISES TO COMMUNIST PARTY CHAIRMAN MAO ZEDONG.
BUT THE 1989 PROTEST WAS THE BIGGEST SPONTANEOUS OUTPOURING OF
CHINESE DISCONTENT WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY. // END OPT //
THE CHIEF OF V-O-A NEWS NOW, AL PESSIN, WAS THE VOICE OF AMERICA
BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF IN 1989. HE SAYS THE HISTORICAL
SIGNIFICANCE OF TIANANMEN MAY NOT BE AS GREAT AS THE PROTESTERS
MAY HAVE HOPED.
// PESSIN ACT ONE //
AT THE TIME, A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A
TURNING POINT. IN RETROSPECT, IT LOOKS MORE LIKE A
BUMP. I TEND TO THINK THAT IT'S SOMETHING IN BETWEEN.
I THINK YOU CAN'T IGNORE THE FACT THAT SO MANY MILLIONS
OF CHINESE, AND NOT ONLY IN BEIJING BUT AROUND THE
COUNTRY, CAME OUT AND PUBLICLY EXPRESSED THEIR DESIRE
FOR A MORE OPEN SYSTEM, A MORE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM.
// END ACT //
HOWEVER, MR. PESSIN SAYS, THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS STILL IN POWER.
// PESSIN ACT TWO //
THERE'S NO INDICATION THAT THAT WILL CHANGE. THE PARTY
PROVED IN THAT SITUATION THAT IT WAS WILLING TO DO
ANYTHING THAT IT FELT WAS NECESSARY TO STAY IN POWER,
AND IT DID. BUT THOSE MILLIONS OF CHINESE PEOPLE ARE
STILL OUT THERE. THEY STILL WANT MORE REFORMS, AND,
SLOWLY AT LEAST OVER TIME, IT SEEMS THAT THEY'RE GETTING
THEM.
// END ACT //
THE FORMER WASHINGTON POST BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF, DAN SOUTHERLAND,
ACKNOWLEDGES CHINA'S COMMUNIST PARTY IS STILL IN POWER. BUT MR.
SOUTHERLAND SAYS TIANANMEN WAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL TURNING POINT FOR
THE CHINESE PEOPLE.
// SOUTHERLAND ACT //
I THINK THAT IT AMOUNTED TO A MASSIVE REJECTION OF THE
COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP AND A MASSIVE REJECTION IN
PARTICULAR OF COMMUNIST PARTY IDEOLOGY. THE PARTY IS
STILL THERE, BUT I THINK THIS WAS THE FINAL NAIL IN THE
COFFIN AS FAR AS IDEOLOGY WAS CONCERNED. AND I ALSO
THINK IT GREATLY ACCELERATED THE GROWTH OF WHAT SOME
PEOPLE CALL CIVIL SOCIETY, BECAUSE IT GAVE MANY PEOPLE A
CHANCE TO BEGIN TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND SPEAK FOR
THEMSELVES.
// END ACT //
// OPT // MR. SOUTHERLAND, NOW VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMMING AT
RADIO FREE ASIA, SAYS THE EXPERIENCE OF TIANANMEN HAD AN IMPACT
IN EASTERN EUROPE, WHERE HE SAYS LEADERS BECAME RELUCTANT TO USE
FORCE AGAINST DEMONSTRATORS. // END OPT //
MIKE CHINOY, OF C-N-N TELEVISION, CALLS 1989 A WATERSHED FOR
CHINA. MR. CHINOY, WHO WAS C-N-N'S BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF, SAYS
THE TIANANMEN PROTEST MOVEMENT, COMBINED WITH THE COLLAPSE OF
COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION, SENT AN
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO CHINESE LEADERS.
// CHINOY ACT //
IT PROMPTED THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP --
ESPECIALLY DENG XIAOPING, WHO WAS THE MOST POWERFUL
FIGURE AT THE TIME -- TO CONCLUDE THAT FOR THE COMMUNIST
PARTY TO AVOID BEING TOPPLED FROM POWER THAT IT HAD TO
MAKE SOME IMPORTANT CHANGES IN CHINESE SOCIETY. AND, TO
SOME DEGREE, DENG XIAOPING'S MOVES TO JUMP START THE
REFORM PROCESS IN THE EARLY (19)90'S -- WHICH TRIGGERED
THE BOOM THAT CHINA HAS EXPERIENCED FOR MUCH OF THIS
DECADE WITH ALL OF THE REMARKABLE OPENNESS AND
LIBERALIZATION IN CHINESE SOCIETY IN AREAS OTHER THAN
THE POLITICAL SPHERE -- ARE IRONICALLY ALSO A
CONSEQUENCE OF TIANANMEN.
// END ACT //
MIKE CHINOY SAYS EVEN THOUGH TIANANMEN ENDED TRAGICALLY AND CHINA
HAS NOT BECOME A POLITICAL DEMOCRACY, THE POSITIVE ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN CHINA IN THE PAST DECADE ARE
AN INDIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF TIANANMEN.
// REST OPTIONAL // MIKE CHINOY, DAN SOUTHERLAND AND AL PESSIN
EXCHANGE FURTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TIANANMEN IN
A SPECIAL EDITION OF PRESS CONFERENCE U-S-A TO BE BROADCAST
SATURDAY, JUNE 5TH ON V-O-A NEWS NOW. (SIGNED)
NEB/SMN/KL
26-May-99 12:26 PM EDT (1626 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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