Tiananmen+Square

When Mao Xedong siezed control of China and created a communist regime, many economic and social problems were created as a result. People no longer directly felt the benefits of their labor so they stopped working hard all the while freedoms were being taken away. Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, led a series of Western-like reforms to improve the standard of living, however, as the standard of living improved, the gap between rich and poor widened. The new western policies exposed students to ideas of democracy, and many students were tired of the socialist regime. In Tiananmen Square, 1989, over 100,000 students protested demanding democracy. The students won widespread support and millions of people poured into Bejing to support them. They called for Deng to resign, but instead of even considering reform, the dictator declared martial law and ordered 250,000 troops to surround Bejing. The vast majority of students left after the declaration, but about 3,000 remained, the students built a 33' statue they called the "godess of democracy," resembling the Statue of Liberty in further defiance. The standoff ended when tanks smashed the barriers and soldiers sprayed gunfire into the crowds, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. Deng continued to stamp out democracy in a series of campaigns. After Deng's death, successor Jiang Zemin assumed the role of fixing China's poor reputation as violators of human rights and ease tensions with the United States. Jiang made slow changes in China's policies. Although China is still technically communist, experiments with free market capitalism are boosting the economy and people observe more freedoms. The Tianamen Square Massacre is a thing of the past, even if technically still a possiblility. Protestors have been massacred again and again throughout history in oppressive regimes, be it British colonialism in India or the American colonies, or apartheid, this is one lesson people dont seem to learn, other than that martyred protestors get results. This is an image of one man standing up to a line of tanks moving into Tiananmen Square. The man knows he faces either death or imprisonment, so he believe that his cause is good enough to die for. This shows just how evil the regime of the communists must have been. media type="youtube" key="SB70mWXrzEE" height="344" width="425"This video, again about the man in front of the tanks, emphasizes how much one man can make a difference, if not directly, but in the inspiration to other people to revolt against evil. There is not much more to say about this other than what has been said in the video.