unmentionable mentioned

Danwei links to the first mention of Tiananmen in Chinese state media. In English, too. Here we go:

 “Uncertainty was the most obvious characteristic of that period,” said Zhang Yiwu. He noted that the intellectuals at that time chose Western thoughts “at random”.

“It [the ’80s] was the age of enlightenment and almost a turning point for China’s political transition,” said Chen Zhigang, former Washington bureau chief of Hong Kong-based Sing Tao Daily.

June 4 Incident broke out in 1989 and after that intellectuals in China “switched to silence”, according to Zhang Liping.

Incident, as in Mass Group, is AFAIK the official term, not “counterrevolutionary turmoil” which I’ve seen crop up in a few reports on the 20th anniversary. "Counterrevolutionary" hasn;t been in the state lexicon for a decade or so. But mainly, until now, it’s not been mentioned at all. If there is going to be discussion about Tiananmen we need to look at what attempts are being made to frame it within acceptable limits. Anyway, we left Chinese intellectuals a bit down in the dumps.

Such worries were dispelled three years later in 1992 by Deng Xiaoping’s visit to South China.

“Deng’s speech reignited people’s hope and restored their confidence,” said Zhang Liping.

I think must have gone something like: OK kids, you’re not grounded any more, so go and play out. But Uncle D says mind how you go, OK? Anyway, the initial pitch seems to be that it’s what old man Deng would have wanted.

Disintegration of the Soviet Union and political changes in Eastern Europe shocked Zhang Yiwu. After reading some French theoreticians, Zhang turned to what he called a more “rational” way of thinking. He began to gain a clearer idea of China’s development in the early 1990s and no longer considered Western models as total solutions.

After 1989, intellectuals became “more moderate and rational,” Zhang Liping said. “People realized that China would not change overnight.”

So we all turned into whigs. Even so…

Facing advantages and disadvantages brought about by the market economy, Chinese intellectuals began to split into “liberalism” and “the New Left”, Xu Youyu wrote in his blog. They disagreed on the root of social evils in that period: the former believed the old power system obstructed healthy development of a market economy in China while the latter criticized the market economy and insisted on resistance.

Free bonus: extra party political currents acknowledged by Chinese state media. And finally:

Shen Dingli worries that China’s growing wealth gap and severe corruption might impair people’s confidence in the government and the ruling party.

“Intellectuals should not blindly cater to a specific group, no matter majority or minority, but view society in a rational way and help China find a road that fits with the actual situation,” Zhang Yiwu said.

The influence of China’s intellectuals can be seen in exemptions from agricultural tax, investment in village health care, education and infrastructure systems, education reform and social security system reform, said Wang Hui, an intellectual historian and Tsinghua University professor at an academic forum in Geneva.

“People are more mature now,” said Zhang Yiwu. “They no longer think Western thoughts are China’s ultimate goal.” Several times during her interview, Zhang Liping emphasized that “radical reform or revolution is extremely insecure and does not work in China.”

Final takeout: Acknowledging Tiananmen can contribute to a wider social process reinforcing the legitimacy of Party rule. The article is a rough blueprint of the process.

I also recommend Danwei’s, unkind treatment of Schwerpunkt from the same post.

Comments

[Nick L]

What 'French theoreticians' in the 1990s were advocating a process of capitalist industrialisation orchestrated by a single-party state? Or is it more likely to be the kind of anything goes 'democracy is just another metanarrative' style pomo stuff that was floating around.

[Phil]

It's all a bit "reason and moderation must be tempered by realism and common sense", isn't it - like watching a vicious faction fight in the SDP, only more so.