Deng Xiaoping's 1989 decision to use military force to suppress the Tiananmen demonstrations was not surprising because the CCP had experienced four decades of brutal internal repression before 1989, and Deng perceived the student movement as a repeat of the Cultural Revolution and an existential political crisis requiring coercive rather than dialogue-based responses.
causalpending
Speaker
David ShambaughEvidence Quote
“I think Dong saw a repeat of the cultural revolution and the red guards right there in the same place in Tianaan Square and that the regime he saw it in in survi regime survival terms and it was an existential politically existential crisis for him and the Chinese communist party and he did not opt for the jaozion approach to talk to the students. Um and he finally opted for the coercive approach.”
Source
Breaking The Engagement: How China Won And Lost America | Hoover Institution— Hoover InstitutionCreated: 8/11/2026, 7:09:14 AM
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