Today marks 20 years since the tragic
defeat of the movement of workers and students in Tienanmen Square. The massarce (also known in China as the June 4 incident) remains a sensitive subject for the Chinese officialdom. According to TGdaily (June 4): "It‘s not just Twitter and Facebook that have been censored by
the Chinese authorities during the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen
Square massacres. According to Danwei, there’s a whole spate of other websites that
have chosen by complete coincidence, of course, to down themselves for
"maintenance". Sites "under maintenance" aside from Twitter and Facebook include
VeryCD.com, Wordku.com – a dictionary site, blogging site Bullog.com,
social networking site Douban.com and others.A BBC correspondent reported yesterday that any reference to
Tianamen Square caused screens to be blanked out within seconds. The
same report said that details of the pro-democratic protest which
resulted in hundreds if not thousands of protestors being massacred,
are just not available to the Chinese masses.Reporters are also being denied access to Tiananmen Square and told
they need "special permits" to film – a new rule that’s only just been
imposed."
To
mark this important day we are republishing this analysis by Rob
Lyon, first posted on www.marxist.com in 2004.
The Tiananmen Square demonstrations began in April 1989 in support
of former Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yoabang, who had been
ousted from power in 1987 for opposing the harsh punishment of
participants in demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1986. Hu Yoabang
was seen as a party leader who supported greater democracy and freedom
for Chinese workers and students. The students were deeply opposed to a
campaign initiated by the Communist Party to discredit the former party
leader.
The Political Revolution
This
was however simply the spark that lit the powder keg of discontent that
had been developing in China for some time. The students demonstrations
quickly moved from a memorial to demands against corruption, greed,
nepotism and arbitrary bureaucratic rule. They were quickly joined by
students from around the country. Demonstrations and strikes started up
all over the country. The occupation of the square became a focal point
and a point of reference for urban workers who were alarmed at rising
inflation and corruption. As many as one million workers and students
were involved in the occupation of the square.
Contrary to
Western propaganda, the demonstrations were not simply calls for
"democracy", capitalism, or market reforms. Although many student
leaders were pro-capitalist, there was a split in the student movement.
Students and workers had gathered and sang "the Internationale", in
order to show the world that they were in favour of socialism. Just
before the Army arrived, using tanks and rifle fire in order to clear
the square many ordinary students wanted the leadership removed. They
also condemned the student "leaders" for driving the workers away from
the square, for rejecting calls by the workers for a General Strike and
refusing the offer of arms which came from workers’ delegations from
the munitions factories.
The Tiananmen Square demonstrations
were in fact the first groping of the Chinese working class towards the
political revolution in China. Workers in Beijing formed the Beijing
Autonomous Workers’ Federation (BAWF), which had a revolutionary
proletarian instinct as to the direction the struggle should take. It
is barely reported in the Chinese or Western press even today, that it
was this force that was the primary reason why the military intervened
so heavy-handedly on June 4th 1989. This organization, which
represented the awakening of the Chinese proletariat as well as its
independence and revolutionary spirit caused panic and fear amongst the
top layers of the bureaucracy, who eventually decided to crush the
growing revolt. The BAWF called for workers’ control of industry, and
urged the soldiers in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to turn
their guns on their oppressors. A declaration issued by the
organization said that the workers would use all peaceful means
including strikes to achieve their goals, and added, "With our blood we
will reconstruct the walls of the Paris Commune".
The BAWF
attained widespread support amongst the population of Beijing, and was
the main reason that the Party tops decided to crush the
demonstrations. Student participation had dwindled, but the Party
feared an insurrection on the part of the workers. BAWF had transformed
the character of the student movement in a few weeks and after martial
law was declared they were effectively challenging for state power.
Attempts were made at a peaceful resolution, but the demands of the
students and workers effectively would have meant the end to the
absolute control of the bureaucracy.
Backward soldiers had to
be brought in to Beijing from the provinces to quell the revolt, and
yet some 110 officers and 1,400 soldiers refused to fight. The citizens
of Beijing were deeply opposed to the entrance of troops into the city
and there were clashes between and workers and troops. Roadblocks were
erected as the troops made their way to the square.
The
crushing of the occupation of the square was brutal. It was the workers
and members of the BAWF that suffered the most vicious repression, as
Deng and the party wanted to teach the workers a lesson and show them
who was boss. It is unknown how many people were killed in the assault
on the square, estimates range anywhere from 500 to 10,000.
The Party fears Tiananmen
To
this day, the Chinese Communist Party fears the memory of the Tiananmen
Square demonstrations. The protests are still officially labeled as a
"counter-revolutionary rebellion". Information on the protests is hard
to come by and has been suppressed. The Communist Party has tried in
vain to suppress all memory of the events. As the date of the 15th
anniversary approached, authorities in China stepped up patrols and
added plainclothes officers to monitor the square. No public
demonstrations would be allowed, except in Hong Kong, where there is
anger the government will not allow elections in 2007. Most of the
remaining activists involved in the demonstrations 15 years ago have
been removed from their homes or put under house arrest, for fear that
they may stir up trouble. Many involved are still serving long jail
sentences, and the exact whereabouts of many are unknown. Zhoa Ziyang,
former Communist Party chief in 1989 who was purged for his opposition
to the crackdown, and who had warned student’s of the decision on the
part of the government to attack the square, still lives under house
arrest. His former aid, Bao Tong, who is still struggling for the
rehabilitation of the victims of the repression and those in jail, is
still under tight surveillance.
The Communist Party fears the
memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre as it could once again be the
spark that sets off a mass movement. The situation in China today is
explosive.
Since 1989, the Chinese Communist Party has made
large strides towards the restoration of capitalism in China. This has
caused widespread social inequality in China, resulting in a massive
wave of strikes and demonstrations over the past few years. It was
reported that there were 1,500 protests and demonstrations in Sichuan
province last year. In 2002, there were some 1,300 demonstrations
organized by student groups and the Young Communist League, as well as
2000 student meetings not authorized by campus authorities.
Over
the past few years there has been a massive rise in worker strikes and
demonstrations. This is a result of the shut down and bankruptcy of
mainly state run enterprises, which leave the workers with no job
transfers or prospects of finding a job, and no severance packages. In
February 2004, an estimated 2,000 workers and retired workers from the
Tieshu Textile Factory in Suizhou began public demonstrations in their
ongoing struggle to recover unpaid benefits and against corruption at
the factory. The workers have blocked railroads and there have been
several bloody clashes with police. Oil workers have been protesting
against the China Petroleum and Chemical companies treatment of them.
Taxi drivers in Dazhou (Sichuan) have been staging sit-ins and taken
strike action several times upon hearing that their certificates were
to be revoked and sold at an auction. In March 1,000 winery workers
demonstrated, and blocked railways, against company restructuring and
layoffs (more information on workers strikes and labour disputes can be
found at China Labour Bulletin ).
Police in Liaoning Province, have claimed that there have been 9,559
strikes and demonstrations involving some 860,000 people between
January 2000, and September 2002. Chinese workers have accepted the
movement towards capitalism through gritted teeth, but their
frustration and anger is beginning to boil over.
The Movement Towards Capitalism
These
demonstrations have been the results of the pro-capitalist policies of
the government. Peasants and workers in state run farms and industries
have been hit hard as state owned industries are sold off, and
restructured. There have been millions of lay-offs and sackings as
China moves from its state-planned economy and initiates market
reforms. It is estimated that there are 150 million unemployed in
China. Wages have been slashed and there are next to no rights for
workers. The situation is not much better in the private companies,
which attract foreign investment due to the low wages they offer
foreign imperialism.
This past March (2004), the National People’s
Congress approved constitutional changes designed to "encourage,
support and guide the development of non-public economic sectors". The
Congress was also asked to approve the Three Represents of former CPC
leader Jiang Zemin, which are clearly meant to provide the theoretical
justification for the CPC’s current moves towards capitalism. The
government now talks about the private sector supplementing the
state-owned sectors, and talk openly of "market socialism". What this
means in reality is that the state-owned industries, still mainly in
steel, textiles, and resources, provide cheap goods to the private
sector and to foreign companies, who in turn make massive profits on
selling these products to the West. The state-owned companies are
under-funded, and there is little investment, meaning that many are
either shut down, or swallowed up by the growing capitalist enterprises
in the country.
The Congress was also asked to approve a
clause which claims that "citizen’s lawful private property will not be
violated". This added to a clause which already assures the right to
private property and the right to inheritance.
The People’s
Daily has claimed that the non-public economy now contributes to half
of China’s national economic growth, which has been at about 7% over
the past few years.
There has been a big shift to allow
capitalists and bourgeois elements in the CPC since July 2001. It is
now declared that "proprietors of private enterprises are builders of
socialism with Chinese characteristics". However, this was simply
bringing the party up to date with the real situation. In 1993, 13.1%
of "private business people" were CPC members. This had risen to 29.9%
in 2003. These wealthy elite are now beginning to take important
positions in the party. Two presidents of the Federation of Industry
and Commerce, the capitalists’ exclusive club, Xu Guanju, and Yin
Mingchan, two of the wealthiest people in the country, and owners of
some of the wealthiest companies, have become vice-chairpersons of the
CPC in their respective provinces. In a one party state, they clearly
recognize that in order to further their aims and protect their
interests it is best to work in the Party.
China launched its
stock market in 1991, and since then there has been a move to allow
private companies into sectors previously closed to them, such as
infrastructure and public utilities. Since the early 1990s, there has
been a campaign to transform these state-owned companies into
shareholding companies. According to a report in November of last year,
China’s registered "private entrepreneurs" rose from 238,000 in 1993 to
2.435 million in 2002. The number of workers employed by these rose
from 3.7 million to 34.1 million. In January, it was reported that
China’s private firms had risen to 2.96 million, with assets totalling
over 3.35 trillion yuan (US$405 billion). They now contributed 23% of
GDP in 2002.
It is clear that China’s ruling bureaucracy
watched the events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc attentively. A
section of the party would like to go down the road of capitalist
restoration, but they would like to maintain control, and not go down
the road of the USSR and the Eastern Bloc. It is also clear that the
developing layer of bureaucrats and capitalists who have enriched
themselves off the market reforms and introduction of capitalism into
the economy recognize that this is best guaranteed through the
Communist Party.
There are dangers however. The privatisation
and restructuring of China’s state-owned companies have destroyed the
livelihood of millions of workers. As Fing Nang, deputy director of the
Institute of Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of
China’s main policy think-tanks said in March: "Marxism is about the
elimination of private property. Today, we are going to turn around and
recognise private ownership and protect (private property). People feel
very emotional about this, ‘So what was our revolution about? All that
loss of life and sacrifice was about what?’ That’s why people find it
hard to accept that we are protecting private property."
In
2002, China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment,
with inflows to the tune of $53 billion. The economy is growing at 7% a
year. But this cannot last. Credit accounts for 38% of China’s GDP. The
US saw China as a massive market where it could dump its products.
China’s imports have been growing faster than exports, about 40%
compared with 30%. They didn’t foresee that China itself could become a
major exporter. The Chinese currency is directly pegged to the US
dollar, and China has found the US and Latin America a market where it
can dump its cheap goods. The US now accuses China of exactly this, and
has blamed China for the loss of 1 in 3 manufacturing jobs in the US.
China has been accused of economic attack. Recently, the US has
devalued its dollar in the hopes to boost production and exports, and
export unemployment. This is a direct attack of China, in the hopes
that Chinese exports to the US will drop in favour of US products.
Over
the past period there have been a whole series of disputes with the US
– over exchange rates, trade deficits, the WTO. The regime in Beijing
treats these very seriously, because an economic downturn would cause
more job losses and economic ruin for millions, which in turn would
cause further unrest.
This is why the bureaucracy fears the
memory of Tiananmen and any discussion on rehabilitation of the victims
and the imprisoned. As workers demonstrations and strikes increase,
elements in the CPC would like to wipe out any memory of the
revolutionary struggle of the Chinese workers and BAWF. They fear a new
revolutionary movement of workers, who could draw upon the experiences
and the lessons of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations to further their
struggle for genuine socialism.
An open discussion on
Tiananmen could split the party, because some top leaders who were
involved in, or who benefited from the crackdown are still alive or in
power, and there are some in the party who would like to see
rehabilitation. There are already tensions in the party, as there are
those who are profiting from the capitalist reforms who obviously
support the move towards capitalism, and those who are opposed and
would like to reverse the incursion of capitalism.
The
direction that the CPC takes in China will be determined by the world
economy. As long as capitalism looks good on a world scale, the
pro-capitalist elements in the Party will be encouraged and continue
with the move towards capitalism. If there is a downturn in the world
economy, or a crisis in China itself, the elements in the party in
favour of the state-owned industries may carry the day and reverse some
of the initiatives towards capitalism. However, an economic crisis in
China would unleash powerful social forces. The workers and peasants
have allowed the move towards capitalism in the hopes that their lives
will improve. If these hopes are lost, they could move quickly in a
revolutionary direction, similar to the events at Tienanmen Square in
1989. The Party fears this, and would like to wipe out all memory of
the events. For the Chinese working class, they must return to the
traditions, and draw the necessary lessons, that will enable them to
organize themselves into a revolutionary organization, like the BAWF,
which, with a revolutionary leadership can carry through the political
revolution in China and make the move towards a genuinely socialist
China. A revolution in China would be an inspiration to workers all
across Asia and be the spark that leads to revolutionary movements all
across the region, which would lead to the establishment of a socialist
China as part of a Socialist Federation of Asia.
Footnote (2009)
Since this article was written China has continued down the road to capitalism. As predicted by the author, the downturn in the world economy has led to new social unrest on the part of the masses. Last December, Jorge Martin in an article on China explained the following: "The idea that
China could somehow escape the effects of the worldwide crisis of capitalism –
i.e. decoupling ‑ was an illusion that some leaders in China had fostered. Now
we see how the integration of the Chinese economy into the world market brings
with it all the contradictions of capitalism, first among them recession and
growing unemployment…The legitimacy of
the Chinese leadership has been based over the last 30 years on their record of
guaranteeing economic growth and increased living standards. Even though the
capitalist reforms have meant the destruction of millions of jobs, appalling
levels of exploitation for migrant workers moving to the cities, the partial
destruction of the health care system, etc., all this could be sustained as
long as the economy was growing, jobs were being created and living standards
in general increased. However, if this is no longer guaranteed or is threatened
by the slowdown of the economy, then the danger is that the already growing
number of labour disputes and conflicts may turn into a generalised movement
against the government, the state and the leadership of the CCP."Click here to read the full article. Rob Lyon’s conclusions from five years ago remain relevant today – the only way forward for the Chinese masses is the socialist one.
Click here to read Heiko Khoo’s article on Tiananmen.
Click here to read more about China
