This trend toward depoliticization is a consequence of the bloody repression conducted by the authorities in 1989. Politics is largely absent from the public arena, except for rare acts of courage by isolated dissidents, which are quickly suppressed by the authorities. In fact, popular protests have never been totally absent in China in the last decades, especially against poor wages, illegal confiscation of personal property and land, and unjust legal judgments, a regular feature of the Chinese '30 glorious years.' Sociologically, they belong above all to the category of apolitical social protests, often local, occasional and of limited size. Thirty-three years after the Tiananmen Square protests, we're once again witnessing a revolution in the streets of Beijing and other major cities. Published on December 6, 2022, at 8:56 am (Paris), updated on December 6, 2022, at 8:57 am Time to 3 min. Thanks to their courage and to the waves of protests, the issue of politics will, according to him, gain a central place in Chinese public life.

Professor of Chinese Studies Lun Zhang stresses that 'the Chinese are also human beings' who aspire to freedom, dignity and justice. Many voices and viewpoints are on display, from Western journalists to Chinese administrators.ĭescribing how the hope of a generation was shattered when authorities opened fire on protestors and bystanders, Tiananmen 1989 shows the way in which contemporary China shaped itself.Protests in China: 'Young people are back on the scene with strong political demands' Op-Ed Providing comprehensive coverage of the 1989 protests that ended in bloodshed and drew global scrutiny, Zhang includes context for these explosive events, sympathetically depicting a world of discontented, idealistic, activist Chinese youth rarely portrayed in Western media. Now, in this powerful graphic novel, Zhang pairs with French journalist and Asia specialist Adrien Gombeaud and artist Ameziane, to share his unvarnished memory of this crucial moment in world history for the first time.

Lun Zhang was just a young sociology teacher then, in charge of management and safety serviceįor the protests. When reports of soldiers marching into Beijing to suppress the protests reverberated across Western airwaves, the world didn’t know what to expect. As tens of thousands of students and concerned Chinese citizens took to the streets demanding political reforms, the fate of China’s communist system was unknown. Over 30 years ago, on April 15th, 1989, the occupation of Tiananmen Square began. (W) Adrien Gombeaud, Lun Zhang (A/CA) Amezianeįollow the story of China’s infamous June Fourth Incident-otherwise known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre-from the first-hand account of a young sociology teacher who witnessed it all.

Tiananmen 1989 by Lun Zhang