This was an interview from ten years ago. Reading it again ten years later, it is truly a saying!
June Fourth has led China down a dangerous and wrong path
Hu Ping said that June Fourth has brought very significant changes to China and the entire world. Over the years, many people in China and abroad have paid attention to China and discussed the Chinese model. Because China has always regarded June Fourth as the number one taboo and forbids discussing it, over time, in many people’s mouths or in writing, the issue of June Fourth has become unimportant. Many people tend to view China’s reforms since 1978-79 as a continuous process, and that the June Fourth incident in the middle was just a minor episode, but this view is clearly wrong.
The occurrence of the June Fourth Incident changed the direction of China’s reforms, leading the country down a very wrong and dangerous path. This is clearly evident from China’s current situation: two prominent phenomena exist: one is sustained economic development, and the other is the ongoing deterioration of human rights. Both of these events are closely related to June Fourth.
June Fourth led to the privatization of China’s elite and moral decline
After June Fourth, issues of privatization among China’s elites and corruption among officials intensified. As you can imagine, without June Fourth, corruption among Chinese officials could never have developed to its current level. Because we can all recall that before June Fourth, public morale was very high. One reason for the 1989 June Fourth incident was people’s dissatisfaction with corruption, which was incomparable to today’s corruption. It is easy to imagine that at that time, even mild corruption was intolerable to the public, who would have risen up to protest. If it weren’t for the powerful deterrent effect caused by the June Fourth crackdown, people would not dare speak out or take to the streets. If the June Fourth incident had not occurred and public morale had continued to rise, the “officialdom spirit” would not have been so arrogant, and corruption would not have developed to its current level.
June Fourth leads to rising officialdom and a decline in public morale, with hearts growing cold
On the other hand, during the reforms after June Fourth, so many people’s interests were harmed, and most could only endure it reluctantly. The resistance of a very small number failed to make a strong impact, which was clearly closely related to June Fourth. If we recall the atmosphere of Chinese society before June Fourth, the state of people’s spirit, and the mental state of officials from top to bottom at the time, we can imagine that without such a major event, the phenomena we see today in China might never have happened, would not have existed. Including the current deterioration of human rights and the political indifference of ordinary people, who ignore the violent human rights violations of others, even those close to them, this was unimaginable before June 4th. In the 1989 Democratic Movement, the participation of the masses and citizens was largely triggered by student hunger strikes. So many students went on hunger strikes, and people could no longer bear to watch. They stepped forward, either calling for action or taking to the streets, showing compassion and public concern. At that time, the mental state of people in China was clearly much more normal, sound, and better than it is now. After June Fourth, such large-scale displays of sympathy and justice were no longer seen in society, allowing all kinds of bad things and phenomena to happen unchecked, while most people fell into indifference, resulting in what we all see today — the “moral decline” and “corruption of the human heart.” Clearly, these events are very directly related to June 4th.
June Fourth led to the rise of authoritarian power worldwide
Hu Ping believes that June Fourth has brought tremendous changes to the world. Twenty-two years ago, China saw the largest public protest in its history, demanding freedom and democracy. Then came the collapse of the Soviet and Eastern European communist regimes one after another. At that time, the forces of liberal democracy held absolute dominance in the world. So when Japanese-American scholar Fukuyama wrote ‘The End of History,’ everyone applauded. Although the historical process itself is not so simple, everyone feels as if the democratic forces have achieved a decisive victory, while the authoritarian forces are on the brink of collapse and on the brink of collapse. At that time, few people could have predicted that the CCP’s authoritarian regime could still last 22 years and remain so to this day. Even fewer people could imagine that 22 years later, the CCP’s authoritarian regime would be more consolidated and even stronger than it was then.
Looking back 22 years later, the global landscape and balance of power have changed dramatically. Twenty-two years ago, liberal democracy achieved an overwhelming and decisive victory both in terms of actual strength and ideology. Twenty-two years later, the situation has taken a terrifying turn. People see an authoritarian power rising, and as a powerful liberal democracy, including the United States, it seems to have many problems, to the point that some worry about whether it will decline. This situation emerged 22 years ago that people could hardly have predicted. So, if we continue thinking along this path and continue developing as this is, what will the whole world look like in 10 or 20 years?
June Fourth has brought unprecedented challenges to humanity’s freedom and peace
So far, few people have optimistic hopes that China will smoothly complete its democratic transition in the short term; most believe this is still very difficult. So you can imagine that it was precisely the June Fourth incident that made the CCP regime more consolidated and, through globalization, become stronger. Meanwhile, the power of liberal democracy has actually declined in comparison. This change is also directly related to June 4th. Moreover, it poses a very severe challenge to all of humanity. It can also be said that if 22 years ago, humanity’s freedom and democracy were in an unprecedented victorious state, then 22 years later, it should be said that human freedom and peace face unprecedented and severe challenges.
The Arab Revolution confirmed the universality of universal values
The Arab world certainly deserves our attention, and it has also had a significant impact and impact on China. Although our understanding of the situation in the Arab Middle East is limited, one thing is clear: the Arab Revolution still shows that regardless of origin, ethnicity, religion, or culture, there is a universal pursuit of freedom and democracy, confirming the universality of universal values and showing that people are always unwilling to accept authoritarian oppression, and whenever given the chance, they will rise up to resist.
China alsohad similar movements 22 years ago, and on a larger scale, with clearer goals and demands—a clear pursuit of freedom and democracy. However, China’s 1989 pro-democracy movement was massacred, and the situation took a dramatic turn. But in China, if it were simply the suppression of the pro-democracy movement, it would be simpler. The problem is that since then, China’s economy has maintained sustained rapid growth. It’s easy to imagine that when June 4th just happened, even the CCP authorities were terrified, unsure if they could keep going, barely surviving day by day. They probably never imagined that 20 years later, China’s economy would suddenly take such a leap forward. So in the past two years, especially after the financial crisis, you have seen some CCP officials become increasingly arrogant, much more arrogant than before, and they have become less and less regarded by the international community for criticism and condemnation of their human rights issues. Therefore, to understand the impact of June Fourth, we must truly analyze the so-called Chinese model and clearly explain why China’s economy has achieved such rapid development after June Fourth. Where exactly is China’s rapid economic development leading China? These issues deserve special attention.
China’s rapid economic growth and the relationship with the June Fourth massacre
Over the years, although there has been much discussion about the Chinese model both domestically and internationally, these discussions have mostly avoided the impact of June Fourth. Therefore, this kind of discussion is basically quite superficial, leading to many inferences and prophecies that are untenable and clearly very wrong. In my view, China’s rapid economic development is closely related to the June Fourth massacre. After the Communist Party experienced the Mao era, on one hand, long-term, uninterrupted political campaigns and political persecution caused severe harm to the vast majority of people, including CCP officials themselves. Therefore, after the Gang of Four was overthrown, there was a widespread demand for liberalization throughout the government, hoping society would loosen up a bit, stop engaging in class struggle, and stop political oppression. In other words, there was already great dissatisfaction with the practice of dictatorship. Moreover, when people open their eyes and look at the world, they realize that so-called capitalist countries have economies far better than all socialist countries. In the past, Chinese people thought they were going to liberate all humanity, while others were suffering in misery. When they opened the gates and saw all the fuss, they found themselves in dire straits. Especially comparing South Korea and North Korea, East Germany and West Germany, and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China at the time, it all proved that capitalism was much better than socialism, which was also a driving force for economic reform at the time. Therefore, the CCP had to both loosen politically and begin capitalist economic reforms.
Legitimacy issues
Of course, this economic reform posed a major problem for the CCP: the Party rose to prominence by eliminating capitalism and building socialism, and in doing so, it killed countless people, causing tremendous social changes in China. So, if you turn back to rebuild capitalism and abandon socialism you’ve been building for so many years, that would mean your Communist Party revolution is completely mistaken. Your past achievements have all become crimes. So, what reason do you have left? How can you still sit on stage and continue to maintain one-party rule? Therefore, as China’s economic reforms progressed, the demands for freedom and democracy grew higher and higher. Although before 1989, the CCP’s reforms were mainly limited to the economic sphere, because these reforms aimed to restore capitalism and abandon socialism, this was a fundamental denial of the Communist Party revolution. In other words, the Communist Party’s economic reforms deny the legitimacy of their own revolution. Naturally, this would deny the legitimacy of one-party authoritarianism. This is a very important reason why the 1989 pro-democracy movement occurred in China. This was also an important reason why, when large-scale liberal democratic movements broke out in Soviet Eastern European countries, the Communist Party leaders in these countries dared not suppress them and abandoned them. Because they were truly embarrassed, having long lost faith in communism and seeing how bad things had gotten themselves done, they couldn’t convince themselves to suppress others when facing resistance. So, they abandon repression, and once repression is abandoned, democratic transformation immediately begins, one-party autocracy ends, and a completely new historical stage begins.
This article is reprinted from Radio France Internationale