Introduction
The relations between China and the West can be regarded as tidal since there were years of close collaboration and periods of hostility and mutual sanctions. The period of the revitalization of close cooperation between China and the West started in the 1970s when the country chose the path of liberalization. China started alienating from the countries of the Soviet camp and wanted to develop foreign relations with the Western world (Killion 240).
The country made various steps to achieve its geopolitical aims. Thus, China played a key role in the development of a peaceful strategy for Korea. The country also made considerable efforts in pursuit of non-proliferation policies on a global scale. European countries, as well as the USA and Canada, invested significant funds into various projects in China (Ong 33). Likewise, Chinese companies could access the global market. Nonetheless, the Tiananmen Incident revealed the hazards that could disrupt the effective development of the relations between China and the West. This paper argues that the Tiananmen Incident is an example of the negative effects of Chinese policies concerning human rights can play in the development of China-West relations.
The Tiananmen Incident
It is necessary to consider major peculiarities and the ground of the uprising that took place in 1989. Certain liberalization of Chinese society was associated with the significant (compared to previous years) freedom of speech. Chinese people listened to Western radio stations’ broadcasts and watched western films. They were fascinated by ideas associated with democracy, civil rights and so on.
It is noteworthy that the political elite was not homogeneous as some supported the liberalization concept while others wanted to keep the complete power over the society. The limited freedom to the citizen was given, but the Chinese political elite did not want to change the authoritarian rule in the country. Reforms were very slow and did not correspond to the aspirations of the Chinese citizens. The tension within the society grew.
Various demonstrations took part in the 1980s, but the one held in 1989 attracted global attention. The death of Hu Yaobang who was one of the most prominent reformers made thousands of students protest against the inefficient government (Pan 11). Thus, the mourning over a political leader in Tiananmen Square soon grew into a wide-scale protest that spread to many cities in China. The government leaders tried to persuade people to stop their protests and make them believe the reforms could become effective in the future. Nonetheless, more and more people joined the protestors. In the fear to lose power, the government decides to use the military forces to suppress the protests.
As a result, almost 250 people died (including soldiers), and 7,000 were wounded (Pan 232). The events of those days are often referred to as the massacre. Thousands of people were arrested or had to flee the country. The protests had quite the opposite outcome as the government stopped political and economic reforms. The country became closed again, and people who struggled for civil rights and freedoms were pursued. The authoritarian rule started using more rigid strategies to address those who wanted more freedom.
The Reaction of the Western World
Clearly, such violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations attracted global attention. Western countries condemned the massacre and agreed that certain sanctions had to be introduced. The sanctions negatively affected the relations between China and Western countries. Economic, social and cultural programs were halted, and the flow of investment to the country was insignificant. The Western world tried to make China adopt more democratic ways (Ong 38). The Tiananmen tragedy was seen as an example of an unprecedented violation of human rights. Notably, economic sanctions were the only tool democratic societies could use as they could not interfere with the internal affairs of the country. It is also necessary to note that the mechanism was quite effective as the country’s economy was affected and China could not develop at a rapid pace.
Tiananmen as an Illustration of the China-West Relations Uncertainty
The Tiananmen Incident can be regarded as one of the illustrations of the way the relations between China and the West developed throughout the 20th century. This tragedy reveals one of the major difference between China and Western countries as the former choose economic development and stability and believes human rights can be sacrificed (Killion 240). At the same time, western nations pay much attention to human rights and try to promote democratic values globally. It is possible to add that Chinese neglect of human rights can be explained by the cultural peculiarities as the Chinese are a collectivist society where the wellbeing of the nation is primary while the wellbeing of an individual can be sacrificed. Western societies are based on a different paradigm, and the rights of the individual are sacred.
The different attitude towards human rights was a frequent reason for the disruption in the development of proper relations between China and the West throughout the 20th century. Another bright example was the entire rule of Mao, who often neglected the human rights of the Chinese citizens. The relations between the West and China were very tensed during that period. Likewise, the Tiananmen tragedy also disrupted the relations that had been improving after Mao’s death.
The country became closed and started facing more economic and social issues. It took several years for the country to improve the relations with the Western world and enter the global political arena. After the end of Western sanctions, China’s rapid development continued. The country continued its attempts to contribute to the development of solutions to numerous global challenges the world faced. The collaboration in economic, political, social, scientific and cultural spheres became very close, which was beneficial for China as well as the Western world.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to note that the Tiananmen Incident is one of many illustrations of the way the relations between China and the Western world worsened because of different views on human rights implementation. Chinese government’s approach to human rights and other democratic values is quite different from that of democratic societies of the West. This poses many threats to the proper development of the relations between the country and the West. The events that took place in the 20th century show that China tried to regain its status as one of the most powerful nations in the world it had lost in the previous. There were victories and huge defeats manifested in the country’s isolation. However, the recent achievements in the area of international relations show that China is willing to remain in the global political and economic arenas.
Works Cited
Killion, Ulric. (2006). A Modern Chinese Journey to the West: Economic Globalization and Dualism. New York: Nova Publishers. Web.
Ong, Russell. (2007). China’s Security Interests in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge. Web.
Pan, Philip P. (2008). Out of Mao’s Shadow: The struggle for the Soul of a New China. New York: Simon and Schuster. Web.