The Legacy of Tiananmen Square
More than 20 years after the Tiananmen Square uprising, Michel Cormier, CBC Television’s former China correspondent, examines the still-born legacy of the Tiananmen Square student protests led by Wang Dan and other activists in the spring of 1989.
With the loosening of restrictions on the Chinese economy in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of the middle class, many observers thought that Western-style democracy would soon follow. Instead, China has adopted its own version, with a market-driven economy where actions that might call into question the decisions of the governing party are strictly forbidden.
In this fascinating account, Cormier chronicles numerous failed attempts to bring democracy to China in the last century, starting with a handful of brave souls who tried to move China towards a constitutional monarchy at the turn of the century and peaking with the student uprising of 1989.
Using historical research (including surprising transcripts from Party meetings) and candid interviews with many of the dissidents — some now living in exile, others under house arrest in China — Cormier tells the very human story of real people struggling for human rights and freedoms.
Contributors
Michael Cormier
Michel Cormier was the CBC and Radio-Canada television correspondent in China from 2006 to 2010, where he followed China’s meteoric rise as an economic superpower. Cormier was recently appointed executive director of news and current affairs for Radio-Canada. He is the author of several books, including La Russie de mes illusions, shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award in 2007.
