The West has a distorted view of what happened in Tiananmen Square. The protests did not just involve students, but people from all walks of life. Even party member officials joined in to share their frustration with Deng Xiaoping. Another myth that is constantly perpetuated is that the protests were an attempt to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party. That was an incorrect assessment based on the uprisings in Eastern Europe. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia needed Soviet aid for the Communist Parties to remain in power and by the 1980s the U.S.S.R was no longer willing to provide assistance. The Chinese people still viewed their government as legitimate, but viewed General Secretary Xiaoping in a negative light. His rule saw the abandonment of Maoism in favor of market reforms, which had severe consequences on people of lower socioeconomic status. The Xiaoping government reacted to the protest with violence out of fear this was the beginning of another Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping was arrested during that period and the psychological scars never left. American media distorted reports attempting to show China as the embodiment of evil. The decline of the U.S.S.R meant that the US needed another existential threat to justify global hegemony. China from 1989 to present was gradually being presented as an enemy in certain American foreign policy circles. China's censorship of the massacre does not help its situation. It is only used to demonize China and make the argument for regime change. Only when the CCP meets the needs of the Chinese people, then it can be secure and stable.
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