Discussion Questions/Main Ideas
1. What did the students protest for? Why? What were they saying to the government and what did their demonstration achieve?
2. What was the Chinese government’s reaction to the event?
3. What was the rest of the world’s reactions to the event?
4. How does freedom and human rights become defined today in China as oppose to 1989?
Further questions to consider,
1. What is Tiananmen Square?
2. Who is the Tankman and what did he do?
3. Do you feel what the Tankman did was a heroic act?
4. Why were the PLA members sent to Tiananmen Square twice? What happened the first time?
5. Was the government’s decision on June 4th 1989 logical? How did it affect their legitimacy?
6. What aspects do you feel have changed about the ways in which the Chinese state governs its people today as oppose to 20 years ago?
7. Do you feel that the Tiananmen Square protesters received what they requested? Did their voices make an impact from the status quo?
8. How would you compare China’s youths today as oppose to those who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s? Are youth’s today as politically active?
9. Why is there still media censorship in China?
10. In a few words, write how China may be if it had been a democratic system.
11. Should the Chinese government acknowledge their misacts in regards to the incident or would it have hindered their impression for modernization? Are their acts justifiable?
