Moving the Mountain

Essay by 1520High School, 10th gradeA+, April 2004

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452 words

April 1, 2004

The road to democracy can be very difficult. In the late 1980's China's communist government started cracking down on individual freedoms. This and along with capitalism seeping through into the east from Europe, was the reason students and other people started protesting to get a say in the government.

As the Chinese government was limiting personal freedoms, a pro-democracy leader died. His death was the cause of huge gatherings of people mourning his death. After he was gone there was not anyone to lead to fight for democracy. Therefore student leaders were elected and went to Beijing to protest until they got what they wanted. The students wanted an open dialogue with the government. When the leaders of China refused to listen to their request, the students went on a hunger strike. These students were so dedicated to obtaining their wish for the betterment of the country, that they put themselves through great physical anguish.

Seeing the protest, the government would have cracked down on the students and forced them out or arrested them. Yet one man stopped it from happening like that. Gorbachev, the reformer from Russia was moved by the students' drive and so he stopped the government from doing what they wanted with the protesters. Once Gorbachev was there the government agreed to open dialogue with the student leaders. What went down was that the students rambled on and made their points while the government sat there and twiddled their thumbs. After the "open dialogue" meeting the government put Beijing under martial law. Some soldiers were touched by the movement and joined while others kept going, running over people in the large tanks. It was truly a massacre.

While the government had the city under martial law, student leaders and protesters were...