The triumph and tragedy of 1989: Why Tiananmen still matters
BY MIKE POMPEO AND MILES YU — 06/04/21
America stood triumphant 32 years ago. The Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989, and the Cold War soon ended. But 32 years ago today also marks a tragedy, as the People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party then under the direction of the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, moved tanks into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and massacred hundreds, possibly thousands, of pro-democracy Chinese demonstrators.
That year, one communist empire proved too weak to survive, while another proved too brutal to allow itself to be tossed into the ash-heap of history.
In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet empire, many in the West rushed to declare an “end of history.” After decades of the Cold War, it was understandable to wish that communism, the gravest threat to freedom and democracy, was forever over.
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https://thehill.com/opinion/international/556735-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-1989-why-tiananmen-still-matters