(Part 2) Man, I wish I could edit comments older than a few hours. I don't think I've explained the second half of my previous comment (about Tiananmen) in the

(Part 2) Man, I wish I could edit comments older than a few hours. I don't think I've explained the second half of my previous comment (about Tiananmen) in the best way. I believe Tiananmen is better characterized as follows: - The economic reforms in the late 1970s towards more privatization and more market economy, resulted in economic disruptions. Food prices and unemployment surged. People were unhappy. - Young people (students) bought into the idea that the problems are caused by a lack of western liberal democracy. They started protesting, but they didn't understand how governance worked so their demands were very messy. - The leadership still remembered the 1960s Cultural Revolution, during which the government was effectively overthrown and there was anarchy everywhere. As the protests raged on without clear demands and without clear conclusion, and also becoming increasingly chaotic, the leadership feared a new Cultural Revolution. - The leadership all had military backgrounds (out of necessity, because of WW2, Vietnam War, Korean War). They didn't know how to properly deal with civilian protests. China also had no organization to deal with civilian unrest (no riot police) and no riot gear (like rubber bullets). - Later on the protests became increasingly violent. Civilians attacked and killed soldiers and set tanks on fire. Having no riot police, the government sent in the military. - Rather than "tanks rolling over people" and "soldiers firing into crowds", I believe the militarily primary tried to disperse the crowds rather than attacking them. But in some places fights still broke out and people (from both sides) were killed. The documentary shows that some of the protest leaders were pretty disingenuous, undemocratic even (despite calling for democracy). The person that Daniel Dumbrill interviewed corroborates the naitivity of many protesters back then.