"The broad masses of students sincerely hope that corruption will be eliminated and democracy will be promoted."
This quotation is not taken from a petition of students camped out on the vast expanse of Tiananmen Square 20 years ago. Nor is it a statement of support from Chinese academics. It is, in fact, from the hardline 1989 editorial in the People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist party, which foreshadowed the brutal crackdown to come. Of the students' hopes for probity and democracy, the editorial noted without apparent irony: "These too are the demands of the party and the government."
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