Special report | The party’s next century?
A future, but with Chinese characteristics
Communist Party leaders do have dreams other than just remaining in power. But achieving communism is no longer really one of them
AS COLUMNS OF smoke rose from Tiananmen Square and tanks took up positions along Beijing’s central thoroughfare, it was hard to imagine the Communist Party celebrating its 100th birthday still firmly in charge. It was the day after the army had slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, of people on June 3rd-4th 1989. The massacre had crushed a nationwide pro-democracy movement. But the city seethed with anger. How could that fury remain bottled up for ever?
This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline “A future, with Chinese characteristics”
From the June 26th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition