China: State of Siege

With Tiananmen Square the epicenter, a political quake convulses China

On history's calendar, last week had been circled in advance. It was set aside, blocked out ahead of time for a grand show involving two men who wished to immortalize themselves through a feat of statesmanship.

History, however, takes no reservations. The efforts of Deng Xiaoping and Mikhail Gorbachev to capture the world's attention were swept before them by one of those rare and indescribable upwellings of national spirit. Events within the Great Hall of the People, where the leaders set about mending a 30- year rift, received some note. But it was the events in Tiananmen Square, where a hunger...

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