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Tiananmen Square by Vijay Gokhale

Written by former foreign secretary of India, this is an eyewitness account of the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 and its aftermath.

More than three decades later, the Tiananmen Square incident refuses to be forgotten. The events that occurred in the summer of 1989 would not only set the course for China’s politics but would also re-define its relationship with the world. China’s message was clear: it remained committed to market-oriented reform, but it would not tolerate any challenge to the supremacy of the Chinese Communist Party. In return for economic prosperity, the Chinese have surrendered some rights to the state. A democratic future seems far away.

Vijay Gokhale, then a young diplomat serving in Beijing, was a witness to the drama that unfolded in Tiananmen Square. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, this unique account brings an Indian perspective on a seminal event in China’s history that the Chinese government has been eager to have the world forget.

Vijay Keshav Gokhale (b. 1959) was the thirty-second foreign secretary of India. He also served as Ambassador to Germany and China, and as High Commissioner to Malaysia. His three assignments in Beijing spanned an eightyear period over three decades. He now lives in Pune.