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story“Rivals in power” (3/6). “Le Monde” returns, in a six-part series, to the key events in the tumultuous history between Beijing and Washington. In 1989, when the revolt of Chinese students against the regime turned into a massacre, the American president took tweezers to save the Sino-American relationship against Moscow at all costs.
The moment is serious. George Bush appears in person in the small press room of the White House on June 5, 1989. China will make up the bulk of his intervention. This will be one of the most contested foreign policy moments of his presidency.
A few hours earlier, in Beijing, from a balcony on the sixth floor of the Hotel Beijing, Jeff Widener, photographer for the Associated Press agency, scans the surroundings of Tiananmen Square. He has the flu and has suffered from an intense headache since the day before. After weeks of hesitation, the army had begun to bloodily repress student protest, an unacceptable challenge for the communist regime. In the tear gas, shots, screams and confusion, a rock flies up and hits the photographer.
Short of film, groggy, Jeff Widener does not suspect that he will capture a scene for the story, which will make the “one” of the world press. A man in a white shirt and black pants, carrying two shopping bags, walked past a column of tanks. He gets in their way. Who is he ? Mystery. He will be quickly evacuated, without anyone knowing his fate. Incredible scene. The euphoric belief in an opening of China has just disintegrated. America must react, but how?
“Between the two countries, relations had been very positive after the diplomatic normalization of 1979, even if controversies enamelled them at times, emphasizes Robert Daly, cultural attaché at the American embassy in 1987-1988, then back there in the summer of 1989. Concerns about human rights in China were growing, at the same time as the country’s economy was going through a bad period. One of the reasons why the authorities finally resorted to such violence was the fear of the workers rallying to the student cause. »
“Cautious and reasoned response”
In Washington, George Bush is walking on a tightrope, which ends up wrapping around his feet. During his press conference, the American president announces the suspension of contacts and military contracts. He supports the democratic aspirations of Chinese students. Those already present in the United States will be able to benefit from a visa extension. He even considers optimistically that “genie cannot be put back in the bottle” – which history will deny – and expresses its faith in a worn-out paradigm, claiming that economic openness leads to political liberalisation.
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