Everything Everywhere Daily · Friday, August 14, 2026
Despite his embrace of market reforms and modernization, Deng Xiaoping was not a proponent of democracy and believed in the necessity of a one-party state to implement reforms. His government forcefully suppressed the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which called for greater political autonomy.
“Despite his proclivity for free market reforms and modernization, Deng was not a Western-style political thinker.”
“In particular, he was not an advocate of democracy.”
“Amid calls for greater political autonomy and reform during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the Deng government crushed the uprising.”