The book vividly describes the Tiananmen Square student protests of 1989 and their aftermath, focusing on the legacy of the event over the past 25 years. The author elegantly tells the story through individual characters, capturing the poignant situation of political exiles and the intense levels of censorship and surveillance that persist in China.
The book by Louisa Lim, NPR’s Beijing correspondent, does not simply revisit the Tiananmen Square student protests of 1989 but explores the legacy of the event over the past 25 years. The author vividly describes how the protests unfolded, beginning in April with student sit-ins and ending with the June massacre by the army. The real subject of the book is the enduring impact of Tiananmen, from changes in the school curriculum to economic freedoms and persistent censorship and surveillance. The Chinese Communist Party has managed to reduce the event to a footnote, with younger generations having almost no awareness of what happened and those who remember generally staying silent. Lim tells this story elegantly, focusing each chapter on an individual character, such as Bao Tong, a senior official who witnessed internal party disputes about the protests, and Chen Guang, a soldier-turned-artist traumatized by the violence. One of the best chapters centers upon Wu’er Kaixi, the charismatic student leader who escaped to Taiwan. Lim captures the poignant situation of political exiles whose lives are inevitably frozen in the past.
Quick quotes
The Chinese Communist Party has managed to reduce the event to a footnote.
Lim tells this story elegantly, focusing each chapter on an individual character.
They were adored and invincible until suddenly one day, the new exiles realised that the cameras and the adulation were all gone.